And being at last put upon the right track, I found it taking me a long
way backwards. It took me away to the beginning, when Mary Ellen first
came across the entry, and showed me that then and there the arrow was
sped, and love went where it was sent. I had misgivings, even, of having
taken a portion of the dark liquid in the little bottle. I could
perceive the drawing of the "chain," and almost feel the "lassoo" about
my neck.
"Lawyer, indeed! And wonderfully sharp at cross-questioning, when you
couldn't draw a secret from a woman! Lawyer, indeed! Of great
penetration, that couldn't read a young girl's heart, when it lay open
before you,--that couldn't read your own! You'd better give up the
profession, and go to painting. That suits you better. Beauty is your
chief delight, after all. Not only beauty of face, but beauty of
everything under the sun. Go sit in your crotch among the green boughs
and paint landscapes!"
It was full four years ago that I thus inveighed against myself, and
just about a year from the time when I took up the moonlight talk where
it had been left off, and finished it so charmingly.
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