Page:In Maremma, by Ouida (vol 3).djvu/63

 'It is but the truth, she said simply. 'As for the sailor, I think he is far away, by this time. Shall I go to Telamone today?'

'Do as you wish; you are wiser than I.'

'I must take the boat if I go; I cannot carry the cloth all the way by land. Pray, pray be prudent. Do not burn a fire by day, the smoke might be seen; it passes upward through that hole in the rock; I saw it myself yesterday. If a shepherd saw, he might come.'

'Put the fire out, if it trouble you.'

'Without it you are cold, I know; down here it is cold, though above the sun is so hot. Ah, that you could but see the light.'

'I see it through your eyes as blind men do by eyes they love.'

She was silent; she busied herself in getting ready the strong linen cloth she had spun in the winter, and in getting ready also the simple meal that he would require in her absence. For herself a crust of bread taken with her was enough.

'The first nightingales sang last night,' she said. 'Did you hear them?'

'No; do you know what I hear when I