tude, but
because you have put trust into a heart that has known no trust since
its betrayal, and because, where trust is, there may some day
come--more."

Her voice sank almost to a whisper, but Piper Tom heard it. He took
her hand in his own, and she felt him tremble--she was the strong one,
now.

"Spinner in the Sun," he began, huskily, "were you meaning that you'd
go with me when I took the highway again, and help me make the world
easier for everybody with a hurt heart?"

"Yes," she answered. "You called me and I came--for always."

"Were you meaning that you'd face the storms and the cold with me, and
take no heed of the rain--that you'd live on the coarse fare I could
pick up from day to day, and never mind it?"

"Yes, I meant all that."

"Were you meaning, perhaps, that you'd make a home for me? Ah, Spinner
in the Sun, it takes a woman to make a home!"

"Yes, I'd make a home, or go gypsying with you, just as you chose."

The Piper laughed, with inexpressible tenderness. "You know, I'm
thinking, that 't would be a home, and not gypsying--that I'd not let
you face anything I could shield you from."

Evelina laughed, too--a low, sweet laugh. "Yes, I know," she said.

The Piper turned away, struggling with temptation. At length he came
back to her. "'T is wrong of me, I'm thinking, but I take you as a man
takes Heaven, and we'll do the work together. 'T is as though I had
risen from the dead and the gates of pearl were open, with all the
angels of God beckoning me in."

In the exaltation that was upon him, he had no thought of profaning her
by a touch. She stood apart from him as something high and holy,
enthroned in a sacred place.

"Beloved," he pleaded, "will you be coming; with me now to the place
where I saw you first? 'T is night now, and then 'twas day, but I'm
thinking the words are wrong. 'T is day now, with the sun and moon and
stars all shining at once and suns that I never saw before. Will you
come?"

"I'll go wherever you lead me," she answered. "While you hold my hand
in yours, I can never be afraid."

They went through the night together, taking the shorter way over the
hills. She stumbled and he took her hand, his own still trembling.
"Close your beautiful eyes," he whispered, "and trust me to lead you."

Though she did not close her eyes, she gave herself wholly to his
guidance, noting how he chose for himself the rougher places to give
her the easier path. He push