The Fruit of the Tree

ect for a month; and in the interval he

n and women again, with desires and passions of their own. Under Amherst's influence the mixed elements of the mill-community had begun to crystallize into social groups: his books had served as an improvised lending-library, he had organized a club, a rudimentary orchestra, and various othe

little polity he had built up. He hoped his influence might at least persist in the form of an awakened instinct of fellowship; and he gave every spare hour to strengthening the links he had tried to form. The boys, at any rate, would be honestly sorry to have

on of these sports: the glow of movement, the tumult of young voices, the sting of the winter air, roused all the boyhood in his blood. But today he had to force himself through his part in the performance. To the very last, as he now saw, he had hoped for a sign in the heavens: not the reversal of his own sentence--for, merely on disciplinary grounds, he perceived that to be impossible--but something pointing to a change in the management of the mills, some proof that Mrs. Westmore's intervention had betokened more than a passing impulse of compassion. Surely she would not accept without question the abandonment of her favourite scheme; and if s

last Saturday with him should be their merriest; but he went through his part m

leigh driven rapidly up the avenue. Amherst watched it in surprise. Who, at that hour, could be invading the winter solitude of Hopewoo

hesitancy and quickness in the light tread which even the snow could not impede. Half-way up the slope to the house they met, and Mrs. Westmore held out her hand. F

old me you were here--I arrived

checked her ardour instead of kindling it;

knew you would!" he exclaimed; and at h

ain she wavered, perceptibly trusting her difficulty to him, in the sweet way he had been tryin

t his optimism. "Wha

I go, to tell you a little about s

g them? I don't underst

tandpoint I think I deserved it. But the best part of my work needn't go with me--and that is what I should like to speak to you about. As assistant manager I can easily be repl

way up the slope to

throng on the ice and at the other b

"What a pity it was never done before!

er his look he went on quickly: "Will you come over and look at the coasting

mherst's object in turning the talk had been to gain a moment's respite. He could not bear to waste his perfect hour in futile explanations: he wanted to keep it undisturb

llow, flashing across the wide meadow at the base of the hill, and tossed upward again by its own impetus, till it vanished in the dar

down. Amherst looked at her with a smile. He saw that every other feeling had vanished in the exhilaration of watching the flight of the sleds. She had forgot

?" he asked, feeling no resentment un

ne like a child's--she might have been a loveli

ow he caught up the sled-rope, and raced back with the pack of rejoicing youth in his wake. The sharp climb up the hill seemed to fill his lungs with flame: his whole body b

ed to them as they dispersed; then he turned for a moment

e knoll; but the woodland opposite stood black against scarlet vapour

sy, seating herself, tucked her furs close with littl

his shoulder, and "Re

ound, the sled met the level, and shot away across the meadow toward the opposite height. It seemed to Amherst as though his body had been left behind, and only the spirit in him rode the wild blue currents of galloping air; but as the sled's rush began to slacken with the strain of the last ascent he was recalled to himself by the touch of the breathing warmth at his back. Bessy had put out a hand to steady herself, and as she leaned f

's the only thing bett

e-bole, panting a little

in!" she sighed, looking about her thro

t have one more," he proposed; but she

ed across to the pine?" She tilted her head, narrowing her lids as she peered upward. "T

of hidden life, or a hemlock twig dashed its spicy scent into their faces. As they grew used to the twilight their eyes began to distinguish countless delicate gradations of tint: cold mottlings of grey-black boles against the snow, wet russets of drifted beech-l

to a high tree-top, from which his ironical chatter pattered down on their unheeding ears. Amherst's sensations were not of that highest order of happiness where mind and heart mingle their elements in the strong draught of life: it was a l

sound through mufflings of ice and huddled branches. Bessy stood still a moment, bending

on the farther side of the meadow stood the sleigh which was to carry Bessy back to Hanaford. A sudden sense of the evanescence of the moment roused Amherst from his absorption. Before the next change in the fading light he w

d she stood still while Amherst bent down to release h

't want to let

ising: "But you'll come back to it

d a little as she answered: "I will do what you tell me--but I

g: "How can you desert me? How can you put this great responsibility on me, and then leave me to bear it alone?" and in the light of her u

dge of the wood: "You will not be alone--in time you will

med, pausing suddenly, and speaking with

so. "And I'm sure that if you will come here ofte

?" she broke in, with a feminine excess of incons

m? Don't you u

aines and Truscomb angry--yes; but i

o--no, it's not possible!" he exclaimed, with a

ill happen a

eas are stirring everywhere. And if you'll o

nterposed with unexpected acuteness; and after a short silence he answered:

could wait! Oh, it's cr

rob of entreaty that we

le in the present state of things th

nsist on their asking you to stay, yo

hould sti

lain sight on the height beyond. Their steps made no sound on the sodden drifts underfoot, and in the silence he thought he heard

aid, with sud

s enveloped them. It absorbed her outline into the shadowy background of the wood, from which her face emerged in a faint spot of pallor; and the same obscur

drew a step nearer he felt her yield to