"I cannot imagine, unless he intends it as a home for Electra."
"What a witch you are at guessing; that is exactly it. He says, in this letter, that he may not survive the war, and wishes to have the assurance that his cousin is comfortably provided for, before he goes into another battle. His offer is liberal, and I shall accept it."
"Well, I am glad she will own it—for I have often heard her speak of those old poplar trees in the front yard. She has always admired the place."
At this juncture the tea-bell summoned them to the dining-room, and she allowed her uncle no opportunity of renewing the conversation. When the meal was concluded, and they had returned to the library, Irene drew her table and basket near the lamp, and resumed her knitting. The invalid frowned, and asked impatiently—
"Can't you buy as many of those coarse things as you want, without toiling night and day?"
"In the first place, I do not toil; knitting is purely mechanical, very easy, and I like it. In the second place, I cannot buy them, and our men need them when they are standing on guard. It is cold work holding a musket in the open air, such weather as this."
He looked annoyed, and dived deeper among his cushions.
"Don't you feel as well as usual this evening, Uncle Eric?"
"Oh! I am well enough—but I hate the everlasting motion of those steel needles."