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accustomed to each other in privacy."
    "But I feel small for resenting the boy."
    "What man wouldn't?"
    "You would not, Father, if you were in my place?"
    Karl was reluctant to think a priest could feel such human failings.
    "I think perhaps I would. On the other hand, I would weigh it against the boy's value to me in this wilderness. He could be more than a helper. He could, in time, be a friend, perhaps even a buffer."
    "What does this mean, Father--buffer."
    "Let me put it to you this way, Karl," the priest said, sitting back with a philosophical air. "Do you think that if you marry Anna, all your troubles will be magically over and she will be all those things you dreamed she'd be? I think not. I think that--beginning as strangers, as it were--the two of you will cross swords many times before you truly know and accept each other for what you are. Sometimes in the crossing of swords it is good to have a third party to act as conciliator or mediator, or as I said before, just a plain friend."
    "This I had not thought of before, but I see you are wise. It is almost like you heard Anna's temper flare today, to say nothing of my own."
    "You had words, you two?"
    "Ya, words. But the lad was there, so I think we both said less than we maybe thought."
    "Aside from the fact that the lad came unannounced, what do you think of him?"
    "He seems eager to learn and has promised to work hard."
    "The boy could do worse than end up with you as a teacher, Karl. Under your tutelage I believe young James would learn quickly. Had you thought there might be reward in teaching him, too?"
    The two puffed at their pipes in companionable silence again. Karl thought of all the priest had said about the boy. The idea of having the lad to teach, to nurture, became an inviting challenge. Karl thought of the log house and all it would take to erect it, imagined himself and the lad working side by side, bare-chested in the sun, imagined the first ... then second, then third ... tier of logs going up, and the two of them bantering as they worked side by side skidding, notching. He could teach the lad much about building and about woods, just as his papa had taught him.
    "Karl?" A lazy curl of smoke floated upward with the word.
    "H'm?" Karl replied absently, quite lost in thought.
    "There is something I must ask, but I ask it to make you think realistically about all of this."
    "Ya, well ask, then."             
    "Have you been considering sending the girl back because you are disappointed in what you saw when she arrived? I think you must consider this aspect of marrying her equally as much as all the others. You brought her here sight unseen, with high hopes. If you find her repugnant, it could bring much difficulty to your marriage. You must look at this realizing you are a human being, Karl. As such, you are subject to doubt and skepticism. Maybe even outright dislike. I think you are a man whose principles would speak louder than his dislikes, though, and would keep her with you out of duty, if you thought you were obliged to do so."
    Karl was learning a new side of Father Pierrot tonight, a human side that Karl deeply needed. "Oh, no, Father, I truly do not find her unattractive, only a little thin. But her face ... she ... I ..." It was difficult for Karl to express to this priest the feelings that had swept over him when he'd first seen Anna, when he had taken her hand in his to help her down from the wagon, or the feeling of her slim hips and waist as she jumped down. It was difficult for Karl himself to equate those feelings with anything but lustfulness. Naturally, he did not wish to appear crude before his friend, this priest.
    "My eye is pleased, truly, Father, but I have tried to use good reason. It should not matter to me if her looks please me, I should instead--com"
    "But of course it should matter!" the priest interrupted, jumping to his feet. "Karl, don't turn fool on me now. If you do, it will be for the first time since