"Are you hungry?" inquired Nat, again. "There's a cellar to my house."
He brought bread and milk and made a little fire to warm the milk for Ivo. Then, taking away the prop by which the rear end of the van was held above ground during the day, he said, "There! now we can sleep soundly: the face must be turned toward sunrise."
It often happens that we begin to talk of the most indifferent things precisely when our minds are full of the most important matters. Ivo asked, "What do those queer characters mean, formed by the brass studs in this leather strap?"
"Those are the three great heavenly signs, and they protect the cattle against evil spirits. That's all I know about them."
As formerly in the days of childhood, Ivo sat at the field-side with Nat and partook of his frugal fare: but it was night; they were far from home, and many things had occurred in the mean time.
"How is Emmerence doing?" asked Nat.
"She is my mother's maid now."
"If you weren't going to be a parson, by George, you ought to have married her."
"So I would have done," said Ivo, with a firm voice, the darkness concealing the blush which overspread his features.
In answer to Ivo's inquiries in regard to Nat's fortunes, the latter answered, at length:--