Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/75

 Give us the second note in the chord!" But the second note is the first! Like Toto's kingly singer, he can go no farther than Do! He can roar it louder and louder, do! DO! but he cannot sing re! though he should split his throat.

We can make no symphony of praise for him; he gave the key-note, others must make the harmony. It is painful of ascent at best, this hill, even where ambition is the staff, and the heels are winged with genius. It is too rough a road for a woman to tread, and let us hope that our young heroine will not attempt it. Better for her the smooth country by-road, with fruitful fields on either hand, than the rugged mountain path. And yet "Mr. Toil" is the only spouse who is never unfaithful; and when friend, sweetheart, husband, break troth with a woman, let her open her arms and fold the grim old fellow to her deserted breast. If she be true to him, he will not forsake her in the darkest hour. The more homage she laid at the feet of the mortal lover, the colder he grew, perchance; but with "Mr. Toil" every sacrifice is richly rewarded, the closer the embrace in which she folds him, the stronger the support he returns.

None of these thoughts troubled Margaret Ruysdale, one may be sure, as she sat high up on her scaffolding in the dark gallery of the