onths, and it is good to be with friends again." And they all sang it
together, and were perfectly at home with each other after it. So much
so, that the Bishop asked Rahal to give him a cup of tea and a little
bread; "I have come from Fair Island today," he said, "and have not
eaten since noon."

Then all the women went out together to prepare and serve the
requested meal, so that it came with wonderful swiftness, and beaming
smiles, and charming words of laughing pleasure. And when he saw a
little table drawn to the hearth for him and quickly spread with the
food he needed and smelled the refreshing odour of the young Hyson,
and heard the pleasant tinkle of china and glass and silver as Thora
placed them before the large chair he was to occupy, he sat down
happily to eat and drink, while Thora served him, and Conall smoked
and watched them with a now-and-then smile or word or two, while Rahal
and Barbara talked, and Ian played charmingly--with soft pedal
down--quotations from Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" and "Hark, 'Tis
the Linnet!" from the oratorio, "Joshua."

It was a delightful interlude in which every one was happy in their
own way, and so healed by it of all the day's disappointments and
weariness. But the wise never prolong such perfect moments. Even while
yielding their first satisfactions, they permit them to depart. It is
a great deal to _have been happy_. Every such memory sweetens after
life.

The Bishop did not linger over his meal, and while servants were
clearing away cups and plates, he said, "Come, all of you, outside,
for a few minutes. Come and look at the Moon of Moons! The Easter
Moon! She has begun to fill her horns; and she is throwing over the
mystery and majesty of earth and sea a soft silvery veil as she
watches for the dawn. The Easter dawn! that in a few hours will come
streaming up, full of light and warmth for all."

But there was not much warmth in an Orcadean April evening and the
party soon returned to the cheerful, comfortable hearth blaze. "It is
not so beautiful as the moonlight," said Rahal, "but it is very
good."

"True," said the Bishop, "and we must not belittle the good we have,
because we look for something better. Let us be thankful for our feet,
though they are not wings."

Then one of those sudden, inexplicable "arrests" which seem to seal
up speech fell over every one, and for a minute or more no one could
speak. Rahal broke the spell. "Some angel has passed thr