'These are my friends,' said Emily. 'They will follow me to the other end,
and I shall be able to feed them as we walk along the meadow.'
Don and Dandy bounded through the tall grass; sometimes foolishly giving
chase to the birds that rose up out of the golden grasses, barking in mad
eagerness--sometimes pursuing a hare into the distant woods. The last chase
had led them far, and both dogs returned panting to walk till they
recovered breath by their mistress's side; and to satisfy the retriever's
affection Emily held one hand to him. Playing gently with his ears, she
said--
'Did you ever see much of Mr. Burnett?'
'Not since I was a boy, ten or twelve years ago, when I was at the
University. There was absolutely no reason for his doing what he did.'
'Yes; there was,' she said in a strangely decisive tone.
'May I ask----'
'I do not know if I ought to tell you. It would be better not to. You
know,' she continued, speaking now with a nervous tremor in her voice,
'that I do not want you to think that I am so very disappointed. I do not
know that I am disappointed at all. You have acted so generously, and it
will be pleasanter to live here with you than with that old man.'
The conversation fell; but the sweet meadow seemed to induce confidences,
and they were so happy in their youth and the sorcery of the sunshine.
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