And this is the way many of Ivory Boynton's evenings were spent,
while the heart of him, the five-and-twenty-year-old heart of
him, was longing to feel the beat of another heart, a girl's
heart only a mile or more away. The ice in Saco Water had broken
up and the white blocks sailed majestically down towards the sea;
sap was mounting and the elm trees were budding; the trailing
arbutus was blossoming in the woods; the robins had
come;-everything was announcing the spring, yet Ivory saw no
changing seasons in his future; nothing but winter, eternal
winter there!
V
PATIENCE AND IMPATIENCE
PATTY had been searching for eggs in the barn chamber, and coming
down the ladder from the haymow spied her father washing the
wagon by the well-side near the shed door. Cephas Cole kept store
for him at meal hours and whenever trade was unusually brisk, and
the Baxter yard was so happily situated that Old Foxy could watch
both house and store.
There never was a good time to ask Deacon Baxter a favor,
therefore this moment would serve as well as any other, so,
approaching him near enough to be heard through the rubbing and
splashing, but no nearer than was necessary Patty said:--
"Father, can I go up to Ellen Wilson's this afternoon and stay to
tea? I won't start till I've done a good day's work and I'll come
home early.
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