speed and then turned left upon the other road. He turned to Joel and, almost with a note of protest in his voice, said:
“Don’t you live there? Isn’t that your house?”
“What?” Joel whispered quickly, startled from the focal concentration of his driving. He turned to his companion with a surprised inquiring look. “Oh, that house?” he went on at once. “No,” he said softly. “That’s not our house.—That is, it is our house,” he corrected himself, “it belongs to us, but a friend of ours—Margaret Telfair—lives there now. You’ll meet her tonight,” he went on casually. “She’s at the house now.—You’ll like her,” he whispered with soft conviction, “—she’s grand! An incredible person!” he whispered enthusiastically.
They drove on in silence for some time: more moon-drenched fields, great barns and little farmhouses, and herds of crouching cattle, more dreaming and mysterious woods, the mysterious shadows of great trees against the road, and secrecy, and sweet balsamic scents and cool-enfolding night.—They were now driving back in the direction of the river: the new road led that way.
“When do we come to your place, Joel?” the other youth asked, when they had driven on in silence for a time. “How far is it?”
“What?” Joel whispered quickly, again turning his radiant and inquiring face. “Our place? Oh!” he said. “We’re on our place now.”
“On it?” the other stammered, after a moment’s bewildered pause. “But—but—where—I didn’t see a gate or anything—when?—”
“Oh,” Joel whispered, with an enlightened air. “That! We passed it.”
“Passed it? Where?”
“When we turned in from the main road,” Joel whispered. “Do you remember?”
“The—the main road?” the other stammered. “You—you mean—that concrete highway way back there?”
“Yes,” Joel whispered. “That was the entrance to our place—one of them. It’s not much of an entrance,” he whispered apologetically. “I don’t wonder that you couldn’t see it.”
“Then—then—everything since then—all we passed—all this—?” the other stammered.
“Yes,” Joel whispered, with his radiant, eager look, “that’s it. That’s our place. It’s really grand country,” he went on matter-of-factly. “I want to show you around tomorrow.”
They swept suddenly around a curve of the gravelled road, bordered with
