"'Olga--really--Olga--is it you?' The suppressed delight that penetrated through his words gave me a warm thrill of pleasure. I felt for a moment as if I must throw myself upon his breast and weep out my heart there, but I kept my composure.
"'Were you not expecting me?' I asked, mechanically stretching out my hand to him.
"Oh, yes--of course--we have been expecting you every hour for the last two days--that is, we began to think----"
"He had clasped my hand in both his, and was trying to look into my face. A peculiar mixture of cordiality and awkwardness lay in his manner. It seemed as if he were vainly trying to discover traces of his former good friend in me.
"'How is Martha?' I asked.
"'You will see for yourself.' he replied. 'I do not understand these things. To me she appears so weak and so fragile that I tell myself it will be a miracle if she survives it. But the doctor says she is getting on well, and I suppose he must know best.'
"'And the child?' I asked further.
"A low, suppressed laugh sounded down to me through the semi-obscurity.
"'The child--h'm--the child----' and instead of completing his sentence, he gave the dogs a kick, which sent them tearing out of the house forthwith.
"'Come,' he then said, 'I will show you the way.'