OCR Text |
Show - . - IHiilRKE MIENS' "author o?THENSi" ' i II, . " I - ,!f 1 Ai, I ih ' sides all thst we have to tell each other ; how much we love each .other. It seems that neither of as can ever quite realize the glory of itt-and when we think of it, it is a wonaer that nobody ever. told. Is not that a beautiful way to live, daddy, dear, and to love!" "Yes," said Mr. Davis, "that is a very beautiful way indeed. And I think that my little girl has all that I could wish her to have." "Oh, there is no need to tell me that! " laughed Helen. "All I wish is that I might really bo like David and be worth nis love: I never think about anything else all day." The girl stood for a moment gazing at her father, and then, looking more serious, she put her arm about him and whispered softly: "And. oht daddy; it is too wonderful to talk about, but I ought to tell you; for some day by and by, God is going to send us a new, oh, a new, new wonder!" won-der!" And Helen blushed beautifully as her father gazed into her eyes. He took her hand tenderly in his own, and the two stood for some time in silence. When it was broken it was by the rattling of the wagon which bad come to take Mr. Davis away. V There he stopped to gaze once again f or a moment, and then turned and disappeared. J scene before it was time for him to begin be-gin his long homeward journey. Helen was clad in a simple dress, and with the prettiest of white sun bonnets tied upon her head; she was brown by the sun and looked a picture of health and happiness, as she held her father's arm in hers. ' ' And then you are quite sure that you are happy f " he was saying say-ing as he looked at her radiant face. She echoed the word " Happy t" and then she stretched out her arms and took a deep breath and echoed it again. "I am so. happy," she laughed "I never know what to dol You did not; stay long enough -for me to tell you, daddy! ,T. She paused for a moment mo-ment and then went .on: "I think there never was anybody in the world to fuli of. joy. . For this; is such a beautiful beau-tiful little home, you know, and we live such a beautiful life; and, oh! we love each other so that the. days seem to fly by like the wind! I never even have time to think how happy I am." "Your husband really loves you as much as he ought f" said the father, gazing at her tenderly. . "I think God never put on earth another an-other such, man as David," replied the girl, with sudden gravity. "He is so noble and so unselfish in every little thing; I see it in his eyes every instant that all his life is lived for nothing but to win my leve. And it just draws the heart right out of me,- daddy, so that I could live on my knees before him, just trying to tell him how much I love him. I cannot ever love him enough; but it grows it grows like great music, and. every day my heart is more full!" Helen was standing with her head thrown back, gazing ahead of her; then she turned and laughed and put her arm about her father again, saying: "Haven't you just seen what a beautiful beauti-ful life we livet And oh! daddy; most of the time I am afraid because I married David, when I see how much he knows. Just think of it he has lived all alone ever since he was young, and done nothing but read and study. Now he brings all those treasures to me, to make me happy with, and he frightens roe." She stopped for a moment and then continued earnestly: "I have to be able to go with him everywhere, you know; I can't expect him to stay back all hi life for me; and that makes me work very hard. David says that there is one duty in the world higher than leve, and that is the duty of labor-that labor-that no soul in the world can bo right for one instant if it is standing still and is satisfied, even with the soul it loves. He told me that before he married me, but at first when we came up here he was so impatient that he quite frightened fright-ened me; but now I have learned to understand un-derstand it all, and we are wonderfullv one in everything. ' Daddy, dear,1 isn t ! it a beautiful way to live, to be always striving, and having something high and sacred in one's mind t And to make all -of one's life from one's own heart, and not to be dependent upon anything else! ; David .and I live awny off nere in the i mountains, and we never have anything of what other people call comforts and enjoyments we have nothing but a few books and a little music, and nature, and onr own love; and we are so wonderfully won-derfully happy with just those that nothing else in the world eould make any difference, certainly nothing that money could buy us." "I was worried when you wrote me that you did not even have a servant," said Mr. Davis. "It isn't any trouble," laughed Helen. (David's man lived in the village vil-lage half a mile away and came over every day to bring "what was necessary.) neces-sary.) "This is such a tiny little cottage cot-tage and David and I are vtry enthusiastic enthu-siastic people, and we want to be able to make lots of noise and do just as we please. We have so much music, you anow, daddy, and of course David is quite a wild man when he gets excited ex-cited with music." Helen stopped and looked at her father fath-er and laughed; then she rattled merrily mer-rily on: fWe are both of us just two children, for David is so much in love with me that it makes him as young as I am, and we are away off from everything, every-thing, and so we can be as happy with each other as we choose. We nave this little lake all to ourselves, you know; it 's getting cold now, and pretty soon we IT have to fly away to the South, but all this summer long we used to get up in the morning in time to see the sun rise and to have a wonderful swim. And then we have so many things to read and study: and David talks to me, and tells me all thst he knows; and be- ! CHAPTER XIII. (Continued.) " 'The sweetest 'flower that blows I give you as we part. To you. it ia a rose. To me, it U a heart.' " And the man took the flower, and took the-hands too, and kissed -them; ' then a memory chanced to come to him, and' he glanced about him on. the moss-covered moss-covered forest floor. He saw some lit-' lit-' tie clover-like leaves that all f orest-. orest-. lovers love, and he stooped and picked one of the gleaming white blossoms and laid it in Helen's hands. "Dearest," he said, "it is beautiful to make love with the flowers; I chanced to think '-hWr I -ohm -wroU -A- pretty -fettle- poem, and if you will love me more for it.' I - wilt tell it you." Then while the girl gazed at him happily, he went on to add, "This was long before I knew you, dear, and when I worshiped the . flowers. One of them was this little wood sorrel. I found it in the forest dark, . - A blossom of the snow: I Tesd upon its fsce so fair , No heed of human woe. Yet when I sang my passion song And when the sun rose higher, A The flower flung wide its hesrt to me, And lo I its heart was fire.1 " L Helen gazed' at him a moment after he finished, and then she took the little flower and laid it gently back in the group from which he had plucked it; afterward she looked up and laughed. "I want that poem for myself," she . said, and drew closer to him, and put her arms about him: he gazed into her upraised face, and there was a look of wonder in bis eyes. , "Oh, precious girl, he said, "I wonder won-der if you know what a vision of beauty God has made you! I wonder. if you know how fair your eyes are, if you know what glory a man may read in -vour face! Tieen", when I look upon you I know that God has meant to pay ine for all my years of pain; and it is all that I can do to think that you are . really mine. Do you know that to gaze upon von will make me a mad, mad - reatur for years and ' years and V fears." jjZl gelen answered him gravely: "With XAi my beauty, David, I am really, really 1 touts; and i love vou so that I do not J-are anything in the world about being beautiful, except because it makes you haupy; to do that I shall be always just as perfect as J may, through all those mad years and years and years!" Then, as she glanced about her, she ' added: We must go pretty soon, because it is late; but oh, before we do, sweetheart, sweet-heart, will you kiss me once more for all those years and years and years!" And David bent over and clasped her in his arms again. PART II. CHAPTER I. Across the hills and far' away. Bevond their utmost purple rim, And deep into the dying ay The happy princeas follow d him. '. ' ' It was several months after Helen's juarriage. The scene was a little lake, in one of the wildest parts of the Adi rondacks, surrounded by tall mountain! which converted it into a basin in the Jand, and walled ia by a dense r"wth about the shores, which added still more to its appearance of seclusion. In only one place was the eeenery more open, where there was a little vale be- tween two of the hills, and where a mountain torrent cam rushing down the steep incline. There the underbrush had been cleared away, and beneath the great forest trees a house constructed, a little cabin built of logs and in harmony har-mony with the rest of the scene. It was only large enouo"h for two or three rooms downstairs, and as many above, and all were furnished in the Plainest way. Abont the main room here were shelves of books and a piano and a well-chosen music library. It wag the littlohome which for a dozen years r more David Howard had occupied f'ne, and where he and Helen nad nt the golden summer of their love. f it -was late in the fall then, and the " 1 ountaing were robed in scarlet and or- atige. -Helen was standing upon the little lit-tle piazza, a shawl flung abont her shoulders, because it was vet early ia the morning. -Phe was talking to her father, who had been paying them a . few days' visit, and was taking a last look about him at the fresh morning 8 |