rfect moment over again
by standing on that bridge! It was thither he bent his steps, and as he
approached it there did come back faint echoes, little refluent waves;
his lively imagination reproduced the scene; the dazzling figure really
seemed once more to emerge from the secluded forest path; he almost
heard the sound of her voice!

He threw the horse's bridle over the limb of a tree, leaned over the
handrail of the bridge and looked down into the water. The stillness of
the world, the slumber-song of the stream, the haunting power of the
past superinduced a mood of abstraction so common in other, happier
days.

Oblivious to all the objects and events of that outside world, he stood
there dreaming of the past. While he did so, Pepeeta, following her
daily custom, left the farm-house to take an evening walk. She also
sought the little bridge. Perhaps she was summoned to this spot by some
telepathic message from her lover; perhaps it was habit that impelled
her, perhaps it was some fascination in the place itself. She moved
forward with the quiet step peculiar to natures which are sensitive to
the charm of the great solitudes of the world, and came noiselessly out
from the low bushes behind the lonely watcher. As she stepped out into
the road, she caught sight of the solitary figure and her heart,
anticipating her eye in its swift recognition, throbbed so violently
that she placed her hand on her bosom as if to still it.

"David!" she said in a low whisper.

She paused to observe him for a moment and, as he did not stir, began to
move quietly towards him as he stood there motionless--a silhouette
against the background of the darkening sky. She drew near enough to
touch him; but so profound was his reverie that he was oblivious of her
presence. It could not have been long that Pepeeta waited, although it
seemed ages before he moved, sighed and breathed her name.

She touched him on the arm. He turned, and so met her there, face to
face.

It was an experience too deep for language, and their emotions found
expression in a single simple act. They clasped each other's hands and
stood silently looking into each other's eyes. After many moments of
silence David asked: "Why do you not speak to me, Pepeeta?"

"My eyes have told you all," she said.

"But what they say is too good to be believed! You must confirm their
mute utterance with a living word," he cried.

"I love you, love you, love you," she replied.

"Y