Nosnibor's garden at about dusk on the following
evening.
I came at the appointed time; the girl let me into the garden and bade me
wait in a secluded alley until Arowhena should come. It was now early
summer, and the leaves were so thick upon the trees that even though some
one else had entered the garden I could have easily hidden myself. The
night was one of extreme beauty; the sun had long set, but there was
still a rosy gleam in the sky over the ruins of the railway station;
below me was the city already twinkling with lights, while beyond it
stretched the plains for many a league until they blended with the sky. I
just noted these things, but I could not heed them. I could heed
nothing, till, as I peered into the darkness of the alley, I perceived a
white figure gliding swiftly towards me. I bounded towards it, and ere
thought could either prompt or check, I had caught Arowhena to my heart
and covered her unresisting cheek with kisses.
So overjoyed were we that we knew not how to speak; indeed I do not know
when we should have found words and come to our senses, if the maid had
not gone off into a fit of hysterics, and awakened us to the necessity of
self-control; then, briefly and plainly, I unfolded what I proposed; I
showed her the darkest side, for I felt sure that the darker the prospect
the more likely she was to come.
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