The Lucky Piece

on the hearth. His listeners waited without speaki

nued. "It may have been more than that-I do not know. It was on the So

there was merry-making between these villages. We drove back and forth in sleighs, and there were nights along the Sound when th

sleighful. Half way to our village their sleigh had broken down, and the merry makers had gayly walked the remainder, trusting to our hospitality to return them to their

eyes from the fire a

your voice that carry me back to that night. But Robin, when he

as over, I took her in my cutter and we drove together across the snow-along the moonlit shore. I do not remember what we said, but I think it was very little. There was no need. Whe

been blest as few have been blest, and if I have paid the price and still must pay, then will I pay with gla

at dim room every syllable was distinct, and his listeners waited, breathless, at each pause for him to continue. Into Frank's eyes had come the far-awa

y, I went one day to tell her father of our love. Oh, I was not afraid. I have read of trembling lovers and halting words.

nd sat by me and took my hand. 'My boy,' he said, 'your father was my friend. I held his hand when he died, and a year later I followed your mother to her grave. You were then a little blue-eyed fellow, and my heart was wrung for you. It was not that you lacked friends, or means, for there were enough of both. But, oh, my boy

orget his listeners. But all at once he fixed his

me! as I saw it through the dark that last night, was as your face is now. Then I went away. I do not remember all the places, bu

rthless paper-a mockery of scrolled engravings and gaudy seals. To me it did not matter-nothing matters to one doomed. To them it was shipwreck. John Farnham, a high-strung, impetuous man, was struck down. The tension of those weeks, and the final blow, broke his spirit and undermined his strength. They had only a pittance and a little cottage in these mountains, which they had used as a ca

der had rolled away. The voice, too, ceased for a little, as if from weariness. The others m

the air and the altitude of these mountains had been found beneficial for those stricken like me. He could not know how his words made my heart beat. Now, indeed, there was a reason for my coming-an excuse for being near her-

furnishings, my ornaments, even to my apparel-and with the money I bought the necessaries of mountain life-implements, rough wear and a stor

and the volumes lying

rld, there are no disappointments nor unfulfilled dreams. King, lover, courtier and clown-how often at my bidding have they trooped out of the shadows t

his high finger of rock which commanded the valley and her home. There is a spring here and a bit of fertile land. It was State land and free, and I pitched my tent here, and that summer I cleared an open space for tillage and built a hut for the winter. The sturdy labor and the air of the hills strengthened my arm and renewed my life. But there was more than that. For often there came a clear day, when the air was like crystal and other peaks drew so near that it seemed one might reach out and stroke them w

d for a moment, but pre

when I had gone to my point of lookout and had directed my glass-there, just before me, she stood. There she lived and moved-she who had been, who was still my life-who had filled my being with a love that made me surrender

etting for the moment that she could not see me. Not that I could distinguish her features at such a range, only her dear outline,

. Frank felt her tremble and caught the sound of a repressed sob. He kne

any times in the door-yard to behold their wonder. When at last the leaves fell, and the trees were bare, I could watch even from the door of my little hut. The winter was lo

n top. All my wants I supplied here. There was much game of every sort, and the fish near by were plentiful. I had a store of meal for the first winter, and during the next summer I cultivat

he cottage, and my heart stood still, for I feared that she was dead. The air dazzled that day, but when near evening

her-nothing but my love. Penniless, and a dying man, likely to become a helpless burden at any time, what could I bring to her but added grief. And perhaps in her unconscious heart she knew. For more than once that winter, when the trees were stripped and the snow was on the

pted the tale. It

ment later she added, brokenly, "Yes, yes-tell me the rest. Te

wife!' And I would have rushed down into the drifts of the mountain, but in th

. In the light of the fading embers only his outline could be seen-wanderin

ave gone, then, but it came at a time when the gloom hung on the mountains and I did not know. When the air cleared and for days I saw no life, I knew that the little house was empty-that she had follow

elieving that Rosalind might find them. With Nick the Weaver on a moonlit bank I have waited for Titania and Puck and all that lightsome crew. On the wild mountain top I have met Lear, wandering with only a fool for company, and I have led them in from the storm and warmed them at this hearthstone. In that recess Rom

first it lay in my heart to tell him. But the fear of losing him held me back, as I have said. And of himself he told me as little. Rarely he referred to the past. Only once, when I spoke of kin

rip of the rain had ceased-light found its way through the parchmen

for a time their host seemed to have forgot

think we shall find the sun on the hills once more, and I will direct you to the trail. But perhaps you will wish to pause a moment to see something of my means of providing for life in this retreat. I will ask of you, as I did of Robin, to say nothing of m

them to the a

Furs have renewed my clothing, and I have never wanted for sustenance-chiefly nuts, fruits and vegetables. I no longer kill the animals, but have made them my intimate friends. The mountains have furnished me with everything-companions, shelter, clothing and food, savors-even salt, for just above a deer lick I found a small trickle from which I have

tivated ground shut in by the thick forest. It was an orderly

was like a gay jewel, set there on the hi

, into this bright living place, was stepping from enchantment of the play into the daylight of reality. Frank praised the various wonders in a subdue

he looked steadily at Constance and added: "The likeness to her I loved el

ace before her. In spite of the ravage of years and illness she saw, bene

to-day," she said, almost inaudibly.

oed Frank, holdi

idden way to the point where the trail cro

hunger one has now and then for his own kind." A moment later he had grasped their hands, bidden them a fervent godspeed, and disappeared into the bu