come; the trees smiled upon him, the voice
of the streams bade him make haste--it all waited for him, like a
country waiting for its lord to come and take possession.

Then it seemed to him that his soul slipped like a bird from the window,
and rising in the air over that magical land, beat its wings softly in
the pale heaven; and then like a dove that knows, by some inborn
mysterious art, which way its path lies, his spirit paused upon the
breeze, and then sailed out across the tree-tops. Whither? Paul knew
not. And so at last he slipped into a quiet sleep.

He woke in the morning all of a sudden, with a kind of tranquil joy and
purpose; and when he was dressed, and gone into the hall, he found
Mistress Alison sitting in her chair beside the table laid for their
meal. She was silent and looked troubled, and Paul went up softly to
her, and kissed her and said, "I have chosen." She did not need to ask
him what he had chosen, but put her arm about him and said, "Then, dear
Paul, be content--and we will have one more day together, the last of
the old days; and to-morrow shall the new life begin."

So the two passed a long and quiet day together. For to the wise and
loving-hearted woman this was the last of sweet days, and her soul went
out to the past with a great hunger of love; but she stilled it as was
her wont, saying to herself that this dear passage of life had hitherto
only been like the clear trickling of a woodland spring, while the love
of the Father's heart was as it were a great river of love marching
softly to a wide sea, on which river the very world itself floated like
a flower-bloom between widening banks.

And indeed if any had watched them that day, it would have seemed that
she was the serener; for the thought of the life that lay before him
worked like wine in the heart of Paul, and he could only by an effort
bring himself back to loving looks and offices of tenderness. They spent
the whole day together, for the most part in a peaceful silence; and at
last the sun went down, and a cool breeze came up out of the west, laden
with scent from miles and miles of grass and flowers, which seemed to
bear with it the fragrant breath of myriads of sweet living things.

Then they ate together what was the last meal they were to take thus
alone. And at last Mistress Alison would have Paul go to rest. And so
she took his hand in hers, and said, "Dear child, the good years are
over now; but you will not forget th