“Oh, Adam,” she cried, “can you think about eating—with this to see? I thought better of you.”
“Think none the worse of me,” I answered, “that when I am hungry I would eat. For I am not one of your theorists who believe that when a man is hungry he should go without. But I believe that hunger is a sign from Heaven. God gave man hunger that he might know when to eat; and thirst, that he might know when to drink. And so I do. I have never found myself the worse for it, but the better. Hunger breeds an evil temper, as you may see. Mark how much pleasanter I am when I have dined.”
And she laughed at me. “And the spindle, Adam,” she said. “It may go down, and you at dinner. And this storm—surely, it is worth staying for.”
“The storm will increase,” I replied, “according to the lore of my neighbors, until full tide. In such matters their lore is older than my learning. As for the spindle, it will go or it will hold fast as it is ordained for it. If it hold fast, well; and if it go down, why,—that will be well enough, too. At least, I shall have dined. I wish that I might ask you to dine with me, Eve. We shall have roast mutton, with corn, and potatoes, and—whatever else the wind has left. And a steamed pudding, after. It is not fashionable, but it will be good. My cook makes excellent steamed puddings. And a dinner eaten alone—it is a lonely meal.”
Again Eve laughed, then sighed. I know that she sighed, for I saw her; I could not hear.
“I should love it, Adam,” she said, “but you know I may not.”
“Love what, Eve?” I asked. “The steamed pudding?”
“No doubt,” she answered, “for now that you have reminded me, I am hungry, too. But you know that was not what I meant. I should love to dine with you in your own house. But it will not be long—there will not be many more lonely dinners”—
She hesitated and stopped. But I knew. “Let us count them,” I said. “Let us see how many.”
And again the storm was forgot, and the great wind that blew. And so she went in, and I tramped home, in the rain, along the shore. But my dinner was too quickly eaten for a clammer, and I thanked a kind Heaven that there were not many more such—there were far too many, but they could be counted—there were less than a hundred. And having bolted my dinner, which deserved better of me, I hurried back to the bank, and there stood Eve, and she smiled to see me come along the shore.