He smiled and shook his head.
"We can't do it, Ardea—go back to the old way, you know. You see there's a stump in the road, the very first thing."
"I shan't admit it," she said half-defiantly. "I am going to make you like the Farleys."
He shook his head again. "You'll have to make a Christian of me first, and teach me how to love my enemies."
"Don't you do that now?"
"No; not unless you are my enemy; I love you."
She looked up at him appealingly.
"Don't make fun of such things, Tom. Love is sacred."
"I was never further from making fun of things in my life. I mean it with every drop of blood in me. You said you didn't want to find me changed; I'm not changed in that, at least."
"You ridiculous boy!" she said; but that was only a stop-gap, and Longfellow added another by coming to a stand opposite a vast obstruction of building material half damming the white road. "What are you doing here—building more additions?" she asked.