I was going to have you meet me in Hardup; but then your telegram was forwarded to me there and I came on here at once.

I only arrived this morning.

I think that after we have something to eat we would better start out immediately, unless you have other plans.

I drove over in a rig, and as the horses have rested several hours and are none the worse for the drive, I think we can easily make the return trip this afternoon." "You're the doctor," assented Billy briefly, more uneasy than before and yet not quite at the point of asking questions.

In his acquaintance with Dill he had learned that it was not always wise to question too closely; where Dill wished to give his confidence he gave it freely, but beyond the limit he had fixed for himself was a stone wall, masked by the flowers, so to speak, of his unfailing courtesy.
Billy had once or twice inadvertently located that wall.
A great depression seized upon him and made him quite indifferent to the little pleasures of homecoming; of seeing the grass green and velvety and hearing the familiar notes of the meadow-larks and the curlews.