ecks above the horizon.

"Of course I understand you, Eloise, and I do not blame you. I never
could blame you for anything." I sprang to my feet. "You'll hate me if I
say another word," I said, savagely.

She rose up, too, and put her hand on my arm. Oh, she was beautiful as
she stood beside me. So many times I have pictured her face, I will not
try to picture it as it looked now in this sweet, sacred moment of our
lives.

"Gail, I could never hate you. You do not understand me. I cannot help
what is past now. I hoped you might forget. And yet--" She paused.

All men are humanly alike. In spite of my strong love for Beverly and my
sense of right, the presence of the woman whose image for so many years
had been in the sacredest shrine of my heart, Eloise, in all her beauty
and her womanly strength and purity, standing beside me, her hand still
on my arm--all overpowered me.

I put my arms about her and held her close to me, kissing her forehead,
her cheek, her lips. The world for one long moment was rose-hued like
the sunset's afterglow; and sky and prairie, lowlands along the winding
creek, and tall elm-trees above the deepening shadows, were all engulfed
in a mist of golden glory, shot through with amethyst and sapphire, the
dainty coraline pink of summer dawns, and the iridescent shimmer of
mother-of-pearl.

Heaven opens to us here and there such moments on the way of life. And
the memory of them lingers like perfume through all the days that
follow.

We turned our faces toward the darkening village street and the tall
elms above the gathering shadows, and neither spoke a word until we
reached the door where I must say good night.

"I cannot ask you to forgive me, Little Lees, because you let me have a
bit of heaven up there. I shall go away a better man. And, remember,
that no blessing in your life can be greater than I would wish for you
to have."

The brave white face was before my eyes and the low voice was in my ears
long after I had left her door.

"Gail, I cannot help what has been, but I do not blame you. I should
almost wish myself shut in again by the tall red mesas; but maybe, after
all, the prairies are best for me. I am glad I have known you. Good
night."

"Goodnight," I said, and turned away.

And that was all. The last light of day had gone from the sky, and the
stars overhead were hidden by the thick leafage of the Burlingame elms.

XIX

A MAN'S PART

Don't you guess that