“Oh, dear me!” he cried. “What was that? Goodness me, it CAN'T be ten o'clock, can it? Oh, I must have talked you almost to death, Miss Phipps. I must have bored you to distraction, I must really. Oh, I'm SO sorry!” Miss Martha also seemed to be coming out of a dream, or trance. She stirred in her chair. “You haven't bored me, Mr. Bangs,” she said, “Oh, but I must have, really. I should know better. You see.... Well, it's quite extraordinary my talking to you in this way, isn't it? I don't do it often--ah--except to other members of my profession. Why, up there in the mountains--at the place where I spent the past month or two, I scarcely talked of--ah--my work at all. And I was constantly being asked to do so. There was a dreadful--ah--that is, there was a woman who.... But I promise you I won't go on in this way again, Miss Phipps, really I won't.” Martha drew a long breath and shook her head. “I hope you won't promise any such thing,” she declared. “I feel as if I had been readin' the most interestin' storybook that ever was.... My, my!” she added, with a sigh. “What a curious thing life is, isn't it? There's nothin' new in that thought, of course, but it comes to us all every little while, I suppose. Just think of the difference there has been in our two lives, for instance. Here are you, Mr. Bangs, you've been everywhere, pretty nearly, and yet you're--well, you're not so very big or strong-lookin'. The average person would say I was the one best fitted to trot around the world, and all my life--or nearly all--I've been keepin' house in this little corner of East Wellmouth. That's curious, isn't it? Of course I can't see myself doin' the things you do--ridin' a camel, for instance.” “Oh, but it is quite easy, quite,” Galusha hastened to assure her. “You could do it very well, I'm sure, Miss Phipps.” “Maybe so, but I'm afraid I'm a little bit doubtful. I should want my camel on wheels, with a railin' around his hump. But YOU must feel lost enough down in this tame place, Mr. Bangs. The wildest thing around here is a woodchuck.” She laughed. Galusha smiled, but he answered promptly. “I like it here, Miss Phipps,” he said, earnestly. “I do, really. I like it very much indeed. In fact--in fact--Miss Phipps, would you mind answering a question or two?... Oh, they're not personal questions, personal to you, I mean. Really they are not. May I ask them?” She was puzzled and looked so. “Why, of course,” she said. “Well... well, they're foolish questions, I suppose, for I think I know the answers already. But, you see, I want my conscience to be quite clear before making a decision.... That is, the decision is already made, but you see... oh, no, you don't see, of course, do you?” “Why not ask your questions, Mr. Bangs?” she suggested. “Yes--ah--thank you; yes, I will. The first one is about--ah--rest. This is a good spot for one to--ah--rest in, isn't it?”