A tall, stalwart man was standing with his back to them; his legs were rather wide apart, his shoulders squared, and he seemed to have planted himself against the throng of people that hurried and jostled by him. Discontent was visible in every line of his figure, and Hildegarde knew just how his mouth was puckered, though she could not see it.
Hildegarde stepped up softly behind him, and spoke in his ear.
"And what do you expect to get for winter wheat, Mr. Hartley?"
The farmer turned round as if he had been shot. "What in—now take me away! take me away home, before I lose any senses this place has left me. This ain't Huldy Grahame, no way of the world!"
Convinced that it was that young person herself, he seized her two hands, and drew her forcibly along, as he made his way through the crowd. "Lucy found ye?" he said. "I bet Lucy found ye. Nothin' like women! I've been thinkin' about ye all this blessed day, and looked at every gal that went by, and they was about ten thousand of 'em, and not one I'd look at twice. Come along, Lucy! I've done all the shoppin' I want! Let's get home to Doctor Flower's, and have a sight at this gal, before I wake up and find she's a dream!"
As the good man spoke, he hurried Hildegarde along at a surprising rate, Nurse Lucy following as best she might. Hildegarde was fairly bewildered by all these sudden meetings. She began to feel as if every street corner must reveal some new vision; she looked for Bubble,—for the Merryweathers; it seemed to her, too, almost dreamlike in its strangeness. Yet after all, there is nothing wonderful in meeting all sorts and conditions of men in the course of two days in New York.
A short walk brought them to a quiet, pleasant street, where the usual brown stone houses had rather a special look of care and neatness. There were many flowers in the windows; the curtains were more often muslin than lace, but they were fresh and white, and one felt that it was a pleasant neighbourhood, a neighbourhood of homes.
"You have been here before, dear?" asked Mrs. Hartley.
"No," replied Hildegarde. "I have been meaning all the fall to come, ever since they came back from Europe and took this house, but one thing and another has prevented. As I told you, I meant to try to see them to-day, in any case. But Rose does not know I am in town; it will be another surprise. Dear Rose!"
"Well, I do suppose Pinkrosia'll be glad to see you!" said Jacob Hartley. "But if she sets up to be as glad as Marm Lucy and I be, she'll have to hear something, that's all. Huldy Grahame's my gal this time, and no mistake!"