s and emerging onto the luminous
highlands. The solemnity of the night, its brooding aloofness in which
they held so small a part, chilled the girl's high self-reliance.
Among her fellows, in a setting of light and action, she was all proud
independence. Deprived of them she suffered a diminution of confidence
and became if not clinging, at least a feminine creature who might some
day be won. Feeling small and lonely she insensibly drew closer to the
man beside her, at that moment the only connecting link between her and
the living world with which her liens were so close.

The lover felt the change in her, knew that the barrier she had so
persistently raised was down. They were no longer mistress and slave,
but man and maid. The consciousness of it gave him a new boldness.
The desperate daring of the suitor carried him beyond his familiar
tremors, his dread of defeat. He thrust his hand inside her arm,
timidly, it is true, ready to snatch it back at the first rebuff. But
there was none, so he kept it there and they walked on. Their talk was
fragmentary, murmured sentences that they forgot to finish, phrases
trailing off into silence as if they had not clear enough wits to fit
words together, or as if words were not necessary when at last their
spirits communed. Responding to the instigation of the romantic hour
the young girl felt an almost sleepy content. The arm on which she
leaned spoke of strength, it symbolized a protection she would have
repudiated in the practical, sustaining sunshine, but that now was very
sweet.

David walked in a vision. Was it Susan, this soft and docile being,
close against his side, her head moving slowly as her eyes ranged over
the magical prospect? He was afraid to speak for fear the spell would
break. He did not know which way his feet bore him, but blindly went
on, looking down at the profile almost against his shoulder, at the
hand under which his had slid, small and white in the transforming
light. His silence was not like hers, the expression of a temporary,
lulled tranquility. He had passed the stage when he could delay to
rejoice in lovely moments. He was no longer the man fearful of the
hazards of his fate, but a vessel of sense ready to overflow at the
slightest touch.

It came when a ravine opened at their feet and she drew herself from
him to gather up her skirts for the descent. Then the tension broke
with a tremulous "Susan, wait!" She knew what was comi