Page:Stewart Edward White--The Rose Dawn.djvu/206

194 and poured out past the palms through the wide-opened door. A figure silhouetted itself, an unmistakable gangling figure, and peered short-sightedly into the darkness.

"The Mitchell boy!" breathed Daphne. "Come!" She picked up her voluminous skirts and flew lightly down one of the new-made paths. Only at the porch on the other side of the house did she pause. "This is dreadful!" she cried. "You don't suppose he will find us here? He is very persistent."

"I think we are safe here," Kenneth reassured her.

It was as though they had entered another existence. The high-keyed, throbbing, emotional, swinging world of the rhythmical violins and the low brooding lights and the warm palpitant air had given way to a peace of calm. The stars in contrast seemed more than usually far away and aloof: a leisurely night breeze, with all the time in the world to get nowhere, wandered here and there, rustling leaves idly, or raising petals. There was no sound, save the music that seemed now almost as distant as the stars.

"I do love the night!" she cried.

They stood side by side for some time, and something slow and calming seemed to come like a mist over their spirits. They talked very little. Kenneth noted the fact with a fleeting wonder that this silence caused no discomfort to his social nerve. He could say nothing and still be comfortable! Indeed, he enjoyed it. The same thing had happened that day on the beach "The air is so sweet and warm to-night," she said. "One lies in it as in the warm sea. I went swimming once at night, in midsummer. It was like lying suspended in stars. And when I moved the water flashed—phosphorescence, you know."

"I'd like to do that," said Kenneth.

They stood again for a time without speaking. It was almost as though they were awaiting something that would come out of the calm night, something that interested and held them in a suspense of expectation. Daphne was the first to arouse herself.

"Did you notice whether they have begun another dance?" she enquired.

Thus admitted, the music again became audible to them. But