"He was the best man amongst us," he said.
"My husband is gone." Susannah hoped by the reticence of her tone to ward off further excess of sympathy.

"I am no longer bound to your Church, Mr.Smith.I should not be honest if I did not tell you that I hold myself free." He faced her frankly, but with a glance of searching pain.

"It must seem a rather poor trade I've chosen if there ain't no truth in it." "But I did not accuse you of not believing it, Mr.Smith." "Do you think I do ?" She remembered the day that he had first shown her his peep-stone with simple, childlike importance.

How young they had both been! The sunshine on the hill, the voice of the golden woodpecker, the scent of the fallen beech leaves, came back to her.

A decade of terrible years had passed over them both, and he stood seeking her faith just as simply.
"I have tried very hard to understand you, Mr.Smith, but I do not.