The Spirit of Sweetwater | Page 7

her eyes.
He came down out of the mountain heights with the elemental vigor of
wind and sun and soil about him like an aura. A man of great natural
refinement, he had grown strong and simple and masterful in his close
contact with Nature. The clay that might have brutalized another nature

had made him a mystic.
There was something mysterious in his eyes, in the clasp of his hand.
The world was all inexplicable to her anyhow. Perhaps God had sent
him to help her just as He sends healing water down from the mountain
peaks.
In thinking these things she fell asleep, and it seemed at once that she
was well again, and that she was dressing for a walk. Clement had
called for her to climb the mountains with him, and she was making
preparation to go, working swiftly and unhesitatingly--and it seemed
deliciously sweet to be swift and active once more. She had put on a
short walking-skirt and leggins and was nearly ready. She stood before
the glass to put on her cap, and as she saw how round and pink her
cheeks were she hardly recognized herself.
She seemed to hear his impatient feet outside on the veranda, and she
smiled to think how typical it all was of husbands and wives--and at
that thought her face grew pinker and she turned away--she didn't want
her own eyes to see how she flushed.
But suddenly all warmth--all flushing--left her. She turned cold with a
familiar creep and weakness. She could not proceed. Her glove was
half on, but her strength was not sufficient to pull it further. She could
not lift her feet.
His steady, strong tramp up and down the veranda continued, but she
was in the grasp of her old enemy. A terrible fear and an agony of
desire seized her. She wanted to go out into the bright sunlight with
him, but she could neither move nor whisper. All her resolution, her
hope, fell away, and her heart was heavy and cold. It was all over. He
would wait for a while and then go away, and she would stand there
desolate, helpless, inert as clay, with life dark and empty before her.
"Oh, if he would only call me!" was her last breath of resolution.
Once, twice the feet went up and down the veranda. Then they paused
before her door.

"Are you ready?" his voice called.
She struggled to speak, but could only whisper, "Yes."
The door swung quickly open and he stood there in the streaming
sunlight of the morning--so tall he was he seemed to fill the
doorway--and he smiled and extended his hands.
"Come," he said, "the sturdy old mountains are wonderfully grand this
morning."
His hand closed over hers, and the sunlight fell upon her, warming her
to the heart, but before she could lift her eyes to the shining peaks she
awoke and found that the morning sun had stolen its way through a
half-opened shutter and lay upon her hand.
At first she was ready to weep with sadness and despair, but as she
thought upon it she came to see in the dream a good omen. It had been
long since she had dreamed a vision of perfect health with no touch of
impotence at its close. There was something of hope in this vision; a
man's hand had broken the spell of weakness.


Part II

APRIL DAYS
Days of witchery subtly sweet, When every hill and tree finds heart,
When winter and spring like lovers meet In the mist of noon and part--
In the April days.
Nights when the wood-frogs faintly peep-- Tr-eep, tr-eep--and then are
still, And the woodpeckers' martial voices sweep Like bugle-blasts,
from hill to hill, Through the breathless haze.

Days when the soil is warm with rain, And through the wood the shy
wind steals, Rich with the pine and the poplar smell,-- And the joyous
soul like a dancer, reels Through the broadening days.
--From "Prairie Songs."
CHAPTER I
This dream gave to Clement, in Ellice's eyes, a glamour of mystery and
power--beyond the subtlety of words, and she met him in a spirit of
awe and wonder, such as a child might feel to find one of its
dream-heroes actually beside the fireside in the full sunlight of the
morning. The fear and agony and joy of the night's vision gave a
singular charm to the meeting.
It startled her to find she still retained the capability of being moved by
the sound of a man's voice. It seemed like a wave of returning life.
Her heart quickened as she saw him enter the dining-room and look
around for her--and when his eyes fell upon her a light filled his face
which was