"You remember the frog who was in love with the moon?"
She regarded him from the corners of her eyes, but made no reply.
"He used to sit in his puddle and adore her. One pleasant evening she
came down out of the sky and kissed him."
"That was very good of her. And then what happened?"
"It killed him."
Elinor pushed back her chair, arose from the table and stood beside him.
"Do you think it was a happy death?"
"Of course it was! Lucky devil!"
"Well, close your eyes and dream that I am the moon looking down at
you."
With face upturned, just enough to make it easier for the moon, Pats
closed his eyes. In serene anticipation he awaited the delectable
contact that never failed to send a thrill of pleasure through all his
being. But the tranquil, beatific smile changed swiftly to a very
different expression as he felt against his lips--a slice of dried
apple. And the cold moon stepped back beyond his reach, and laughed.
* * * * *
When the table had been cleared and the dishes washed Pats, Elinor, and
Solomon went out behind the house and stood near the edge of the cliff.
Eastward, across the bay, Pats pointed to a distant headland running out
into the Gulf, the highest land in sight.
"As near as I can guess that hill is about twenty miles away. If there
is nothing between to hinder I can walk it in a day. Now, from that
highest point I can probably get a view for many miles. Who knows what
lies beyond? There may be a settlement very near. In that case we are
saved."
"And suppose there is none?"
"Then I return, and we are no worse off than we were before."
Elinor stood beside him, regarding the distant promontory with
thoughtful eyes. He put his arm around her waist. "You see the sense of
it, don't you?"
"Yes, I suppose so. How long would you be gone?"
"Not over three days."
"That is, three days and two nights."
"Yes."
"And if the ground is very rough, and there are swamps, and divers
things, it might be longer still."
"Hardly likely."
"And what am I to do while you are gone?"
"Oh, just wait."
She moved away and stood facing him.
"Yes, that is like a man. Just wait! Just wait and worry. Just watch by
day and lie awake at night. Just be sick with anxiety for four or five
days. You would find me dead when you returned. Why should not I go with
you?"
He seemed surprised. Into the ever-cheerful face came a look of anxiety.
"I am afraid it would be a hard tramp for you, Angel Cook. And there
would be twice as much luggage to carry, and we should be a longer time
away."
"I will carry my own luggage."
"Never!"
"But I shall go with you."
"Is that a final decision?"
She nodded, an emphatic, half-fierce little nod, and frowned.
Pats smiled. "Miss Elinor Marshall, I am, as I have before remarked,
your humble and adoring slave. Your will is law. When shall we start?"
"Whenever you say."
"To-morrow?"
She nodded, this time with a smile.
"Early?"
"As early as you please."
"Then at crack o' dawn we go."
And the next morning, at crack o' dawn, they started off, Pats with a
knapsack so voluminous that he resembled a pedler.
Elinor thought it too much for him to carry. "You can never walk all day
with that on your back. Pedestrians that I have seen never carry such
loads."
"Then you have never seen pedestrians who carry their food and lodgings
with them. And you forget that we are not in the zone of large hotels."
"I feel very guilty. If I were not along you would have less to carry."
"Have no fears, Light of the North. If one of us three falls by the
wayside it will be neither Solomon nor myself."
This knapsack consisted of three blankets,--two of flannel, one of
rubber,--some claret bottles filled with water, and food for five days.
There was also coffee and a little brandy.
As they started off, along their own little beach, the sun was just
appearing over the strip of land ahead. Solomon, in high spirits,
galloped madly about on the hard sand, with an occasional plunge among
the breakers. But Pats and Elinor, although similarly affected by the
morning air, economized their steps, for a long day's tramp was before
them.
At the eastern end of the beach, before entering the woods, both stopped
and took a final look toward home. A rosy light was on sea and land.
Beyond the beach, with its tumbling waves all aglow from the rising sun,
stood the Point of Lory, and their eyes lingered about the cottage.
Nestling peacefully among the pines, it also caught the morning light.
"Adieu, little house," said Elinor. And then, turning to Pats, "Why, I
am really sorry to leave it."
"So am I, for it has given me the happiest days of my life--or of
anybody's life."
In and out among the trees they tramped, three hours or more, with
intervals for rest, generally through the woods, but always keeping near
the coast unless for a shorter cut across the base of some little
peninsula. Elinor stood it well and enjoyed with Pats the excitement of
discovery. After a long nooning they pushed on until nearly sunset. When
they halted for the night both explorers were still in good condition;
but the next morning, in starting off, each confessed to a stiffness in
the lower muscles. This disappeared, however, after an hour's walking.
Early in the afternoon of this second day's march they stood upon the
top of the hill which, from a distance, had promised a commanding view.
But they found, as so often happens to every kind of climber, that
another hill, still higher and farther on, was the one to be attained.
So they pushed ahead. Just before reaching the summit of this final hill
Pats halted.
"Now comes a critical moment. What do you think we shall see?"
Elinor shook her head sadly. "I am prepared for the worst; for the
wilderness, without a sign of human life."
Pats's ever-cheerful face took on a smile. "I suspect you are right, but
I am not admitting it officially. I prophesy that we shall look down
upon a large and very fashionable summer hotel."
"Awful thought!" And she smiled as she surveyed her own attire and that
of Pats. "What a sensation we should create! You with that faded old
flannel shirt, your two days' beard, and those extraordinary South
African trousers; and I, sunburnt as a gypsy, with my hair half down--"
"No hair like it in the world--"
"And this weather-beaten dress. What would they take us for?"
"For what we are--tramps, happy tramps."
Five minutes later they stood upon the summit. To the eastward, as far
as sight could reach, lay the same wild coast. For several miles every
detail of the shore stood clearly out beneath a cloudless sky. Of man or
his habitation they saw no sign. To the vast sweep of pines--like an
ocean of sombre green--there was no visible limit either to the east or
north. And southward, over the blue expanse, no sail or craft of any
kind disturbed the surface of the sea. Here and there along the coast
shone a strip of yellow beach with its fringe of glistening foam. Not
far away an opening among the trees, extending inland for several miles,
showed the grasses of a salt marsh.
In silence Pats and Elinor gazed upon this scene. Beautiful it was,
grand, indescribably impressive; but it brought to both observers the
keenest sense of their isolation. The vastness of it, and the stillness,
brought a vague despair, and, to the girl, a sort of terror. Tears came
to her eyes.
Pats turned and saw them. His own face had taken on a sadder look than
was often allowed there, but his eyes met hers with their customary
cheerfulness. For the first time since their acquaintance, Elinor
wept--very gently, but she wept. All that a sympathetic and unskilful
lover could do was done by Pats. He patted her back, kissed her hair,
and suggested brandy. Her collapse, however, was of short duration. She
drew back and smiled and apologized for her weakness.
"I am ashamed of myself for breaking down. But it's the first time,
isn't it?"
"Yes, it is; and I have wondered at your courage. But do it all the time
if you feel the least bit better."
She smiled and shook her head. "No, I shall not collapse again. I shall
follow your example. You are always in good spirits."
"I? Well, I should think I might be! Here I am alone in the wilderness
with the girl that all men desire,--and not a rival in sight! Why, I am
in Heaven! I had never dreamed that a fellow could have such an
existence."
* * * * *
When they descended the hill and started leisurely on the homeward march
two smiling faces were illumined by the western sun.
[Illustration]