Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/372

RV 367 (VICTORY) She slipped from his arms, and took his hand. "Come," she murmured. "Come with me."

Together they walked into the blue glowing mist. The path was straight and even. He walked without effort, as in the days of his youth. The path widened and they came to an open field. She took a few hibiscus blossoms and twined them in her hair. For the first time he noticed the magnificence of her costume, adorned with pearls and jewels, that dulled in comparison to the brilliance of her eyes, wet with tears of happiness. And then she danced for him, danced "The Rainbow Skirt and Feather Jacket" to the music of the wind and the trees, danced until the blue mist grew lighter, merging into the pink glow of peace and morning.

Horror-stricken, she paused, and seized his hand.

"Hurry! Hurry!" she cried. "We must flee before the sun. We must be far away at dawn, to the Isles of the Blest."

And then the path before them magically opened upon the turrets of a strange city, a city that was the dwelling place of Immortals, a city of everlasting peace.

"Come," she said softly, "I will show you our home in the golden palace, beyond the jade door."

Hand in hand, they went forward joyously together.

RV 367 (367)