Page:Possession (Roche, February 1923).pdf/67

 When they had drawn on their dresses they ascended the steps in the bank, talking softly in Indian. Their mood of noisy gaiety seemed to have passed; their faces were pensive, even sad. They were so near for a moment that he might have touched them. He longed to put out his hand and draw that supple, sweetest one, in among the cedars, hold her in his arms, and tell her how beautiful she was.

Their feet made a little rustling in the grass; the gate creaked and they were gone.

The boy, returning to the shore, and finding himself deserted, began carefully to extinguish the fire. With sand and stones he smothered it, and, running up the steps, passed Derek, loudly whistling.

Once more the perfume of the locust flowers drenched the air; with it mingled the sharp, sweet smell of the cedars, and the faint odor of burnt wood. The waves commenced a sudden, crisp lapping on the shore, as though the business of the night had just begun. All about his feet he saw the dim, white heads of mushrooms.

"I must have some of those for my breakfast," he thought.

He re-lit his pipe and sauntered to the house.