But the moment he had spoken to her as if he were only a little boy and she a woman, he was utterly confused.

He staggered and stumbled in his sentence until Hope graciously said, "I blame nobody." But poor Gabriel's speech was gone.

His mouth was parched and his mind dry.

He could not think of a word to say; and, twisting and fumbling his cap, did not know how to go.
"There, Miss Wayne!" suddenly said a voice at the door.
Hope and Gabriel turned at the same moment, and beheld Abel Newt entering the room gayly, with a sketch in his hand.

He nodded to Gabriel without speaking, but went directly to Hope and showed her the drawing.
"There, that will do for a beginning, will it not ?" It was a bold, dashing sketch.