"Miss Earl, you promised that as soon as I finished the 'Antiquary' you
would read me a description of the spot which Sir Walter Scott selected
for the scene of his story. We have read the last chapter; now please
remember your promise."
"Felix, in your hunger for books you remind me of the accounts given of
cormorants. The 'Antiquary' ought to satisfy you for the present, and
furnish food for thought that would last at least till to-morrow;
still, if you exact an immediate fulfillment of my promise, I am quite
ready to comply."
Edna took from her workbasket a new and handsomely illustrated volume,
and read Bertram's graphic description of Auchmithie and the coast of
Forfarshire.
Finding that her pupils were deeply interested in the "Fisher Folk,"
she read on and on; and when she began the pathetic story of the widow
at Prestonpans, Hattie's eyes widened with wonder, and Felix's were dim
with tears:
"We kent then that we micht look across the sea; but ower the waters
would never blink the een that made sunshine around our hearths; ower
the waters would never come the voices that were mair delightfu' than
the music o' the simmer winds, when the leaves gang dancing till they
sang. My story, sir, is dune. I hae nae mair tae tell. Sufficient and
suffice it till say, that there was great grief at the Pans--Rachel
weeping for her weans, and wouldna be comforted. The windows were
darkened, and the air was heavy wi' sighin' and sabbin'."
The governess closed the book, laid it back in her basket, and raising
the lid of the piano, she sang that sad, wailing lyric of Kingsley's,
"The Three Fishers."
It was one of those rare and royal afternoons late in August, when
summer, conscious that her reign is well-nigh ended, gathers all her
gorgeous drapery, and proudly robes the world in regal pomp and
short-lived splendor. Pearly cloud islets, with silver strands,
clustered in the calm blue of the upper air; soft, salmon-hued cumulus
masses sailed solemnly along the eastern horizon--atmospheric ships
freighted in the tropics with crystal showers for thirsty fields and
parched meadows--with snow crowns for Icelandic mountain brows, and
shrouds of sleet for mouldering masts, tossed high and helpless on
desolate Arctic cliffs. Restless gulls flashed their spotless wings, as
they circled and dipped in the shining waves; and in the magic light of
evening, the swelling canvas of a distant sloop glittered like
plate-glass smitten with sunshine. A strong, steady, southern breeze
curled and crested the beautiful, bounding billows, over which a
fishing-smack danced like a gilded bubble; and as the aged willows
bowed their heads, it whispered messages from citron, palm, and orange
groves, gleaming far, far away under the white fire of the Southern
Crown. Strange tidings these "winged winds" waft over sea and land; and
to-day, listening to low tones that traveled to her from Le Bocage,
Edna looked out over the ever-changing, wrinkled face of the ocean, and
fell into a reverie.
Silence reigned in the sitting-room; Hattie fitted a new tarlatan dress
on her doll, and Felix was dreaming of Prestonpans.
The breeze swept over the cluster of Tuscan jasmine and the tall, snowy
phlox nodding in the green vase on the table, and shook the muslin
curtains till light and shadow chased each other like waves over the
noble Longhi engraving of Raphael's "Vision of Ezekiel," which hung
just above the piano. After a while Felix took his chin from the
windowsill, and his eyes from the sparkling, tossing water, and his
gaze sought the beloved countenance of his governess.
"The mouth with steady sweetness set, And eyes conveying unaware The
distant hint of some regret That harbored there."
Her dress was of white mull, with lace gathered around the neck and
wristbands; a delicate fringy fern leaf was caught by the cameo that
pinned the lace collar, and around the heavy coil of hair at the back
of her head, Hattie had twined a spray of scarlet tecoma.
Save the faint red on her thin, flexible lips, her face was as
stainless as that of the Hebrew Mary, in a carved ivory "Descent from
the Cross," which hung over the mantelpiece.
As the boy watched her he thought the beautiful eyes were larger and
deeper, and burned more brilliantly than ever before and the violet
shadows beneath them seemed to widen day by day, telling of hard study
and continued vigils. Pale and peaceful, patiently sad, without a trace
of bitterness or harshness, her countenance might have served as a
model for some which Ary Scheffer dimly saw in his rapt musings over
"Wilhelm Meister."
"Oh! yonder comes mamma and--Uncle Grey! No; that is not my uncle Grey.
Who can it be? It is--Sir Roger!"
Hattie ran out to meet her mother, who had been to New York; and Felix
frowned, took up his crutches, and put on his hat.
Edna turned and went to her own room, and in a few moments Hattie
brought her a package of letters, and a message from Mrs. Andrews,
desiring her to come back to the sitting-room.
Glancing over the directions the governess saw that all the letters
were from strangers, except one from Mrs. Murray, which she eagerly
opened. The contents were melancholy and unexpected. Mr. Hammond had
been very ill for weeks, was not now in immediate danger, but was
confined to his room; and the physicians thought that he would never be
well again. He had requested Mrs. Murray to write, and beg Edna to come
to him, and remain in his house. Mrs. Powell was in Europe with
Gertrude and Gordon, and the old man was alone in his home, Mrs. Murray
and her son having taken care of him thus far. At the bottom of the
page Mr. Hammond had scrawled almost illegibly: "My dear child, I need
you. Come to me at once."
Mrs. Murray had added a postscript to tell her that if she would
telegraph them upon what day she could arrange to start, Mr. Murray
would come to New York for her.
Edna put the letter out of sight, and girded herself for a desperate
battle with her famishing heart, which bounded wildly at the tempting
joys spread almost within react. The yearning to go back to the dear
old parsonage, to the revered teacher, to cheer and brighten his
declining days, and, above all, to see Mr. Murray's face, to hear his
voice once more, oh! the temptation was strong indeed, and the cost of
resistance bitter beyond precedent. Having heard incidentally of the
reconciliation that had taken place, she knew why Mr. Hammond so
earnestly desired her presence in a house where Mr. Murray now spent
much of his time; she knew all the arguments, all the pleadings to
which she must listen, and she dared not trust her heart.
"Enter not into temptation!" was the warning which she uttered again
and again to her own soul; and though she feared the pastor would be
pained, she felt that he would not consider her ungrateful--knew that
his warm, tender heart would understand hers.
Though she had always studiously endeavored to expel Mr. Murray from
her thoughts, there came hours when his image conquered; when the
longing, the intense wish to see him was overmastering; when she felt
that she would give ten years of her life for one long look into his
face, or for a picture of him.
Now, when she had only to say, "Come!" and he would be with her, she
sternly denied her starving heart, and instead of bread gave it stones
and serpents.
She took her pen to answer the letter, but a pang which she had learned
to understand told her that she was not now strong enough; and,
swallowing some medicine which Dr. Howell had prescribed, she snatched
up a crimson scarf and went down to the beach.
The serenity of her countenance had broken up in a fearful tempest, and
her face writhed as she hurried along to overtake Felix. Just now she
dreaded to be alone, and yet the only companionship she could endure
was that of the feeble cripple, whom she had learned to love, as woman
can love only when all her early idols are in the dust.
"Wait for me, Felix!"
The boy stopped, turned, and limped back to meet her, for there was a
strange, pleading intonation in her mournfully sweet voice.
"What is the matter, Miss Earl? You look troubled."
"I only want to walk with you, for I feel lonely this evening."
"Miss Earl, have you seen Sir Roger Percival?"
"No, no; why should I see him? Felix, my darling, my little brother! do
not call me Miss Earl any longer. Call me Edna. Ah, child! I am utterly
alone; I must have somebody to love me. My heart turns to you."
She passed her arm around the boy's shoulders and leaned against him,
while he rested on his crutches and looked up at her with fond pride.
"Edna! I have wanted to call you so since the day I first saw you. You
know very well that I love you better than every thing else in the
world. If there is any good in me, I shall have to thank you for it; if
ever I am useful, it will be your work. I am wicked still; but I never
look at you without trying to be a better boy. You do not need me--you
who are so great and gifted; whose writings everybody reads and
admires; whose name is already famous. Oh! you can not need any one,
and, least of all, a poor little helpless cripple! who can only worship
you, and love the sound of your voice better than all the music that
ever was played! If I thought that you, Miss Earl--whose book all the
world is talking about--if I thought you really cared for me--Oh, Edna!
Edna! I believe my heart would be too big for my poor little body!"
"Felix, we need each other. Do you suppose I would have followed you
out here, if I did not prefer your society to that of others?"
"Something has happened since you sang the 'Three Fishers' and sat
looking out of the window an hour ago. Your face has changed. What is
it, Edna? Can't you trust me?"
"Yes. I received a letter which troubles me. It announces the feeble
health of a dear and noble friend, who writes begging me to come to
him, and nurse and remain with him as long as he lives. You need not
start and shiver so--I am not going. I shall not leave you; but it
distresses me to know that he has asked an impossible thing. Now you
can understand why I did not wish to be alone."
She leaned her cheek down on the boy's head, and both stood silent,
looking over the wide heaving waste of immemorial waters.
A glowing orange sky overarched an orange ocean, which slowly became in
turn ruby, and rose, and violet, and pearly gray, powdered with a few
dim stars. As the rising waves broke along the beach, the stiffening
breeze bent the spray till it streamed like silvery plumes; and the low
musical murmur swelled to a monotonous moan, that seemed to come over
the darkening waters like wails of the lost from some far, far "isles
of the sea."
Awed by the mysterious solemnity which ever broods over the ocean,
Felix slowly repeated that dirge of Tennyson's, "Break, break, break!"
and when he commenced the last verse, Edna's voice, low and quivering,
joined his.
Out of the eastern sea, up through gauzy cloud-bars, rose the moon,
round, radiant, almost full, shaking off the mists, burnishing the
waves with a ghostly lustre.
The wind rose and fluttered Edna's scarlet scarf like a pirate's
pennon, and the low moan became a deep, sullen, ominous mutter.
"There will be a gale before daylight; it is brewing down yonder at the
southwest. The wind has veered since we came out. There! did you notice
what a savage snort there was in that last gust?"
Felix pointed to the distant water-line, where now and then a bluish
flash of lightning showed the teeth of the storm raging far away under
southern constellations, extinguishing for a time the golden flame of
Canopus.
"Yes, you must go in, Felix. I ought not to have kept you out so long."
Reluctantly she turned from the beach, and they had proceeded but a few
yards in the direction of the house when they met Mrs. Andrews and her
guest.
"Felix, my son! Too late, too late for you! Come in with me. Miss Earl,
as you are so fond of the beach, I hope you will show Sir Roger all its
beauties. I commit him to your care."
She went toward the house with her boy, and as Sir Roger took Edna's
hand and bent forward, looking eagerly into her face, she saw a pained
and startled expression cross his own.
"Miss Earl, did you receive a letter from me written immediately after
the perusal of your book?"
"Yes, Sir Roger, and your cordial congratulations and flattering
opinion were, I assure you, exceedingly gratifying, especially as you
were among the first who found anything in it to praise."
"You have no idea with what intense interest I have watched its
reception at the hands of the press, and I think the shallow, flippant
criticisms were almost as nauseous to me as they must have been to you.
Your book has had a fierce struggle with these self-consecrated,
red-handed, high-priests of the literary Yama; but its success is now
established, and I bring you news of its advent in England, where it
has been republished. You can well afford to exclaim with Drayton:
'We that calumnious critic may aschew,
That blasteth all things with his poisoned breath.
Detracting what laboriously we do
Only with that which he but idly saith.'
The numerous assaults made upon you reminded me constantly of the
remarks of Blackwood a year or two since: 'Formerly critics were as
scarce and formidable, and consequently as well known as mastiffs in a
country parish; but now no luckless traveller can show his face in a
village without finding a whole pack yelping at his heels.'
Fortunately, Miss Earl, though they show their teeth, and are evidently
anxious to mangle, they are not strong enough to do much harm. Have you
answered any of these attacks?"
"No, sir. Had I ever commenced filling the sieve of the Danaides, I
should have time for nothing else. If you will not regard me as
exceedingly presumptuous, and utterly ridiculous by the comparison, I
will add that, with reference to unfavorable criticism, I have followed
the illustrious example of Buffon, who said, when critics opened their
batteries, 'Je n'ai jamais repondu a aucune critique, et je garderai le
meme silence sur celle-ci.'"
"But, my dear Miss Earl, I see that you have been accused of
plagiarizing. Have you not refuted this statement?"
"Again I find Buffon's words rising to answer for me, as they did for
himself under similar circumstances, 'Il vaut mieux laisser ces
mauvaises gens dans l'incertitude!' Moreover, sir, I have no right to
complain, for if it is necessary in well-regulated municipalities to
have inspectors of all other commodities, why not of books also! I do
not object to the rigid balancing--I wish to pass for no more than I
weigh; but I do feel inclined to protest sometimes, when I see myself
denounced simply because the scales are too small to hold what is
ambitiously piled upon them, and my book is either thrown out
pettishly, or whittled and scraped down to fit the scales. The storm,
Sir Roger, was very severe at first--nay, it is not yet ended; but I
hope, I believe I shall weather it safely. If my literary bark had
proved unworthy and sprung a leak and foundered, it would only have
shown that it did not deserve to live; that it was better it should go
down alone and early, than when attempting to pilot others on the rough
unknown sea of letters. I can not agree with you in thinking that
critics are more abundant now than formerly. More books are written,
and consequently more are tabooed; but the history of literature proves
that, from the days of Congreve,
'Critics to plays for the same end resort
That surgeons wait on trials in a court;
For innocence condemned they've no respect
Provided they've a body to dissect.'
After all, it cannot be denied that some of the best portions of
Byron's and Pope's writings were scourged out of them by the scorpion
thongs of adverse criticism; and the virulence of the Xenien Sturm
waged by Schiller and Goethe against the army of critics who assaulted
them, attests the fact that even appreciative Germany sometimes nods in
her critical councils. Certainly I have had my share of scourging; for
my critics have most religiously observed the warning of 'Spare the rod
and spoil the child'; and henceforth if my writings are not model,
well-behaved, puritanical literary children, my censors must be
exonerated from all blame, and I will give testimony in favor of the
zeal and punctuality of these self-elected officials of the public
whipping-post. The canons have not varied one iota for ages; if authors
merely reflect the ordinary normal aspect of society, without
melodramatic exaggeration or ludicrous caricature, they are voted
trite, humdrum, commonplace, and live no longer than their
contemporaries. If they venture a step in advance, and attempt to lead,
to lift up the masses, or to elevate the standard of thought and extend
its range, they are scoffed at as pedants, and die unhonored prophets;
and just as the tomb is sealed above them, people peer more closely
into their books, and whisper, 'There is something here after all;
great men have been among us.' The next generation chants paeans, and
casts chaplets on the graves, and so the world rings with the names of
ghosts, and fame pours generous libations to appease the manes of
genius slaughtered on the altar of criticism. Once Schiller said,
'Against public stupidity the gods themselves are powerless.' Since
then, that same public lifted him to the pedestal of a demi-god; now
all Germany proudly claims him; and who shall tell us where sleep his
long-forgotten critics? Such has been the history of the race since
Homer groped through vine-clad Chios, and poor Dante was hunted from
city to city. If the great hierarchs of literature are sometimes
stabbed while ministering at the shrine, what can we humble acolytes
expect but to be scourged entirely out of the temple? We all get our
dues at last; for yonder, among the stars, Astraea laughs at man's
valuations, and shakes her infallible balance and re-weighs us."
She had crossed her arms on the low stone wall that enclosed the lawn,
and bending forward, the moon shone full on her face, and her eyes and
her thoughts went out to sea. Her companion stood watching her
countenance, and some strange expression there recalled to his mind
that vivid description:
"And then she raised her head, and upward cast
Wild looks from HOMELESS EYES, whose liquid light
Gleamed out between the folds of blue-black hair,
As gleam twin lakes between the purple peaks
Of deep Parnassus, at the mournful moon."
After a short silence, Sir Roger said:
"Miss Earl, I can find no triumph written on your features, and I doubt
whether you realize how very proud your friends are of your success."
"As yet, sir, it is not assured. My next book will determine my status
in literature; and I have too much to accomplish--I have achieved too
little, to pause and look back, and pat my own shoulder, and cry, Io
triumphe! I am not so indifferent as you seem to imagine. Praise
gratifies, and censure pains me; but I value both as mere gauges of my
work, indexing the amount of good I may or may not hope to effect. I
wish to be popular--that is natural, and, surely, pardonable; but I
desire it not as an end, but as a means to an end--usefulness to my
fellow-creatures;
'And whether crowned or crownless, when I fall,
It matters not, so as God's work is done.'
I love my race, I honor my race; I believe that human nature,
sublimated by Christianity, is capable of attaining nobler heights than
pagan philosophers and infidel seers ever dreamed of. And because my
heart yearns toward my fellow-creatures, I want to clasp one hand in
the warm throbbing palm of sinful humanity, and with the other hold up
the lamp that God gave me to carry through this world, and so struggle
onward, heavenward, with this generation of men and women. I claim no
clear Uriel vision, now and then I stumble and grope; but at least I
try to keep my little lamp trimmed, and I am not so blind as some, who
reel and stagger in the Maremme of crime and fashionable vice. As a
pilgrim toiling through a world of sinful temptation, and the night of
time where the stars are often shrouded, I cry to those beyond and
above me, 'Hold high your lights, that I may see my way!' and to those
behind and below me, 'Brothers! sisters! come on, come up!' Ah! these
steeps of human life are hard enough to climb when each shares his
light and divides his neighbor's grievous burden. God help us all to
help one another! Mecca pilgrims stop in the Valley of Muna to stone
the Devil; sometimes I fear that in the Muna of life we only stone each
other and martyr Stephen. Last week I read a lecture on architecture,
and since then I find myself repeating one of the passages: 'And
therefore, lastly and chiefly, you must love the creatures to whom you
minister, your fellow-men; for if you do not love them, not only will
you be little interested in the passing events of life, but in all your
gazing at humanity, you will be apt to be struck only by outside form,
and not by expression. It is only kindness and tenderness which will
ever enable you to see what beauty there is in the dark eyes that are
sunk with weeping, and in the paleness of those fixed faces which the
earth's adversity has compassed about, till they shine in their
patience like dying watch-fires through twilight.' In some sort I think
we are all mechanics--moral architects, designing as apprentices on the
sands of time that which, as master builders, we shall surely erect on
the jasper pavements of eternity. So let us all heed the noble words."
She seemed talking rather to herself, or to the surging sea where her
eyes rested, than to Sir Roger; and as he noticed the passionless
pallor of her face, he sighed, and put his hands on hers.
"Come, walk with me on the beach, and let me tell you why I came back
to New York, instead of sailing from Canada, as I once intended."
A half hour elapsed, and Mrs. Andrews, who was sitting alone on the
piazza, saw the governess coming slowly up the walk. As she ascended
the steps, the lady of the house exclaimed:
"Where is Sir Roger?"
"He has gone."
"Well, my dear! Pardon me for anticipating you, but as I happen to know
all about the affair, accept my congratulations. You are the luckiest
woman in America."
Mrs. Andrews put her arm around Edna's waist, but something in the
countenance astonished and disappointed her.
"Mrs. Andrews, Sir Roger sails to-morrow for England. He desired me to
beg that you would excuse him for not coming to bid you good-bye."
"Sails to-morrow! When does he return to America?"
"Probably never."
"Edna Earl, you are an idiot! You may have any amount of genius, but
certainly not one grain of common sense! I have no patience with you! I
had set my heart on seeing you his wife."
"But, unfortunately for me, I could not set my heart on him. I am very
sorry. I wish we had never met, for indeed I like Sir Roger. But it is
useless to discuss what is past and irremediable. Where are the
children?"
"Asleep, I suppose. After all, show me 'a gifted woman, a genius,' and
I will show you a fool."
Mrs. Andrews bit her lip, and walked off; and Edna went upstairs to
Felix's room.
The boy was sitting by the open window, watching gray clouds trailing
across the moon, checkering the face of the mighty deep, now with
shadow, now with sheen. So absorbed was he in his communing with the
mysterious spirit of the sea, that he did not notice the entrance of
the governess until he felt her hand on his shoulder.
"Ah! have you come at last? Edna, I was wishing for you a little while
ago, for as I sat looking over the waves, a pretty thought came into my
mind, and I want to tell you about it. Last week, you remember, we were
reading about Antony and Cleopatra; and just now, while I was watching
a large star yonder making a shining track across the sea, a ragged,
hungry-looking cloud crept up, and nibbled at the edge of the star, and
swallowed it! And I called the cloud Cleopatra swallowing her pearl!"
Edna looked wonderingly into the boy's bright eyes, and drew his head
to her shoulder.
"My dear Felix, are you sure you never heard that same thought read or
quoted? It is beautiful, but this is not the first time I have heard
it. Think, my dear little boy; try to remember where you saw it
written."
"Indeed, Edna, I never saw it anywhere. I am sure I never heard it
either; for it seemed quite new when it bounced into my mind just now.
Who else ever thought of it?"
"Mr. Stanyan Bigg, an English poet, whose writings are comparatively
unknown in this country. His works I have never seen, but I read a
review of them in an English book, which contained many extracts; and
that pretty metaphor which you used just now, was among them."
"Is that review in our library?"
"No, I am sure it is not; but you may have seen the lines quoted
somewhere else."
"Edna, I am very certain I never heard it before. Do you recollect how
it is written in the Englishman's poem? If you can repeat it, I shall
know instantly, because my memory is very good."
"I think I can give you one stanza, for I read it when I was in great
sorrow, and it made an impression upon me:
'The clouds, like grim black faces, come and go;
One tall tree stretches up against the sky;
It lets the rain through, like a trembling hand
Pressing thin fingers on a watery eye.
The moon came, but shrank back, like a young girl
Who has burst in upon funereal sadness;
One star came--Cleopatra-like, the Night
Swallowed this one pearl in a fit of madness!'
"Well, Felix, you are a truthful boy, and I can trust you!"
"I never heard the poetry before, and I tell you, Edna, the idea is
just as much mine as it is Mr. Biggs's!"
"I believe you. Such coincidences are rare, and people are very loath
to admit the possibility; but that they do occasionally occur, I have
no doubt. Perhaps some day when you write a noble poem, and become a
shining light in literature, you may tell this circumstance to the
world; and bid it beware how it idly throws the charge of plagiarism
against the set teeth of earnest, honest workers."
"Edna, I look at my twisted feet sometimes, and I feel thankful that it
is my body, not my mind, that is deformed. If I am ever able to tell
the world anything, it will be how much I owe you; for I trace all holy
thoughts and pretty ideas to you and your music and your writings."
They sat there awhile in silence, watching heavy masses of cloud darken
the sea and sky; and then Felix lifted his face from Edna's shoulder,
and asked timidly:
"Did you send Sir Roger away?"
"He goes to Europe to-morrow, I believe."
"Poor Sir Roger! I am sorry for him. I told mamma you never thought of
him; that you loved nothing but books and flowers and music."
"How do you know that?"
"I have watched you, and when he was with you I never saw that great
shining light in your eyes, or that strange moving of your lower lip,
that always shows me when you are really glad; as you were that Sunday
when the music was so grand; or that rainy morning when we saw the
pictures of the 'Two Marys at the Sepulchre.' I almost hated poor Sir
Roger, because I was afraid he might take you to England, and then,
what would have become of me? Oh! the world seems so different, so
beautiful, so peaceful, as long as I have you with me. Everybody
praises you, and is proud of you, but nobody loves you, as I do."
He took her hand, passed it over his cheek and forehead, and kissed it
tenderly.
"Felix, do you feel at all sleepy?"
"Not at all. Tell me something more about the animalcula that cause the
phosphorescence yonder--making the top of each wave look like a fringe
of fire. It is true that they are little round things that look like
jelly--so small that it takes one hundred and seventy, all in a row, to
make an inch; and that a wineglass can hold millions of them?"
"I do not feel well enough to-night to talk about animalcula. I am
afraid I shall have one of those terrible attacks I had last winter.
Felix, please don't go to bed for a while at least; and if you hear me
call, come to me quickly. I must write a letter before I sleep. Sit
here, will you, till I come back?"
For the first time in her life she shrank from the thought of suffering
alone, and felt the need of a human presence.
"Edna, let me call mamma. I saw this afternoon that you were not well."
"No, it may pass off; and I want nobody about me but you."
Only a narrow passage divided her room from his; and leaving the door
open, she sat down before her desk to answer Mr. Hammond's appeal.
As the night wore on, the wind became a gale; the fitful, bluish glare
of the lightning showed fearful ranks of ravenous waves scowling over
each others' shoulders; a roar as of universal thunder shook the shore,
and in the coral-columned cathedral of the great deep, wrathful ocean
played a wild and weird fugue.
Felix waited patiently, listening amid the dead diapason of wind and
wave, for the voice of his governess. But no sound came from the
opposite room; and at last, alarmed by the omnious silence, he took up
his crutches and crossed the passage.
The muslin curtains, blown from their ribbon fastenings, streamed like
signals of distress on the breath of the tempest, and the lamplight
flickered and leaped to the top of its glass chimney.
On the desk lay two letters addressed respectively to Mr. Hammond and
Mrs. Murray, and beside them were scattered half a dozen notes from
unknown correspondents, asking for the autograph and photograph of the
young author.
Edna knelt on the floor, hiding her face in the arms which were crossed
on the lid of the desk.
The cripple came close to her and hesitated a moment, then touched her
lightly:
"Edna, are you ill, or are you only praying?"
She lifted her head instantly, and the blanched, weary face reminded
the boy of a picture of Gethsemane, which, having once seen, he could
never recall without a shudder.
"Forgive me, Felix! I forgot that you were waiting--forgot that I asked
you to sit up."
She rose, took the thin little form in her arms, and whispered:
"I am sorry I kept you up so long. The pain has passed away. I think
the danger is over now. Go back to your room, and go to sleep as soon
as possible. Good-night, my darling."
They kissed each other and separated; but the fury of the tempest
forbade all idea of sleep, and thinking of the "Fisher Folk" exposed to
its wrath, governess and pupil committed them to Him who calmed the
Galilean gale.
"The sea was all a boiling, seething froth,
And God Almighty's guns were going off,
And the land trembled."