King Midas: A Romance | Page 7

remember?" he asked again, seeing that she was silent.
"Yes, I remember," said the girl, her voice lower--"But I'd rather you
did not--." She stopped short.
"You wish to forget it, Helen?" asked Arthur.
He was trembling with anxiety, and his hands, which were clasped
about his knee, were twitching. "Oh, Helen, how can you?" he went on,
his voice breaking. "Do you not remember the last night that we sat
there by the spring, and you were going away, no one knew for how
long--and how you told me that it was more than you could bear; and
the promise that you made me? Oh, Helen!"
The girl gazed at him with a frightened look; he had sunk down upon
his knee before her, and he caught her hand which lay upon the log at
her side.
"Helen!" he cried, "you cannot mean to forget that? For that promise
has been the one joy of my life, that for which I have labored so hard!
My one hope, Helen! I came to-day to claim it, to tell you--"
And with a wild glance about her, the girl sprang to her feet, snatching
her hand away from his.
"Arthur!" she cried; "Arthur, you must not speak to me so!"
"I must not, Helen?"

"No, no," she cried, trembling; "we were only children, and we did not
know the meaning of the words we used. You must not talk to me that
way, Arthur."
"Helen!" he protested, helplessly.
"No, no, I will not allow it!" she cried more vehemently, stepping back
as he started towards her, and holding close to her the hand he had held.
"I had no idea there was such a thought in your mind--"
Helen stopped, breathlessly.
"--or you would not have been so kind to me?" the other added faintly.
"I thought of you as an old friend," said Helen. "I was but a child when
I went away. I wish you still to be a friend, Arthur; but you must not act
in that way."
The young man glanced once at her, and when he saw the stern look
upon her face he buried his head in his arms without a sound.
For fully a minute they remained thus, in silence; then as Helen
watched him, her chest ceased gradually to heave, and a gentler look
returned to her face. She came and sat down on the log again.
"Arthur," she said after another silence, "can we not just be friends?"
The young man answered nothing, but he raised his head and gazed at
her; and she saw that there were tears in his eyes, and a look of mute
helplessness upon his face. She trembled slightly, and rose to her feet
again.
"Arthur," she said gravely, "this must not be; we must not sit here any
longer. I must go."
"Helen!" exclaimed the other, springing up.
But he saw her brow knit again, and he stopped short. The girl gazed
about her, and the village in the distance caught her eye.
"Listen," she said, with forced calmness; "I promised father that I
would go and see old Mrs. Woodward, who was asking for me. You
may wait here, if you like, and walk home with me, for I shall not be
gone very long. Will you do it?"
The other gazed at her for a moment or two; he was trying to read the
girl's heart, but he saw only the quiet firmness of her features.
"Will you wait, Arthur?" she asked again.
And Arthur's head sank upon his breast. "Yes, Helen," he said. When
he lifted it again, the girl was gone; she had disappeared in the thicket,
and he could hear her footsteps as she passed swiftly down the hillside.

He went to the edge of the woods, where he could see her a short
distance below, hurrying down the path with a step as light and free as
ever. The wind had met her at the forest's edge and joined her once
more, playing about her skirts and tossing the lily again. As Arthur
watched her, the old music came back into his heart; his eyes sparkled,
and all his soul seemed to be dancing in time with her light motion.
Thus it went until she came to a place where the path must hide her
from his view. The young man held his breath, and when she turned a
cry of joy escaped him; she saw him and waved her hand to him gaily
as she swept on out of his sight.
For a moment afterwards he stood rooted to the spot, then whirled
about and laughed aloud. He put his hand to his forehead, which was
flushed and hot, and he gazed about him, as if he were not sure where