human
Why, Mr. Gorham! she exclaimed, and opened the gate, her countenance alight with pleased surprise.
gpt
I was just thinkin’ about you this minute, as I was standin’ here.
human
Naturally. I was a coming event, and I cast my shadow before.
gpt
I’ve no doubt I can tell what you were thinking about, too.
human
Like enough. I s’pose lawyers know everything. Come into the house,
gpt
Not yet. It is far too pleasant here. Where is that old settee that used to be under the oriole elm? Why, there it is, of course, only pushed to the other side,
human
Come back, come back, Gorham Page. Don’t you wade through the wet grass!
gpt
That sounds natural, Aunt Love,
human
Well, perhaps it does, replied the other in half-laughing apology;
gpt
Do you remember when I used to mow it for you?
human
I remember when you used to promise to, rejoined Miss Berry, the corners of her mouth still twitching.
gpt
Look here. I ain’t goin’ under that elm to set with my feet in the water.
human
All right, replied Page, succumbing with a sigh, and casting a glance toward the graceful branches of the tallest elm, behind which the new moon glimmered in a primrose sky.
gpt
What an evening!
human
I do like those old trees,
gpt
So do the mosquitoes, replied Miss Berry inflexibly.
human
Come up on to the stoop.
gpt
Do the orioles still hold possession of that elm?
human
Yes.
gpt
I’m glad of that. The rest of the world may change, and must; but I’m jealous of a hair’s breadth of change in Pearfield.
human
Well, I don’t know. The hang-birds squabble a good deal,