Alma record., 1914-04-02
VAL|ANIS Of VIRGINIA
Continued from page 6.

UIILIIIVIV VI UmuIluIII
Continued from page 6.
tremulous II had been her best avail
able moment, and she had used It.
AZ she moved away, her faint color
slightly heightened. she was glad Of
the interruption. II was better as It
was. When John Valiant came to her
again.
But TO him. as he stood watching
her move lightly from him. there was
vouchsafed illumination. 1t came to
him suddenly that that placidity and
hauteur which he had 30 admired In
the old days were no mask for fires
within. The exquisite husk was the
real Katharine. Hers was the lowell
ness Of some tall white lily cut In
marble. splendid but chill. And with
tho thought, between him and her
there swept through the shimmering
candle-lighted air breath Of wet rose
fragrance like an impalpable cloud,
and set in the midst of 1t a misty star
tinted gown sprayed with hlSeeofthe-
valley. and above 1t girls face clear
and vivid. her deep shadow-blue eyes
fixed on his.
The music Of two-step was lam
gushing when, a little later, Valiant
and Shirley stroIled down between
the garden box-hedges, cypressehaped
and lifting spire-like toward a sky
which bent, a silent canopy Of mauve
and purplish blue. Behind them
Damory court lay a nest Of woven
music and laughter. The long white
muslined porch shimmered goldenly,
and beside it under the lanterns dal-
lied fiirtatious couple or two. ghost
like in the shadows.
Come" he said Let me take you
to see the sun-dial now"
The tangle had been cut away and
a narrow gravel-path led through the
pruned creepers. She made an excla-
nation of delight. The onyx-pillar
stood in an oasis of white-moonfow-
ers, white dahlias, mignonette and mar
cissus; bars of late lilies-of-the-val-
ley beyond these, bordered with Arum-
lilies, white clematis, iris and bridal
wreath, shading out into tender paler
hues that ringed the spotless purity
like dawning passion.
white for happiness" he quoted.
you said that when you brought me
here-the day we planted the ram
blers. Do you remember what /
said? That some day, perhaps, should
love this spot the best of all at Damory
court" He was silent 81 moment. trac-
ing with his finger the motto on the
dial's rim. when l was very little, :"
he went on-"hardly more than three
years old, l think-my father and l
had a play, in which we lived in a
great mansion like this. 1t was called
Wishing House, and it was in the mid.
die OF the Never-Never Land-a sort
of beautiful fairy country in which
everything happened right. | know
now that the Never-Never Land was
Virginia, and that Wishing House was
Damory court. No wonder my father
loved it! No wonder his memory turn.
ed back TO 1t always I've wanted TO
make it as it was when he lived here,
And / want the old dial to count happy
hours for me.
Something had crept into his tone
that struck her with a strange sweet
terror and tumult of mind. The hand
that clutched her skirts about her
knees had begun to tremble and she
caught the other hand to her cheek
in vague hesitant gesture. The moon
flowers seemed to be great round eyes
staring up at her.
Shirley" he said, and now his
voice was shaken with longing-"will
you make my happiness for me-"
She was standing perfectly still
against the sun dial, both hands, laced
together, against her breast, her eyes
on his with a strange startled look.
Over the hush Of the garden now, like
the very soul OF the passionate night,
throbbed the haunting barcarole of
Tales OF Hoffmann:"
might OF stars and night of love"
an inarticulate echo of his longing He
took a step toward her, and she turn
ed like one in sudden terror seeking
a way of escape. But he caught her
close in his arms.
Il love you!" he said. Hear it now