下载辰思小说免费APP
Mr。McLeanlaughedmirthfullyatthelover。“Well，“hesaid，“Mrs。McLeanwillbeglad。Shetoldmetogiveyu’hercongratulationsquiteawhileago。Iwastohave’emreadyjustassoonaseveryu’askedfor’emyourself。“Linhadbeenmadeahappymansometwelvemonthsprevioustothis。Andnow，bywayofanexchangeofnews，headded:“We’reexpectin’alittleMcLeandownonBoxElder。That’swhatyou’llbeexpectin’someofthesedays，Ihope。“
“Yes，“murmuredtheVirginian，“Ihopesotoo。“
“AndIdon’tguess，“saidLin，“thatyouandIwilldomuchshufflin’ofotherfolks’childrenanymore。“
WhereuponheandtheVirginianshookhandssilently，andunderstoodeachotherverywell。
OnthedaythattheVirginianpartedwithMolly，besidetheweightoffarewellwhichlayheavyonhisheart，histhoughtswerealsogravewithnews。Thecattlethieveshadgrownmoreaudacious。Horsesandcattlebothwerebeingmissed，andeachmanbeganalmosttodoubthisneighbor。
“Stepswillhavetobetakensoonbysomebody，Ireckon，“saidthelover。
“Byyou？“sheaskedquickly。
“MostlikelyI’llgetmixedupwithit。“
“Whatwillyouhavetodo？““Can’tsay。I’lltellyu’whenIcomeback。
Sodidhepartfromher，leavinghermorekissesthanwordstoremember。
AndwhatwasdoingatBennington，meanwhile，andatDunbarton？
ThosethreeletterswhichbytheirmereoutsidehadsomovedMrs。
Taylor，producedbytheircontentsmuchpainfuldisturbance。
ItwillberememberedthatMollywrotetohermother，andtohergreat-aunt。Thatannouncementtohermotherwasundertakenfirst。
Itscompositionoccupiedthreehoursandahalf，anditfilledelevenpages，notcountingapostscriptuponthetwelfth。Thelettertothegreat-aunttookonlytenminutes。Icannotpretendtoexplainwhythisonewassogreatlysuperiortotheother；butsuchistheremarkablefact。Itsbeginning，tobesure，didgivetheoldladyastart；shehaddismissedthecow-boyfromherprobabilities。
“Tut，tut，tut！“sheexclaimedoutloudinherbedroom。“Shehasthrownherselfawayonthatfellow！“
Butsomesentencesattheendmadeherpauseandsitstillforalongwhile。Theseverityuponherfacechangedtotenderness，gradually。“Ah，me，“shesighed。“Ifmarriagewereassimpleaslove！“Thenshewentslowlydownstairs，andoutintohergarden，whereshewalkedlongbetweentheboxborders。“Butifshehasfoundagreatlove，“saidtheoldladyatlength。Andshereturnedtoherbedroom，andopenedanolddesk，andreadsomeoldletters。
TherecametoherthenextmorningacommunicationfromBennington。ThishadbeenpennedfranticallybypoorMrs。Wood。
Assoonasshehadbeenabletogatherhersensesaftertheshockofherdaughter’selevenpagesandthepostscript，themotherhadpouredouteightpagesherselftotheeldestmemberofthefamily。Therehadbeen，indeed，muchexcuseforthepoorlady。Tobeginwith，Mollyhadconstructedherwholeopeningpagewiththeexpressandmercifulintentionofpreparinghermother。
Consequently，itmadenosensewhatever。Itseffectwastheusualeffectofremarksdesignedtobreakathinggently。ItmerelymadeMrs。Wood’sheadswim，andfilledherwithasickeningdread。“Oh，mercy，Sarah，“shehadcried，“comehere。Whatdoesthismean？“Andthen，fortifiedbyherelderdaughter，shehadturnedoverthatfirstpageandfoundwhatitmeantonthetopofthesecond。“Asavagewithknivesandpistols！“shewailed。
“Well，mother，Ialwaystoldyouso，“saidherdaughterSarah。
“Whatisaforeman？“exclaimedthemother。“AndwhoisJudgeHenry？““Shehastakenasortofupperservant，“saidSarah。“Ifitisallowedtogoasfarasawedding，IdoubtifIcanbringmyselftobepresent。“(ThisthreatsheproceededtomaketoMolly，withresultsthatshallbesetforthintheirproperplace。)“Themanappearstohavewrittentomehimself，“saidMrs。Wood。“Heknowsnobetter，“saidSarah。“Bosh！“saidSarah’shusbandlater。“Itwasaverymanlythingtodo。“ThusdidconsternationrageinthehouseatBennington。Mollymighth
