Galusha was nervous, certainly, and showed it.  He protested, however, that he was quite all right really, and, as his landlady did not mention the subject again, he recovered a portion of his equilibrium.  And during the following week he gradually gained more and more confidence.  The telltale certificate hidden in his bureau drawer was, of course, a drawback to his peace of mind, and the recollection of his recent outbreak of prevarication and deception was always a weight upon his conscience.  But, to offset these, there was a changed air about the Phipps’ home and its inmates which was so very gratifying that, if it did not deaden that conscience, it, at least, administered to it an effective dose of soothing syrup.

Primmie wept no more into the dishwater nor sighed despairingly when serving breakfast.  She sang now and, although an unprejudiced person might not have found the change an unmixed delight, Galusha did.  Miss Phipps sang, too, occasionally, not with the camp-meeting exuberance of her maid, but with the cheery hum of the busy bee.  She was happy; she said so and looked so, and, in spite of his guilty knowledge of the deceit upon which that happiness was founded, her lodger was happy because she was.

“Do you know,” he observed, on Saturday morning of that week, as, coated and capped for his daily walk, he stood by the door of the dining room, “it’s quite extraordinary, really.  I have been thinking, you know, and it really is quite extraordinary.”

Martha was sitting in the rocker by the window, the morning sunshine streaming in through the leaves and blossoms of the potted plants on the brackets dappling her hair and cheek with cheery splashes of light and shade.  She was consulting the pages of her cookbook, as a preliminary to preparing a special dessert for Sunday’s dinner, and was humming as she did so.

She looked up when he spoke.

“What is extraordinary?” she asked.  “Your thinkin’, do you mean?  I don’t see anything very extraordinary about that.  You’re thinkin’ most of the time, seems to me.”

“Oh, I don’t mean that.  I meant what I was thinking was extraordinary.  Or not precisely that, either.  I—­ah—­I mean—­ well, you see, when I was in Washington—­at the Institute, you know—­it used to annoy me—­ah—­extremely, to have any one sing or whistle in my vicinity.  Really, it did.  I sometimes spoke very sharply—­ah—­irritably to any one who did that.  And now, as I stood here and heard you singing, Miss Martha, it suddenly came over me that I do not mind it at all.  I—­ah—­actually like to hear you.  I do, very much, indeed.  Now, isn’t that extraordinary!”

Martha laughed aloud.  “Why, yes,” she declared; “I think it is.  Anybody likin’ to hear me sing is about as extraordinary as anything that ever was, I guess.  Mr. Bangs, you’re awfully funny.”

Galusha nodded.  “Yes,” he said, “I am sure I must be.  I think if I were any one else I should laugh at myself a great deal.  I mean—­ ah—­I mean in that case I should laugh, not at myself, but at me.  Good gracious, I haven’t made that very clear, have I?”