'
'Aye!' said Tobias.
And he entered.
'Sit ye down, do,' said his wife. 'I thowt as you were dead. They
wrote and told me so.'
'Aye!' said Tobias. 'But I am na'.'
He sat down in an arm-chair near the old-fashioned grate, with its
hobs at either side. He was acquainted with that chair, and it had
not appreciably altered since his departure. The lastingness of
furniture under fair treatment is astonishing. This chair was
uncomfortably in exactly the same spot where it had always been
uncomfortable; and the same anti-macassar was draped over its
uncompromising back. Toby put his hat on the table, and leaned his
umbrella against the chimney-piece. His overcoat he retained. Same
table; same chimney-piece; same clock and ornaments on the
chimney-piece! But a different carpet on the floor, and different
curtains before the window.
Priscilla bolted and chained the door, and then she too sat down.
Her gown was black, with a small black silk apron. And she was
stout, and she wore felt slippers and moved with the same gingerly
care as Toby himself did. She looked fully her years. Her thin
lips were firmer than ever. It was indeed Priscilla.
'Well, well!' she murmured.
But her capacity for wonder was nearly exhausted.
'Aye!' said Toby, with an air that was meant to be quasi-humorous.
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