"
Richard Hilton at once jumped down from the wall.
"Certainly I am able to go," said he, "if you will allow it."
"Haven't I asked thee?" was her quiet reply.
"Let me carry your basket," he said, suddenly, after they had
walked, side by side, some distance down the lane.
"Indeed, I shall not let thee do that. I'm only going for the
mail, and some little things at the store, that make no weight at
all. Thee mustn't think I'm like the young women in the city, who,
I'm told, if they buy a spool of Cotton, must have it sent home to
them. Besides, thee mustn't over-exert thy strength."
Richard Hilton laughed merrily at the gravity with which she
uttered the last sentence.
"Why, Miss--Asenath, I mean--what am I good for; if I have not
strength enough to carry a basket?"
"Thee's a man, I know, and I think a man would almost as lief be
thought wicked as weak. Thee can't help being weakly-inclined, and
it's only right that thee should be careful of thyself. There's
surely nothing in that that thee need be ashamed of.
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