The light was fading: they could no longer see the green of the valley. A late bird fluttered into the boughs overhead and more petals came down. "It is a nest," said David, softly, "a good thing to go home to, a night like this." "And now," he continued, "there are matters about which I must consult you. You will be glad to know that things are pleasanter at home. Since my illness my father and mother have changed toward me. Sickness, nearness to death, is a great reconciler. Your being in the house had much to do with this--especially your influence over my mother. My father was talked to by the doctor from town. During the days and nights he stayed with me, he got into my trunk of books, for he is a great reader; and--as he told me before leaving--a believer in the New Science, an evolutionist. He knew of my expulsion, of course, and of the reasons. I think he explained a great deal to my father, who said to me one day simply that the doctor had talked to him." "He talked to me, also," said Gabriella. "And did not persuade you?" "He said I almost persuaded him!" "And then, too, my father and I have arranged the money trouble. It is not the best, but the best possible. When I came home from college, I brought with me almost half the money I had accumulated. I turned this over to my father, of course. It will go toward making necessary repairs. But it was not enough, and the woods has had to go. The farm shall not be sold, but the woods is rented for a term of years as hemp land, the trees must be deadened and cut down. I am sorry; it is the last of the forest of my great-grandfather. But with the proceeds, the place can be put into fairly good condition, and this is the greatest relief to my father and mother--and to me." "It is a good arrangement." After a pause, he continued in a changed tone:-- "And now while everything is pleasant at home, it is the time for me to go away. My father was right: this is no place for me. I must be where people think as I do--must live where I shall not be alone. There will soon be plenty of companions everywhere. The whole world will believe in Evolution before I am an old man." "I think you are right," she said quietly. "It is best for you to go and to go at once." When he spoke again, plainly he was inspired with fresh confidence by her support of his plans. "And now, Gabriella, I must tell you what I have determined to do in life: I want your approval of that, and then I am perfectly happy." "Ah," she said quickly, "that is what I have been wanting to know. It is very important. Your whole future depends on a wise choice." "I am going to some college--to some northern university, as soon as possible. I shall have to work my way through, sometimes by teaching, in whatever way I can. I want to study physical science. I want to teach some branch of it. It draws me, draws all that is in me. That is to be my life-work. And now?" He waited for her answer: it did not come at once.