Father
Orin, when asked, had told him something of the reasons for the general
distrust and fear of the man. But the doctor himself had never seen him,
and, naturally enough, thought of him as the usual coarse leader of
lawlessness, only more daring and cunning, perhaps, than the rest of his
kind. Thus it was that trying to understand only bewildered the young
man more and more, so that he was still filled with shocked wonder when
he came within sight of Ruth's home.
The day was nearing its close. In the forest bordering the bridle-path,
dark shades were noiselessly marshalling beneath the great trees. But
the sunset still reddened the river, and the reflected light shone on
the windows of Cedar House. He glanced at her chamber window before
seeing that she stood on the grass by the front door, giving the swan
bits of bread from her fingers while the jealous birds, forgetting to go
to roost, watched and scolded from the low branches overhead. But she
had seen him a long way off and looked up as he approached.
"Isn't he a bold buccaneer?" she said, with a smile, meaning the swan.
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