Martin contemplated her with inexpressible curiosity. In one sense it was, as he would have expressed it, "nuts" to him to see this. It told him so much, and he was beginning to have a great relish for discovering secrets. In another sense it reminded him of what he had once felt when he had heard a blackbird lamenting for her nestlings, which Matthew had crushed with a stone, and that was not a pleasant feeling. Unable to find anything very appropriate to _say_ in order to comfort her, he began to cast about in his mind what he could _do_. He smiled. The lad's smile gave wondrous transparency to his physiognomy.

Martin contemplated her with curiosity. In one sense it was intensely interesting; he was beginning to have a relish for discovering secrets. In another sense, it reminded him of what he had once felt when he had heard a blackbird lamenting for her nestlings, which Matthew had crushed with a stone, and that was not a pleasant feeling. He began to cast about in his mind what he could do. He smiled.
