seldom meet face to face in real life. The Indian maiden
became a memory you must believe in: she had loved someone and they
were parted somehow and she was turned into a swan or something. Off
on either side the creek, the woods stretched dim and mysterious; but
nearby, on the banks, the little new leaves stirred and sparkled in the
sun like green jewels; and the water dribbled and sparkled over the flat
white stones of the ford like a million swishing diamonds; and off in
the distance there were sounds which may have been birds--or, perhaps,
the legendary maiden singing; and, farther away, somewhere, a faint
clanging music which must be cow-bells, only they had a remote heavenly
quality rare in cow-bells.

And, all the while, the sun beaming down on the ford, intensely soft and
bright. Why is it that the sun can seem so much softer and brighter in
some places than in others?

Missy felt that soft brightness penetrating deeper and deeper into her
being. It seemed a sort of limpid, shining tide flowing through to her
very soul; it made her blood tingle, and her soul quiver. And, in
some mysterious way, the presence, of Raymond Bonner, consciousness
of Raymond--Raymond himself--began to seem all mixed up with this
ineffable, surging effulgence. Missy recognized that she had long
experienced a secret, strange, shy kind of feeling toward Raymond. He
was so handsome and so gay, and his dark eyes told her so plainly that
he liked her, and he carried her books home for her despite the fact
that the other boys teased him. The other girls had teased Missy,
too, so that sometimes she didn't know whether she was more happy or
embarrassed over Raymond's admiration.

But, to-day, everyone seemed lifted above such childish rudeness.
When Missy had first led off from the watering-tank toward Rocky Ford,
Raymond had taken his place by her side, and he maintained it there
masterfully though two or three other boys tried to include themselves
in the class president's group--"buttinskys," Raymond termed them.

Once, as they walked together along the road, Raymond took hold of her
hand. He had done that much before, but this was different. Those other
times did not count. She knew that this was different and that he, too,
knew it was different. They glanced at each other, and then quickly
away.

Then, when they turned off into a field, to avoid meeting people who
might ask questions, Raymond held together the barbed wires of the fenc