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 coming and braced
herself to meet it. The mystical hour, the silver-bathed wonder of the
night, a girl's frightened curiosity, combined to win her to a
listening mood. She felt on the eve of a painful but necessary ordeal,
and clasped her hands together to bear it creditably. Through the
perturbation of her mind the question flashed--Did all women feel this
way? and then the comment, How much they had to endure that they never
told!
It was the first time any man had made the great demand of her. She
had read of it in novels and other girls had told her. From this data
she had gathered that it was a happy if disturbing experience. She
felt only the disturbance. Seldom in her life had she experienced so
distracting a sense of discomfort. When David was half way through she
would have given anything to have stopped him, or to have run away.
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