His last words were barely audible. He was breathing heavily as his lips
ceased to move.

She gave it up, returned to the window and watched the changing colors
until the white light from the sun's face had touched with life the
last shadows of the valleys and flashed its signals from the farthest
towering peaks.

Her whole being quivered in response to the beauty of this glorious
mountain world. The air was wine. She loved the sapphire skies and the
warm, lazy, caressing touch of the sun of the South.

A sense of bitterness came, just for a moment, that the man she had
chosen for her mate had no eye to see these wonders and no ear to hear
their music. During the madness of his whirlwind courtship she had
gotten the impression that his spirit was sensitive to beauty--to the
waters of the bay, the sea and the wooded hills. She must face the
facts. Their stay on the island had convinced her that he had eyes only
for her. She must make the most of it.

It was ten o'clock before Jim could be persuaded to rise and get
breakfast. She literally pulled him up the stairs to the observatory on
the tower of the hotel.

"What's the game, Kiddo? What's the game?" he grumbled.

"Ask me no questions. But do just as I tell you; come on!"

Her face was radiant, her hair in a tangle of riotous beauty about her
forehead and temples, her eyes sparkling.

"Don't look till I tell you!" she cried, as they emerged on the little
minaret which crowns the tower.

"Now open and see the glory of the Lord!" she cried with joyous awe.

The day was one of matchless beauty. The clouds that swung low in
the early morning had floated higher and higher till they hung now in
shining billows above the highest balsam-crowned peaks in the distance.

In every direction, as far as the eye could reach, north, south, east,
west, the dark ranges mounted in the azure skies until the farthest dim
lines melted into the heavens.

"Oh, Jim dear, isn't it wonderful! We're lucky to get this view on our
first day. It's such a good omen."

Jim opened his eyes lazily and puffed his cigarette in a calm,
patronizing way.

"Tough sledding we'd have had with an automobile over those hills," he
said. "We'll try it after lunch, though."

"We'll go for a ride?" she cried joyfully.

"Yep. Got to hunt up the folks. The mountains near Asheville!" he said
with disgust. "I should say they are near--and far, too. Holy smoke,
I'll bet we get lost!"

"Nonsense----