the will of our Father which is in heaven."
"To do the will of our Father in heaven! I know but one will, and it is
the w-w-will of Doctor P-p-paracelsus Aesculapius. I'm my own lord and
law, I am."
"Know thou that for all thy idle words, God will bring thee to
judgment?" David answered solemnly.
"Rot!" muttered the doctor, disgusted beyond endurance, and concluding
the interview with the cynical farewell,
"Good-bye, d-d-dead man! I have always hated c-c-corpses! I am going
where men have red b-b-blood in their veins."
With these words he turned on his heel and started toward the carriage,
leaving David and Pepeeta alone. Neither of them moved. The gypsy
nervously plucked the petals from a daisy and the Quaker gazed at her
face. During these few moments nature had not been idle. In air and
earth and tree top, following blind instincts, her myriad children were
seeking their mates. And here, in the odorous sunshine of the May
morning, these two young, impressionable and ardent beings, yielding
themselves unconsciously to the same mysterious attraction which was
uniting other happy couples, were drawn together in a union which time
could not dissolve and eternity, perhaps, cannot annul.
Having stalked indignantly onward for a few paces, the doctor discovered
that his wife had not followed him, and turning he called savagely:
"Pepeeta, come! It is folly to try and p-p-persuade him. Let us leave
the saint to his prayers! But let him remember the old p-p-proverb,
'young saint, old sinner!' Come!"
He proceeded towards the carriage; but Pepeeta seemed rooted to the
ground, and David was equally incapable of motion. While they stood
thus, gazing into each other's eyes, they saw nothing and they saw all.
That brief glance was freighted with destiny. A subtle communication had
taken place between them, although they had not spoken; for the eye has
a language of its own.
What was the meaning of that glance? What was the emotion that gave it
birth in the soul? He knew! It told its own story. To their dying day,
the actors in that silent drama remembered that glance with rapture and
with pain.
Pepeeta spoke first, hurriedly and anxiously: "What did you say last
night about the 'light of life?' Tell me! I must know."
"I said there is a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the
world."
"And what did you mean? Be quick. There is only a moment."
"I meant that there is a light that shines from the soul
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