At any rate , they were very warm and comfortable looking , and David sighed as he thought of the deplorable state his own socks were generally in . When David sighed Josephine took alarm . She was afraid David was going to have one of his attacks of foolishness . She must head him off someway , so she rolled up the gray sock , stabbed the big pudgy ball with her needles , and said she guessed she 'd get the tea . David got up . `` Now , you 're not going before tea ? '' said Josephine hospitably . `` I 'll have it all ready in no time . '' `` I ought to go home , I s ` pose , '' said David , with the air and tone of a man dallying with a great temptation . `` Zillah 'll be waiting tea for me ; and there 's the stock to tend to . '' `` I guess Zillah wo n't wait long , '' said Josephine . She did not intend it at all , but there was a certain scornful ring in her voice . `` You must stay . I 've a fancy for company to tea . '' David sat down again . He looked so pleased that Josephine went down on her knees behind the stove , ostensibly to get a stick of firewood , but really to hide her smile . `` I suppose he 's tickled to death to think of getting a good square meal , after the starvation rations Zillah puts him on , '' she thought . But Josephine misjudged David just as much as he misjudged her . She had really asked him to stay to tea out of pity , but David thought it was because she was lonesome , and he hailed that as an encouraging sign . And he was not thinking about getting a good meal either , although his dinner had been such a one as only Zillah Hartley could get up .
As he leaned back in his cushioned chair and watched Josephine bustling about the kitchen , he was glorying in the fact XXXXX he could spend another hour with her , and sit opposite to her at the table while she poured his tea for him and passed him the biscuits , just as if -- just as if -- Here Josephine looked straight at him with such intent and stern brown eyes that David felt she must have read his thoughts , and he colored guiltily .
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