They seemed, somehow, like "_les derniers fils d'une race epuisee_".

Though the lads were strong and healthy, yet they had all that over-sensitiveness and hanging-back which made them so lonely, yet also such close, delicate friends once their intimacy was won.

Paul loved them dearly, and they him.
Miriam came later.

But he had come into her life before she made any mark on his.

One dull afternoon, when the men were on the land and the rest at school, only Miriam and her mother at home, the girl said to him, after having hesitated for some time: "Have you seen the swing ?" "No," he answered.