'I saw, for one moment at a time, in great letters on a placard of the contents of newspapers, at the stations as we came down here, the words, 'Civil War in America;' and it has seemed to be in the air here ever since. But Averil has said nothing in her letters. Will it affect them?' The Doctor gave a brief sketch of what was passing, up to the battle of Bull Run; and his words were listened to with such exceeding avidity, that he was obliged to spend more minutes than he desired on the chances of the war, and the Massissauga tidings, which he wished to make sound more favourable than he could in conscience feel that they were; but when at last he had detailed all he knew from Averil's letters, and it had been drunk in with glistening eyes, and manner growing constantly less constrained, he led back to Leonard himself: 'Ethel will write at once to your sister when I get home; and I think I may tell her the work agrees with you.' 'Yes; and this is man's work; and it is for the defences,' he added, with a sparkle of the eye. 'Very hard and rough,' returned the Doctor, looking again at the wounded hands and hard-worked air. 'Oh, but to put out one's strength again, and have room!' cried the boy, eagerly. 'Was it not rather a trying change at first?' 'To be sure I was stiff, and didn't know how to move in the morning, but that went off fast enough; and I fill as many barrows a day as any one in our gang.' 'Then I may tell your sister you rejoice in the change?' 'Why, it's work one does not get deadly sick of, as if there was no making one's self do it,' said Leonard, eagerly; 'it is work! and besides, here is sunshine and sea. I can get a sight of that every day; and now and then I can get a look into the bay, and Weymouth--looking like the old time.' That was his first sorrowful intonation; but the next had the freshness of his age, 'And there are thistles!' 'Thistles?' 'I thought you cared for thistles; for Miss May showed me one at Coombe; but it was not like what they are here--the spikes pointing out and pointing in along the edges of the leaves, and the scales lapping over so wonderfully in the bud.' 'Picciola!' said the Doctor to himself; and aloud, 'Then you have time to enjoy them?' 'When we are at work at a distance, dinner is brought out, and there is an hour and a half of rest; and on Sunday we may walk about the yards. You should have seen one of our gang, when I got him to look at the chevaux de frise round a bud, how he owned it was a regular patent invention; it just answered to Paley's illustration.' 'What, the watch?' said the Doctor, seeing that the argument had been far from trite to his young friend. 'So you read Paley?' 'I read all such books as I could get up there,' he answered; 'they gave one something to think about.' 'Have you no time for reading here?' 'Oh, no! I am too sleepy to read except on school days and Sundays,' he said, as if this were a great achievement.