"Sho!" he exclaimed. "You don't tell me!"
"Yes. He is coming on the evening train to-morrow. I had word from him this morning."
Jed's hand moved to his chin. "Hum . . ." he mused. "I guess likely you'll be pretty glad to see him."
"I shall be at least that," with a little break in her voice. "You can imagine what his coming will mean to me. No, I suppose you can't imagine it; no one can."
Jed did not say whether he imagined it or not.
"I—I'm real glad for you, Mrs. Ruth," he declared. "Mrs. Ruth" was as near as he ever came to fulfilling their agreement concerning names.
"I'm sure you are. And for my brother's sake and my own I am very grateful to you. Mr. Winslow—Jed, I mean—you have done so much for us already; will you do one thing more?"
Jed's answer was given with no trace of his customary hesitation. "Yes," he said.
"This is really for me, perhaps, more than for Charles—or at least as much."
Again there was no hesitation in the Winslow reply.