`` Kenneth Ford is down at Martin West 's over-harbour , '' the doctor was saying . `` His regiment was on its way to the front but was held up in Kingsport for some reason , and Ken got leave of absence to come over to the Island . '' `` I hope he will come up to see us , '' exclaimed Mrs. Blythe . `` He only has a day or two off , I believe , '' said the doctor absently . Nobody noticed Rilla 's flushed face and trembling hands . Even the most thoughtful and watchful of parents do not see everything that goes on under their very noses . Rilla made a third attempt to give the long-suffering Jims his dinner , but all she could think of was the question -- Would Ken come to see her before he went away ? She had not heard from him for a long while . Had he forgotten her completely ? If he did not come she would know that he had . Perhaps there was even -- some other girl back there in Toronto . Of course there was . She was a little fool to be thinking about him at all . She would not think about him . If he came , well and good . It would only be courteous of him to make a farewell call at Ingleside where he had often been a guest . If he did not come -- well and good , too . It did not matter very much . Nobody was going to fret . That was all settled comfortably -- she was quite indifferent -- but meanwhile Jims was being fed with a haste and recklessness that would have filled the soul of Morgan with horror .
XXXXX himself did n't like it , being a methodical baby , accustomed to swallowing spoonfuls with a decent interval for breath between each .
Blythe Jims Ken Kingsport Morgan Rilla Toronto West day third