ernal silence.

"Many nights I have thought of you, Anna. Your face has flitted
out of my watch-fire, and then I have been a haunted man. But
with the morning, the glorious unstained morning the passion of
living would stir even the blood of a clod. It comes over the
mountains, Anna, pink darkening into orange red, everywhere a
wonderful cloud sea, scintillating with colour. It is enough to
make a man throw away canvas and brushes into the bottomless
precipices, enough to make one weep with despair at his utter and
absolute impotence. Nature is God, Anna, and the greatest artist
of us all a pigmy. When I think of those ateliers of ours, the
art jargon, the decadents with their flamboyant talk I long for
a two-edged sword and a minute of Divinity. To perdition with
them all.

"I shall come back, if at all, a new man. I have a new cult to
teach, a new enthusiasm. I feel years younger, a man again. My
first visit will be to you. I must tell you all about God's land,
this marvellous virgin country, with its silent forests and
dazzling peaks. I make no apology for not being with you now. You
love Ennison. Believe me, the bitterness of it has almost
departed, crushed out of me together with much of the weariness
and sorrow I brought with me here by the nameless glory of these
lonely months. Yet I shall think of you to-day. I pray, Anna,
that you may find your happiness.

"Your friend,
"DAVID COURTLAW."

"P.S.--I do not congratulate you on your success. I was certain
of it. I am glad or sorry according as it has brought you
happiness."

Anna's eyes were a little dim as she poured out her coffee, and the
laugh she attempted was not altogether a success.

"This is all very well," she said, "but two out of the three are rank
deserters--and if the papers tell the truth the third is as bad. I
believe I am doomed to be an old maid."

She finished her breakfast and strolled out across the garden with the
letters still in her hand. Beyond was a field sloping steeply upwards,
and at the top a small pine plantation. She climbed slowly towards it,
keeping close to the hedge side, fragrant with wild roses, and holding
her skirts high above the dew-laden grass. Arrived in the plantation
she sat down with her back against a tree trunk.

Already the warm sun was drawin