"Oh, I don't think I care about boating," she said.
"You don't!" he exclaimed blankly; "why, I only got it because I thought you would go out with me!"
"I don't like the water," she said firmly.
Sam was silent; then he sighed. "I wish I'd asked you before I bought it. Father is so unreasonable."
She looked puzzled, for the connection was not obvious.
"Father always wants things used," Sam explained. "Do you really dislike boating?"
"You absurd boy!" she said laughing; "of course you will use it; don't talk nonsense!"
Sam looked into the fire. "Do you ever have the feeling," he said in an empty voice, "that nothing is worth while? I mean, if you are disappointed in anything? A feeling as if you didn't care, at all, about anything? I have it often. A sort of loss of appetite in my mind. Do you know it?"
"Do I know it?" she said, and laughed so harshly that the boy drew back. "Yes, Sam; I know it."
Sam sighed; "I hate that skiff."