By what boat is she coming ?" "By the _Carnatic_, and due some time to-morrow.

I saw it in the newspaper." "Well?
--" prompted Brother Copas, glancing back over his shoulder as Brother Bonaday came to a halt.
The bent little man seemed to have lost the thread of his speech as he stood letting his gentle, tired eyes follow the flight of the swallows swooping and circling low along the river and over the meadow-grasses.
"Well?
--" prompted Brother Copas again.
"Nurse Branscome will go down to meet her." "And then?
--" "I am hoping the Master will let her have my spare room," said Brother Bonaday vaguely.
Here it should be explained that when the Trustees erected a new house for the Master his old lodgings in the quadrangle had been carved into sets of chambers for half a dozen additional Brethren, and that one of these, differing only from the rest in that it contained a small spare room, had chanced to be allotted to Brother Bonaday.

He had not applied for it, and it had grieved him to find his promotion resented by certain of the Brethren, who let slip few occasions for envy.

For the spare room had been quite useless to him until now.

Now he began to think it might be, after all, a special gift of Providence.
"You have spoken to the Master ?" asked Brother Copas.
"No: that is to say, not yet." "What if he refuses ?" "It will be very awkward.