"
Ah! the enchantment, the feminine persuasiveness, the heart-moving
sincerity which breathed through that simple phrase! From lips so
untutored, it seemed marvelous. Ransom was not insensible to its power,
for he quivered under her hand and his eyes took on a look of wonder. But
he made no attempt to answer, even by a sign. He seemed content for that
one instant just to listen and to look.
The man hanging over the stream drew back his arm. He had been deceived
by a bit of froth; some of it clung yet to his fingers.
"Come," entreated the girl, her face emerging softly into the light, as
she stooped lower over the lantern. "Come!" she had taken him by the hand
and was drawing him gently upward.
With a leap he was on his feet and had thrown her off. Some memory had
come to make her entreaty hateful.
"No," he cried, "no! Here is my place and here will I stay. You are a
stranger to me! You drove her to this act, and you shall not cajole me
into forgetting it."
He had spoken loudly; not so much because he remembered her affliction,
but because of the roar of the fall and his own overwhelming passion. The
result was that the lawyer caught every word; possibly the workers at the
water-edge did also; for some of them quickly turned their heads. But
she, though she stopped short in the spot where he had pushed her, gave
no evidence of hearing his words or even of resenting his manner.
Pages:
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103