It would please him greatly
to have you go down and speak to him at once, for he would know that I
would tell you about his being here, and he might think you cold or formal
if you delayed seeing him. I'm glad you feel so, my dear, but you must
come back and sit with me awhile before you go home. I'll ring for Hannah
and have a nice little feast while you are downstairs."
Mara scrupulously veiled her impatience until her kind, garrulous friend
was through, and then stole with swift, noiseless tread to the parlor
below. Standing in the doorway, she saw that the object of her quest was
absorbed in his book. "He is my ideal of the soldier of that day," she
thought. "How truly he represents us, with his sad, proud face and
mutilated body!" In a sort of awe she hesitated a moment and then said
timidly, "Captain Bodine."
He looked up quickly, and seeing Mara's lustrous eyes and flushed face,
divined instantly who she was.
"Is not this Miss Wallingford?" he asked, his face expressing glad
anticipation as he began to gather up his crutches.
"Do not rise," cried Mara, coming forward instantly with outstretched
hands.
But he was on his crutches, and said feelingly, "Heaven forbid that I
should receive the daughter of my old friend with so little respect." He
took the girl's face into his hands, and looked earnestly into her eyes.
"Yes," he resumed gently, "you are Sidney Wallingford's child.
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