Page:By Sanction of Law.pdf/62

 clearness of the sky showing through the treetops, and the quietness of the street all seemed to cast a dream spell over her that she could not overcome. Casting a robe about her and gathering some cushions about her feet she drew a chair and sat by the window looking out on the dew-sprinkled lawn and the street along which it ran till her gaze trailed itself out into the distant sky where only a few stars twinkled; and out where her thoughts could roam at will.

There was an entrancing stillness about the night with all the earth in slumber, the whole scene spreading out like some fairy garden over which some witching spell had been cast. As she sat, there came over her a loneliness, a dreaminess, that caused her to sigh aloud. Her heart seemed especially filled with tenderness and pity tonight as she sat, her elbows on the sill, her hands cupped and her chin resting in them, a lone teardrop hanging like pearls at the corner of each eye. A breeze, gentle and almost warm rustled the light silken sleeves of her gown and the lacy trimmings at her throat. Almost unconsciously her voice gave sound to the thoughts running through her mind.

"I wonder," she sighed, "if we'll ever meet?—I'd just like to tell him how much I thank him—He's the hero of my heart—and always will be.—Oh, I wonder if he's dead—Poor man." At this thought she bowed her head and wept silently. As she bowed her head in tears a figure at the base of the great elm near her window stirred as if to move. It was not the intention of the figure to play