Perhaps he had meant some other James Conway . Presently he found himself before the blacksmith 's forge . Beside it was a rickety , unpainted gate opening into a snake-fenced lane feathered here and there with scrubby little spruces . It ran down a bare hill , crossed a little ravine full of young white-stemmed birches , and up another bare hill to an equally bare crest where a farmhouse was perched -- a farmhouse painted a stark , staring yellow and the ugliest thing in farmhouses that John Lincoln had ever seen , even among the log shacks of the west . He knew now that he had been misdirected , but as there seemed to be nobody about the forge he concluded that he had better go to the yellow house and inquire within . He passed down the lane and over the little rustic bridge that spanned the brook . Just beyond was another home-made gate of poles . Lincoln opened it , or rather he had his hand on the hasp of twisted withes which secured it , when he was suddenly arrested by the apparition of a girl , who flashed around the curve of young birch beyond and stood before him with panting breath and quivering lips . `` I beg your pardon , '' said John Lincoln courteously , dropping the gate and lifting his hat . `` I am looking for the house of Mr. James Conway -- ` The Evergreens . ' Can you direct me to it ? '' `` That is Mr. James Conway 's house , '' said the girl , with the tragic air and tone of one driven to desperation and an impatient gesture of her hand toward the yellow nightmare above them . `` I do n't think he can be the one I mean , '' said Lincoln perplexedly . `` The man I am thinking of has a niece , Miss Richmond . '' `` There is no other James Conway in Plainfield , '' said the girl . `` This is his place -- nobody calls it ` The Evergreens ' but myself . I am Sidney Richmond . '' For a moment they looked at each other across the gate , sheer amazement and bewilderment holding John Lincoln mute . Sidney , burning with shame , saw that this stranger was exceedingly good to look upon -- tall , clean-limbed , broad-shouldered , with clear-cut bronzed features and a chin and eyes that would have done honour to any man . John Lincoln , among all his confused sensations , was aware that this slim , agitated young creature before him was the loveliest thing he ever had seen , so lithe was her figure , so glossy and dark and silken her bare , wind-ruffled hair , so big and brown and appealing her eyes , so delicately oval her flushed cheeks .
He felt that she was frightened and XXXXX trouble , and he wanted to comfort and reassure her .
Beside For about beyond in into over that with within