The Elder looked up at the sound of the glad voice. No human creature could
have failed to smile back into the roguish face or have treated churlishly the
sweet, confident little greeting. The heart of a real man must have an
occasional throb of the father, and when Daniel Gray rose from his seat under
the maple and called, "More love, child!" there was something strange and
touching in his tone. He moved away from the tree to his morning labors with
the consciousness of something new to conquer. Long, long ago he had risen
victorious above many of the temptations that flesh is heir to. Women were his
good friends, his comrades, his sisters; they no longer troubled the waters of
his soul; but here was a child who stirred the depths; who awakened the
potential father in him so suddenly and so strongly that he longed for the
sweetness of a human tie that could bind him to her. But the current of the
Elder's being was set towards sacrifice and holiness, and the common joys of
human life he felt could never and must never be his; so he went to the daily
round, the common task, only a little paler, a little soberer than was his
wont.
"More love, Martha!" said Susanna when she met Martha a little later in the
day.
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