“I couldn’t stand it to have her look at me after she knew everything,” he repeated again and again.
There was no idea in his mind as to how the matter might end, save when now and then he had the faintest of faint hopes that perhaps she might forget, or learn the truth from some one other than himself.
During three days he struggled between what he knew to be duty and his own inclination, and in all that time the little woman never showed by word or look that there was any disagreeable secret between them.
Seth tried to ease his conscience by working most industriously during every moment of daylight, and then came the time when it was absolutely impossible to find anything more for his hands to do. He had swept the barn floor until it was as clean as a broom could make it; the wood in the shed had been piled methodically; a goodly supply of kindlings were prepared, and not so much as a pebble was to be seen on the velvety lawn.
Gladys had tried in vain to entice him away from what she declared was useless labor, and Snip did all within the power of a dog to coax his master into joining him in the jolly strolls among the trees or across the green fields, and yet Seth remained nearabout the little house in a feverish search for something with which to employ his hands.
“It’s no use, Snippey dear,” he said on the fourth night of his stay at the farm, after the family had retired, “I can’t stay an’ not tell Aunt Hannah, an’ it’s certain we won’t be allowed to stop more’n a minute after she knows the truth. If I could talk to her in the dark, when I couldn’t see her face, it wouldn’t seem quite so bad; but we go to bed so early there’s no chance for that. We must have it out mighty soon, for I can’t hang ’round here many hours longer without tellin’ all about ourselves.”
He was not ready for bed, although an hour had passed since he bade Aunt Hannah and Gladys good-night.
The moon had gilded the rail fence, the shed, and the barn until they were transformed into fairy handiwork; the road gleamed like gold with an enamel of black marking the position of trees and bushes, and Seth had gazed upon the wondrous picture without really being aware of time’s flight.
Having repeated to Snip that which was in his mind, the boy was on the point of making himself ready for a visit from the dream elves when he heard, apparently from the room below, what sounded like a fall, a smothered exclamation, and the splintering of glass.
Only for a single instant did he stand motionless, and then, realizing that some accident must have happened, he ran downstairs, Snip following close behind, barking shrilly.