The Secret Power

ousness of its own grandeur. Over a spacious tract of Southern California it extended its snowy canopy, moving from the distant Pacific Ocean across the heights of the Sierra Madre, now and then c

e moments he was absorbed in reading,-at others in writing. Close within his reach was a small note-book in which from time to time he jotted down certain numerals and made rapid calculations, frowning impatiently as though the very act of writing was too slow for the speed of his thought. There was a wonderful silence everywhere,-a silence such as can hardly be comprehended by anyone who has never visited wide-spreading country, over-canopied by large stretches of open sky, and barricaded from the further world by mountain ranges which are like huge walls built by a race of Titans. The dwellers in such regions are few-there is no traffic save the coming and going of occasional pack-mules across the hill tracks-no sign of modern civilisation. Among such deep and solemn solitudes the sight of a living human being is strange and incongruous, yet the man seated o

after all! Yesterday y

ged her s

wish you t

ou! But nothing

had no

-"Yes!-I should find some,-s

g, he lifted the pail of milk and carried it into his cabin. Disa

d beautifully sour,-a 'lovely curd' as our cook at home used to say-, and with that 'lovely curd' and plenty of f

ve them to her-bit one with he

said, emphatically-"I

Of course I know I don't pay YOU! Of course I know I pay the Plaza!-tha

his"-she said, with a disparag

line of hotels? You are employed at the Plaza to fetch and carry;-to wait on th

d!" she said with a sl

ly preten

you pr

ply because we dare not face the truth! For example, consider the sun! It is a furnace with flames five thousa

d her black br

talk nonsense about the sun? I suppose you ARE

with mock

se tubercles! They could never stand the Plaza!-the gaiety, the brilliancy-the-the all-too dazzling social round!..." he p

anella, biting her lips vexedly-"A

dear! But why shoul

d her sunburnt ski

n fond of wom

often! Too often! But

r rose-coloured neckerchie

replied, curtly-"You

, mellow, hearty

so? Wonderful Manella? Come

iled kindly into her dark fierce eyes, and noted with artistic approval the unspoiled beauty of natural

ed, lazily-"Quite the model for a Juno. Be satisfie

foot suddenly

id-"And you know it!

proachful for

Temper, temper! Of course I do not

gainst her bosom, seeking to con

would obey your every wish. I am a good servant,-I can cook and sew and wash and sweep-I can do everything in a house and you should have

hills was, or seemed more intense and impressive-the great white cloud still spread itself in large leisure along the miles of s

he avoided his stea

ant me to love you! Manella, there is no such thing as love!-not in this world! There is animal attraction,-the magnetism of the male for the female, the female for the mal

y from their tightly folded position

ite believe that it is the natural instinct of the female to select her mate,-but, though the rule may hold good in the forest world, it doesn't always work among the human herd. Man considers that he has the right of selection-quite a mistake of his I'm sure, for he has no real sense of beauty or fitness,

rom his grasp. There were te

ly a poor, ignorant girl. I cannot talk-but I can love! Ah yes, I can love! You say there is no such thing as love! What is it then, when one prays every ni

smi

when her fancy is attracted by a particular sort of man. She makes an ideal of

is look startled her,-she made th

she murmure

ood Catholic, and you believe in devils. So you make the sign of the cross as a protectio

suppressed in her by the force of a passionate emotion she could not restr

cked man!" she said-"You have no hea

middle three times! I am a wicked man,-I have no heart,-I'm

echoed-"Wh

-worn-out-ness-a state in which you wish yourself in a hot bath or a cold one,

e widely than their won

w?" she

rs turned to bones,-to be guarded from sickness and harm,-heavens!-think of it! No more adventures in life,-no mo

ed an ang

know it!-and when you go away from this place, you could leave me and forget me,-I should neve

n a sudden impulse he put an arm about her, drew her to him and kis

hild-woman. Physically you are a Juno,-mentally you are an infant! By and by you will grow

om him. Then, as he saw her eyes still upl

e wants the earth and all that therein is-does the Englishman, and of course he can't have it. He rather grudges America her large slice of rich plum-pudding territory, forgetting that he could have had it himself for the price of tea. But I don't grudge anybody anything-America is welcome to the whole bulk as far as I'm concerned-Britain ditto,-let them both eat and be filled. All I want is to be left alone. Do you hear t

upted Manella, suddenly an

one?

and moved

Not me. A

with a touch of

inva

on't know. She h

gesture

oured wig. Yes!-that will do, Manella! You'd better go and wait upon her. I've got all I want

minute,

ob

hair, yo

no

or yo

dreamily at the darkening sky-"There is

inva

s quite well. She arrived a

re about me, I don't mind telling you this,-that there's nothing in

ed at his harsh tone. He s

golden hair is a demon-a witch-a mischief and a curse

paused, me

those creatures they put in pictures of fairy tale

"-he answered, with visible impa

turning abruptly picked up her empty milk

ugh space. His figure seemed gradually drawn within the coming night so as almost to become part of it, and the stillness around him had a touch of awe in its impalpable heaviness. One would have thought that in a place of such utter loneliness, the natural human spirit of a man would instinctively desire movement

Dare we go on? If actually we discover the secret-wrapped up like the minutest speck of a kernel in the nut of an electron,-what then? Will it be well or ill? Shall we find it w

cloud. Its rising had been veiled in the drift of black woolly vapour, and its silver glare, sweep

were the goddess Cynthia beloved of Endymion, as woman and goddess in an

emed to be poised on the earth like a bird just lightly descended; in the stirless air its garments appeared closed about it fold on fold like the petals of an unopened magnolia flower. As he looked, it came gliding towards him with the floating ease of an air bubble, and the strong

d, "Well planned and quite wo