Debby's thoughts had floated across
the sea; but they came swiftly back when her
companion spoke again, steadily and slow, but
with a subtile change in tone and manner which
arrested them at once.
"Miss Dora, if you should meet a man who
had known a laborious youth, a solitary manhood,
who had no sweet domestic ties to make home
beautiful and keep his nature warm, who longed
most ardently to be so blessed, and made it the aim
of his life to grow more worthy the good gift,
should it ever come,--if you should learn that you
possessed the power to make this fellow-creature's
happiness, could you find it in your gentle heart
to take compassion on him for the love of 'Brother
Will'?"
Debby was silent, wondering why heart and
nerves and brain were stirred by such a sudden
thrill, why she dared not look up, and why, when
she desired so much to speak, she could only
answer, in a voice that sounded strange to her own
ears,--
"I cannot tell."
Still, steadily and slow, with strong emotion
deepening and softening his voice, the lover at her
side went on,--
"Will you ask yourself this question in some quiet
hour? For such a man has lived in the sunshine of
your presence for eight happy weeks, and
now, when his holiday is done, he finds that the
old solitude will be more sorrowful than ever,
unless he can discover whether his summer dream
will change into a beautiful reality.
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