"I see many signs of promise in her happy
face; but I will wait and hope a little longer for
her sake."
"Where is father, Sally?" asked Nan, as that
functionary appeared, blinking owlishly, but utterly
repudiating the idea of sleep.
"He went down the garding, miss, when the
gentlemen cleared, bein' a little flustered by the
goin's on. Shall I fetch him in?" asked Sally, as
irreverently as if her master were a bag of meal.
"No, we will go ourselves." And slowly the
two paced down the leaf-strewn walk.
Fields of yellow grain were waving on the
hill-side, and sere corn blades rustled in the wind,
from the orchard came the scent of ripening fruit,
and all the garden-plots lay ready to yield up their
humble offerings to their master's hand. But in
the silence of the night a greater Reaper had
passed by, gathering in the harvest of a righteous
life, and leaving only tender memories for the
gleaners who had come so late.
The old man sat in the shadow of the tree his
own hands planted; its fruit boughs shone ruddily,
and its leaves still whispered the low lullaby
that hushed him to his rest.
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