There was nothing in this
to disturb her mind; a feeling of confidence had overcome her since
her experience with Aunt Lucretia. Her present environment was so
far from the scenes of her old pain and misery that it seemed
nothing actually could disturb her again.
The peacefulness of the scene impressed Tunis as well. When they
came up finally upon the brink of the headland they saw a spiral of
smoke rising from one of the chimneys of the distant Ball homestead.
The man pointed to it and, smiling down upon her, repeated a verse
he had read somewhere which he knew expressed the hope she held:
"I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled
Above the green elms that a cottage was near;
And I said, 'if there's peace to be found in the world,
A heart that was humble might hope for it here.'"
"That is pretty near right, don't you think, Ida May?"
"It is, indeed! Oh, it is!" she cried. "And my heart _is_ humble,
Tunis. I feel that God has been very good to me--and you," she added
softly.
"I've been mighty good to myself," he responded. "Ida May, there
never was a girl just like you, I guess. Anyway, I never saw such a
one. I--I don't know just how to put it, but I feel that you are the
only girl in the world I can ever feel the same toward.
Pages:
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198