The Glimpses of the Moon

back and stared up again at thesilver-flooded sky. How queer--how inexpressibly queer--it wasto think that that light was shed by his honey-m

nd so why should heworry? Even in the light of her far-seeing cleverness, and ofhis own present bliss, he knew the future would not bear theexamination of sober tho

in the mud; but the fourthhad carried him to the very heart of wonder. It was the streamof his lively imagination, of his inexhaustible interest inevery form of beauty and strangeness and folly. On this stream,sitting in the stout little craft of his poverty, hisinsignificance and his independence, he had made some notablevoyages ..

world of wonder hadshrunk to a village peep-show. And the things which had kepttheir stimulating power--distant journeys, the enjoyment of art,the contact with new scenes and strange societies--were becomingless and less attainable. Lansing had never had more than apittance; he had spent rather too much of it in his first plungeinto life, and the best he could look forward to was a middle-age of poorly-paid hack-work, mitigated by brief and frugalholidays. He knew that he was more intelligent than theaverage, but he had long since concluded that his talents werenot marketable. Of the thin volume of sonnets which a friendlypublisher had launched for him, just seventy copies had beensold; and though his essay on "Chinese Influences in Greek Art"had created a passing stir, it had resulted in controversialcorrespondence and dinner invitations rather than in moresubstantial benefits. There seeme

ons as to the cheapest and leastboring way of disposing of the summer; and then the amazing luckof going, reluctantly and at the last minute, to spend a Sunday

e setting of luxury they were both used to, in thecramped cottage where their host had his studio in the verandah,their hostess practiced her violin in the dining-room, and fiveubiquitous chi

bought, had gone to seed soterribly-and Grace, at twenty-nine, would never again beanything but the woman of whom people say, "I can remember herwhen she was lovely."But the devil of it was that Nat had never been such goodcompany, or Grace so free from care and so full

: "Ireally can't stand the combination of Grace's violin and littleNat's motor-horn any longer. Do let us slip out till t

inding out," she rejoi

m into a show.""I suppose not. And she'll never have time to do anything worthwhile with her music."They had reached a piny knoll high above the ledge on which

ce, my trip to India with theMortimer Hickses. But it was my only chance and what the deuceis one

em? Or every possible side of it,indeed?"They had seated themselves on a commanding rock under the

ich?"After that, he seemed to remember that they sat a long timesilent, and that his next utterance was a boyish outburstagainst the tyranny of the existing order of things, abruptlyfollowed by the passionate query why, since he and she couldn'talter it, and since they both had the habit of looking at factsas they were, they wouldn't be utter fools not to take theirchance of being happy

d have to marry someday, and when she made the bargain she meant it to be an honestone; and secondly, in the matter of love, she would never giveherself to anyone

hat she unfolded her plan. Why shouldn'tthey marry; belong to each other openly and honourably, if forever so short a time, and with the definite understanding thatwhenever either of them got the chance to do better he or sheshou

h a smile, "if there's that amount of roomfor improvement. I don't know how you feel; a man's popularityis so much less precarious than a girl's--but I know it wouldfurbish me up tremendously to reappear as a married woman." Sheglanced away from him down the long valley at their feet, andadded in a lower tone: "And I should like, just for a littlewhile, to feel I had something in life of my very own--somethingthat nobody had lent me, like a fancy-dress or a motor or anopera cloak."The suggestion, at first, had se

h to want to keep it up? And why not atleast try--get engaged, and then see what would happen? Even ifshe was all wrong, and her plan failed, wouldn't it have beenrather nice, just for a month or two, to fancy they were goingto be happy? "I've often fancied it all by myself," sheconcluded; "but fancying it with you would somehow be so awfullydifferent ...."That was how it began: and this lakeside dream was what it hadled up to. Fantastically improbable as they had seemed, all herprevisions h

ssed her. "Wake up," he