Okoya had told her a great deal about his mother,--how good she was and how content she was to see him and her become one.

The girl was anxious to know his mother, but a visit to a prospective mother-in-law is by no means an unimportant step.
If it is accompanied by a present it bears the character of an official acceptance of courtship.

That step Mitsha was afraid as yet to take; it was too early; there were too many contingencies in the way.
Still she longed to go to Say Koitza now.

But visits of condolence are not in vogue among Indians as long as there is loud mourning, except at the house where the mourning is going on.

How much Mitsha would have given to be permitted to go to Say, sit down quietly in a corner, and modestly and without speaking a word, weep in her company.