Hale had been called up the valley and would not be back until the
afternoon. She dreaded to meet him, for she knew that he had seen
the trouble within her and she knew he was not the kind of man to
let matters drag vaguely, if they could be cleared up and settled
by open frankness of discussion, no matter how blunt he must be.
She had to wait until mid-day dinner time for something to eat, so
she lay abed, picked a breakfast from the menu, which was spotted,
dirty and meagre in offerings, and had it brought to her room.
Early in the afternoon she issued forth into the sunlight, and
started toward Imboden Hill. It was very beautiful and soul-
comforting--the warm air, the luxuriantly wooded hills, with their
shades of green that told her where poplar and oak and beech and
maple grew, the delicate haze of blue that overlay them and
deepened as her eyes followed the still mountain piles north-
eastward to meet the big range that shut her in from the outer
world. The changes had been many. One part of the town had been
wiped out by fire and a few buildings of stone had risen up. On
the street she saw strange faces, but now and then she stopped to
shake hands with somebody whom she knew, and who recognized her
always with surprise and spoke but few words, and then, as she
thought, with some embarrassment.
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