"Well, I am, I came over to gossip with William on this very subject.--Martha, will you let him put a match to that grate? I declare, the seasons are changing. When I was your age it wasn't cold enough to have a fire in May.--Look here, Willy, what do you mean by saying Mrs. Richie doesn't know Sam's sentiments?" "I mean that women like Mrs. Richie are so unconscious, they don't see things like that. She's as unconscious as a girl." "Tck!" said Martha. "A girl!" said Dr. Lavendar.--"Say a tree, or a boy but don't say a girl. Why, William, everybody sees it. Even Benjamin Wright. Of course she knows it." "She doesn't; she isn't the kind that thinks of things like that. Of course, some women would have discovered it months ago; one of your strong-minded ladies, perhaps--only Sam wouldn't have been spoony on that kind." "Well!" said Martha, "I must say, flat--" But William interrupted her--"To prove what I say: she lets him come in and bore her to death, just out of kindness. Do you suppose she would do that if she knew he was such an idiot as to presume to--to--" "Well," said Dr. Lavendar, "as there is so much ignorance about, perhaps Sam doesn't know he's lost his heart?" But at that William laughed, "_He_ knows; Trust a young fellow! That's just the difference between a man and a woman, sir; the man always knows; the woman, if she's the right kind, doesn't--until she's told." "Tck!" said Martha, Dr. Lavendar looked down at the bowl of his pipe then he said meekly, "I was under the impression that Eve ate her apple before Adam had so much as a bite. Still, whether Mrs. Richie knows the state of Sam's affections or not, I do wish she would urge him to put his mind on his work. That's what I came in to speak to you about. His father is all on edge about it, and now his grandfather has taken it into his head to be worried over it, too But you know her better than the rest of us do, and I thought perhaps you'd drop a hint that she would be doing missionary work if she'd influence the boy to be more industrious." "I'll go and talk it over with her," Martha volunteered. "I am always ready to advise any one." William King got up and kicked at a lump of coal in the grate. "I am sure you are," he said dryly; "but no talking over is necessary., I shall probably be going up the hill in a few days, and I'll say a word if Dr. Lavendar wants me to. Nothing definite; just enlist her sympathy for his father--and get her to protect herself, too. He must be an awful nuisance."