“Der ist selig zu begrussen Der ein treues Herze weiss!”
He went to Corydon’s home. In the parlor he came upon her unannounced; and she started and stared at him as at a ghost. She did not make a sound, but he saw the pallor sweep over her face, he saw her tremble and sway. She was like a reed shaken by the wind--so fragile and so sensitive! He got a sudden sense of the storm of emotion that was shaking her; and it frightened him, while at the same time it thrilled him strangely.
He came and took her hands in his, and gently touched her cheek with his lips. She stared at him dumbly.
“It’s all right, sweetheart,” he whispered. “It’s all right.” And she closed her eyes, and it seemed as if to breathe was all she could do.
“Come, dearest,” he said. “Let us go out.”
And half in a daze she put on her hat and coat, and they went out on the street. He took her arm to steady her.
“Yes, I got it. And it was a wonderful letter. It couldn’t have been better.”
“And there’s no more to be said. There’s no refusing such a challenge. You shall come with me.”
And he felt a tremor pass through her arm. He pressed it tightly to his side. “I love you!” he whispered.
“Ah Thyrsis!” she exclaimed. “How you have tortured me!”
“Hush, dear!” he replied. “Let’s not think of that. It’s all past now. We are going on! You have proven your grit. You are wonderful!”
They went into the park, and sat upon a bench in the sun.
“I’ve finished the book!” he said. “And in a couple more days it’ll be copied. I’ve a letter of introduction to a publisher, and he wrote me he’d read it at once.”
“It seems like a dream to me,” she whispered.
“We won’t have to wait long after that,” he said. “Everything will be clear before us.”
“And what will you do in the meantime?” she asked.
“Mother wants me to stay with her,” he said. “I’ve only got ten dollars left. But I’ll get some from the publisher.”
“Oh, Corydon!” he cried, “you’ve no idea how wonderful it is--the book, I mean. You’ll be amazed! It kept growing on me all the time--I got new visions of it. That was why it took me so long. I didn’t dare to appreciate it, while I was doing it--I had to keep myself at work, you know; but now that it’s done, I can realize it. And oh, it’s a book the world will heed!”
