"Tom," she said. "Stop a minute, please."
Tom stopped and came close to her. In the dim
light she could see that his face was all aglow, like
a child's, with delight and surprise.
"Is that you, Annie?" he said.
"Yes. I want to speak to you, please."
"I have been here before, and I rang the bell three
times. Then you were out, although your sisters
thought not."
"No, I was in the house."
"You did not hear the bell?"
"Yes, I heard it every time."
"Then why --?"
"Come into the house with me and I will tell you;
at least I will tell you all I can."
Annie led the way and the young man followed.
He stood in the dark entry while Annie lit the parlor
lamp. The room was on the farther side of the
house from the parsonage.
"Come in and sit down," said Annie. Then the
young man stepped into a room which was pretty in
spite of itself. There was an old Brussels carpet
with an enormous rose pattern. The haircloth fur-
niture gave out gleams like black diamonds under
the light of the lamp. In a corner stood a what-not
piled with branches of white coral and shells. Annie's
grandfather had been a sea-captain, and many of
his spoils were in the house. Possibly Annie's own
occupation of it was due to an adventurous strain
inherited from him. Perhaps the same impulse
which led him to voyage to foreign shores had led
her to voyage across a green yard to the next house.
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