Page:Margaret Sherwood--A Puritan in Bohemia.djvu/131

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CHAPTER XVI

"He did, Miss Helen. I heard him say it just as plain. He was coming through the hall, and it was dark, and he didn't see me. An' he said, 'O my Amanda, how smoothly must that life glide in whose destiny you share!"

"'Amanda'?"

The old, puzzled look came into Annabel's eyes. She wriggled in her chair.

"No, he said 'Helen.' He was talking about you."

The child felt encouraged by the silence that followed.

"He said some more," she remarked suggestively.

Miss Wistar was tempted, and she fell.

"What?"

"He said, 'I shall suffer a trembling apprehension until I call you mine.'"

Helen laughed, wondering where the child had found the absurd phrases. Was

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