“It was Eastman ’phoned me.” He said it proudly.
“The owner of the mine!”
“‘We want you up here’ is what he said. And ‘Come prepared for anything.’ But a-course——” It was his turn to break off. His grey eyes were anxious.
“They want you to stay!” she declared excitedly. “Won’t that be splendid! Now you’ll be able to buy all the books you’ve been wanting. You know, they give a good salary at Blue Top, and—and house rent free.” A wave of colour swept her face then, tinting it a delicate rose.
He had come nearer her. “It’d mean more’n books to me,” he said in a low voice.
“You’re the best doctor in the country; that’s why they’ve sent for you. But what’ll this town do without you?” She smiled up at him, forgetting her embarrassment. “Every baby in the place’ll miss ‘Doc’.”
Like a man who is summoning his courage he set his teeth together for a moment and took a deep breath. Then: “The part of the town that I like best I want to take with me,” he said, his tone significant.
There was a moment’s silence. She retreated a step, her face rosier than before. He kept his eyes fixed earnestly on her lowered lashes, waiting for them to rise.
“I’ve—I’ve wanted to ask you before, Letty—lots of times. But I couldn’t as long as I knowed I’d have to take you to a boardin’-house; I’ve waited till I thought I could see a home in sight. If this comes true——” He reached out a big, sunburned hand and touched her slender one where it hung at her side.
She raised her eyes and they were misty with hope. “Do your level best at the mine!” she half-whispered.