A lovely
violet growing upon one of those black slag-heaps of the mines
would not have seemed more surprising. So entranced was he that
he stood staring without a word, and it was she who broke the
silence.
"I thought it was father," said she with a pleasing little touch
of a German accent. "Did you come to see him? He is down town.
I expect him back every minute."
McMurdo continued to gaze at her in open admiration until her
eyes dropped in confusion before this masterful visitor.
"No, miss," he said at last, "I'm in no hurry to see him. But
your house was recommended to me for board. I thought it might
suit me--and now I know it will."
"You are quick to make up your mind," said she with a smile.
"Anyone but a blind man could do as much," the other answered.
She laughed at the compliment. "Come right in, sir," she said.
"I'm Miss Ettie Shafter, Mr. Shafter's daughter. My mother's
dead, and I run the house. You can sit down by the stove in the
front room until father comes along--Ah, here he is! So you can
fix things with him right away."
A heavy, elderly man came plodding up the path.
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