Page:Margaret Sherwood--A Puritan in Bohemia.djvu/150

142 everywhere. She had beaten out her ideas with her footfalls. Now her prayer had been granted, and she felt only this creeping numbness.

Climbing the hill to the old burying-ground, she found herself giving an exultant little laugh. Then her knees trembled, and it became hard to walk. She grasped the churchyard railing, and leaned her forehead against the iron. Oh, she did care! She had created something that seemed to live. She had justified her existence.

As she walked home, she saw that the tops of the willows in the park were yellow. The sky wore the expectant blue of early spring.

The mood of exultation lasted nearly a week. Anne had to adjust life to a new emotion. She had accepted failure. Her whole life had been in accord with that. Now a sudden change had proved her old reckonings false. She must learn to accept success

Mrs. Kent was filled with pride. Helen,