"Well, you must allow old people to indulge in their dreams, my dear. When you are as old as I am, and have seen as much of life, you will have different ideas about romance."
"I hope, ma'am, that your next dream will be truer," said Nan, almost playfully.
That night, Nan lay awake for a long time. At last she slipped out of bed, felt her way around it, and leaned over and kissed Gabriel's grandmother. In an instant she felt the motherly arms of the old gentlewoman around her.
"Is that the way you do, when Gabriel comes and kisses you in the night?" whispered Nan wistfully.
"Yes, yes, my dear—many times."
"Oh, I am so glad!" the words exhaled from the girl's lips in a long-drawn, trembling sigh. Then she went back to her place in bed, and soon both the comforter and the comforted were sound asleep.
As has been hinted, the moment Mr. Sanders discovered there was some slight chance of getting a message to Gabriel, he became one of the busiest men in Shady Dale, though his industry was not immediately apparent to his friends and neighbours. Among those whom he took occasion to see was Mr. Tidwell, whose son Jesse was among the prisoners.
"Gus," said Mr. Sanders, without any ceremony, "you remember the row you come mighty nigh havin' wi' Tomlin Perdue, not so many years ago?"
"Yes; I remember something of it," replied Mr. Tidwell. He was a man who ordinarily went with his head held low, as though engaged in deep thought. When spoken to he straightened up, and thereby seemed to add several inches to his height.
"Well, it's got to be done over ag'in," remarked Mr. Sanders. "It happened in Malvern, didn't it?"