“But I can't thank you—I'll never be able to repay you—for your service to me and my sister,” said Helen.
“I reckon you needn't try,” Dale returned. “An' my service, as you call it, has been good for me.”
“Are you going down to Pine with us?”
“No.”
“But you will come soon?”
“Not very soon, I reckon,” he replied, and averted his gaze.
“When?”
“Hardly before spring.”
“Spring?... That is a long time. Won't you come to see me sooner than that?”
“If I can get down to Pine.”