Margaret did not say whether she was surprised or not. But she took the girl in her arms, and held her close.
"How much you care about it!—I believe you care more than I do," said Garda, putting her head down on Margaret's shoulder contentedly.
"No," answered Margaret, "that is impossible, isn't it? It is only that those who are older always realize such things more."
"Well, I don't want to realize anything more just at present," said Garda. She left her friend, and standing long enough to lift her rounded arms above her head in a long stretch, she threw herself down on a low couch. "Oh, I'm so sleepy! And I'm hungry too. I wish you would let me have my coffee in here, Margaret; then I could talk to you and tell you all about it. Don't you want to hear all about it?"
Margaret had risen to ring for Telano. "Of course," she said, as she crossed the room.
"Let me see," began Garda, in a reviewing tone. "I went to sleep. Then I woke up; and after a while I got frightened." She put her hands under her head and closed her eyes. Presently she began to laugh. "That's all there is to tell; yes, really. I got frightened—the barren was so dark and so large behind me."
She said no more. As she had once remarked of herself, she was not a narrator.
Margaret did not question her; she was clearing one of the tables for the coffee.
After a while Garda, still with her eyes closed, spoke again: "Margaret."
"Well?"