“What is that, sir?”
“A well-stored intellect—an active mind. Kitty, no one has more regard for young John than myself, but it would have been terrible to you to have been tied to him. ‘Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together’ was the command of Moses, and we must not unite under one yoke the sluggish mind with that which is full of activity. No, no, Kitty. You acted rightly. The man who will be fitted to be coupled in the same plough with you will be one of another mould. He will be”—
The garden gate opened, and Walter Bramber entered. A twig of laurel caught his sleeve, and he turned to extricate himself, and did not perceive the rector and Kate. A sudden confusion came over the girl, caused—whether by her thoughts, whether by the words of the rector, whether from natural shyness, she could not tell, but she started from the seat and slipped behind the mulberry.
The schoolmaster came up to the rector when called, and found the old man with a smile playing about his lips.
“I have come, sir,” said Bramber, “to ask your advice.”
“In private?”
“Yes, sir, if you please.”
“Then I cannot grant you an audience now. If you will run round the mulberry, you will discover why.”
Bramber was puzzled.
“Do what I say. There is someone there, someone who must retire farther than behind a tree if you are to consult me without being overheard.”