Page:By Sanction of Law.pdf/325

 "After all, how much difference is there between us? None in reality. It's just a matter of pride and narrowness. Loving you I have not lost anything. Rather have I gained," Bennet concluded.

"Yes, and my life has been enriched by your love.—No, let's think about other things. I can't leave my father just yet. He just sits about and stares and stares. He won't eat. And this afternoon I came across him in the barnyard praying to a calf.—Wait a few days to see if he gets better, then we'll go. You'll be perfectly safe here," Lida assured.

"Oh, it's not my safety that I think about," Bennet explained.

Lida looked out through the curtain of falling water. Iwater. "I [sic] must go back to the house now. I've brought you something more to eat and I'll come back before dark with news. By the way, they're scouring the whole of creation for you. Ellie went to Mrs. Gorton's this morning when he got up and got your bag. He brought it to the house and has it in his room. The whole countryside has been called on to find you.—And here you are," Lida chuckled gleefully.

"Oh, why didn't you wash that stain off your face?" she asked. "I don't want to see you that way. I want you to be as you are."

With that she took a napkin from the lunch basket and held it under the spray then stepped over to where Bennet was sitting and began removing the stain.

"Naughty Boy," she said playfully. "Don't want to