Day and Night Stories

ason. A lunatic, on the other hand, was some one whose reason had gone awry-the mechanism of the brain was

t was not only joy, but a kind of sheer natural joy. Probably it was that sheer natural joy of living that reason argues to be untaught, degraded. In any case-at thirty-he married her instead o

luebells than all the chateaux on the Loire; the thought of a mountain valley in the dawn made his feet lonely in the grandest houses. Yet in these very houses was his home established. Not tha

as trees walking, perhaps she saw through a glass darkly. Heber, who had met her once or twice, though never yet to speak to, did not analyse her degree of sight, for in him, personally, she woke a secret joy and wonder that almost involve

ird might be aware-they were kind or unkind. Her parents, having collected much metal and achieved position, proceeded to make a loud noise of sorts with some success; and since she did not contribute, either by her appearance o

cord with her birth certificate. Her mother was content, however, that she should dress the lesse

ce. That's not the way to catch a nice young man of the sort we get down to stay with us now. Many a chorus-girl with less than you

htened, mother. I'm bore

sometimes to another look. Yet not often, nor with anybody. It was this other look that stirred the strange joy in the man who fell

treatment of the servants, their calculated self-indulgence, all jarred upon him more than usual. At bottom he heartily despised the whole vapid set. He felt uncomfortable and out of place. Though not a prig, he abhorred the way these folk believed themselves the climax of fine living. Their open immorality disgusted him, their indiscriminate love-making was merely rather nasty; he watched the very girl he was at last to settle down with behaving as the tone of the clique expected

was to him; she gazed at a group of broken pine trees in the park beyond. He paused an instant, the

as suddenly as she had appeared. She turned at once. Her eyes and lip

med, as he came up. "Everybody calls me Elizabeth instead of Elspeth

ere torn, her short skirt was spattered with mud. Her nut-brown hair, glossy and plentiful, flew loose about neck and shoulders. In place of the usual belt she had tied a coloured handkerchief round her waist. She wore no hat. What she had been doing to get in such a state, while her parents entertained a "distinguished" party, he did not know, but it

n a flash, throwing him a glance of in

d her, slim and supple, grace shining through the untidy modern garb-almost as though she wore no clothes. He thought of a panther standing upright. Her poise was so alert-one arm upon the marble ledge, one leg

as they are just the other thing!" And the thrill struck with unerring aim at the very root of that unrest he had always known in the state of l

s passed through his mind. But he did not at first give utterance to any of the

he party, then? Or you don't

nto his face. "But I've been here ten

ating, very innocent, very frank. He felt her as clean and sweet as some young fawn that asks plainly to be stroked and

nt you," she exclaime

ged him with her foot, holding it out a little so that he saw the shoelace was unfastened. Sh

ing her ankle with his hand, "you're going to marry one of th

whether owing to his stooping or t

," he said quickly, "because

I made mot

d the soft grey stocking-then stood up and looked her in the face. She was laughing happily, no s

tion that made him unsure of who he was and of whom he looked at. He forgot the place, the time, his own identity and hers. The lawn swept from beneath his feet, the English sunset with it. He forgot his host and hostess, his fellow guests, even his father's name and his own into the bargain. He was carried away upon a great tide, the girl always beside him. He left the sh

him to? Upon what i

upon his rushing mood. "But that doesn't matter

ey had left the statue on the lawn, the house was no longer visible behind them, and they were walking side by side between the massive rhododendron clumps. They brought up

sign of affectation, "and yet I've been l

trange expression haunted the deep eyes again, the lips were a little parted, the young breast heaving slightly, joy and excitement in her whole presentment. And as he watche

eyes that were fixed upon the field beyond. They were clear and luminous as pools of water, and in their centre, sharp as a photograph, he saw th

se were the eyes that served him for a mirror. For, looking intently thus, it seemed to him that there was a movement, a passing to and fro, a stirring as of figu

t of that wo

e caught him like a spell. There was a lilt and rhythm in the words that made it poetry. She lai

of the wood-

nderstood, a life that needed, claimed her. The ostentatious and artificial values that surrounded her, she denied, even as the distinguished hous

They belonged together in some free and open life, natural, wild, untamed. That unhampered life was flowing about them now, rising

We'll go at once. Come-hurry-before we forge

h some remembered joy. No flower, no scented garden bush delivered it. It was the perfume of young, spendthrift life, sweet with the purity that reason had not yet stained. The

ed in his ear; "when the moon

ed. He heard the flutter of skirts-just caught the grey stockings, swift

his distinguished cousin-who was helping the girl he himself was to marry to enjoy her "final fling." He looked at his cousin. He realised suddenly that he was merely vicious. There was no sun and

aires! Their shooting's all right, but their mixum-gatherum week-ends-bah!" His gesture completed all he had to say about this one in particular. He glanced sharply, nastily, at his companion. "You look as if you

er, and ran upstairs

. It was lunatic he had meant to say, yet something more as

ess, the contempt of all others but themselves, the ugly jests, the horseplay of tasteless minds that passed for gaiety, above all the s

ought was freedom, while yet it was life that they denied. He felt vampired and degraded; spontaneity went out of him. The fact that the geo

the lawn and park, the shadow of the building lay dark across the elaborate garden, and the moon, he notic

ted, its natural innocence and spirit ruined-if he were seen. "And some one would be sure to see me on a night like this. There are couples st

piping sound. He had been seen, and she was waiting for him. Before he knew it, he had made an answering call, of oddly similar kind, then switched the light out. Three minutes later, dressed in simpler clothes, with a cap pulled over his eyes,

e left behind, the atmosphere exhaled by civilisation, by heavy thoughts, by bodies overdressed, unwisely stimulated-all, all forgotten. He passed into a world of magical enchantment. The hush of the open sky came dow

g about his neck, a shower of soft hair fell on his cheek with a heady scent of earth and leaves and grass, and the same instant they were away together at full speed

aboriously shaped in mockery, they clambered over the ornamental iron railings, scorning the easier five-barred gate into the park. The longer grass then shook the dew in soaking showers against his knees. He stooped, as though in some foolish effort to turn up something, then realised that his legs, of course, were bare. Her garment was already high and free, for she, too, was barelegged like himself. He saw her little ankles, wet and shini

she cried. "No one will know you. You

nd sunlight catch the branches of a tree. She leaped from the ground to meet his swinging arms. He ran with her, then tossed her off and caught her neatly as she fell. Evading a second capture, she danced ahead, holding out one shining arm that he might follow. Hand in hand they raced on

, for with a burst of sparkling laughter again she leaped into his arms, and before he shook her free she h

and ran and sang with a great laughing sound. The wine of eternal youth flushed all his veins with joy, and the old, o

the wind and moonlight fitted close and soft about him like a skin! Of course he had youth and beauty for playmates, with dancing, laughter, singing, and a thousan

d desire, hanging her flying hair before his eyes, then bending swiftly over again to lift it,

own between their roots, there were mossy ferns, and rough grey boulders with lichen on them. But there was no dimness, for the silver of the moon sprinkled

throng. Whisht! Whew! Whir! She was gone, but another, fairer still, was in her place, with skins as soft and knees that clung as tightly. Her eye

ng with a jollity that boomed like wind through the chorus of a song. They seized her, kissed her, then sent her flyi

delight. Grapes, breasts, and rich red lips! Ho! Ho! It is time to press them that the juice of life

our own. No climbing now!" And a wind of echoing cries gave answer fr

ming soft brown bodies, then fell beneath them, smothered, bubbling with joyous laughter-next freed himself and, while they sought to drag him captive again, escaped and raced with a leap upon a slimmer, sweeter outline that swung up-only just in

ely into them. All intermingled, the laughing voices rose into a foam of song that broke against the stars. The difficult mountains had been climbed and were forgotten. Good! Then, enjoy the luxuriant,

excess-there hid that marvellous touch of loveliness which makes the natural sacred. There was coherence, purpose, the fulfilling of an exquisite law: there was worship

pulses beating with tumultuous life-helpless and yielding against the strength that pinned her down between the roots. His eyes put mastery on her own. She looked up into his face, obe

eplied, half wondering at t

little face, into her obedient eyes, about he

des beyond. The iris and the lily open; the earth is

with a sound that is the oldest in the world and so the youngest. Above it there rose the shrill, faint piping of a little reed. Only the first, true sounds were audible-wind and water-the tinkling of the dewdrops as they fell, the murm

mes ..." the valley

l with the wind and water, sweetening the valley into life as it approached. Across the ri

with the murmur of the wind and w

e. It entered. There was a sense of intolerable loveliness, of brimming life, of raptur

e of love. He passed among them, touching every head. The great hand swept with tenderness each face, lingered a moment on each beating heart. There was sweetness, peace, and loveliness; but above all, there was-life. He sanctioned every natural joy in them and blessed each passion with his power of creation.?... Yet each one saw him differently: some as a wife

oth mighty hands. He stroked the marble breasts, He felt the little hidden horns ... and, as they bent lower so that their lips me

ousand faces lifted; all stood up; the hush of worship still among them. There was a quiet as of the dawn. The piping floated ov

vy mansion. He peered in through a window, lifting her up to peer in with him. He recognised the world to which outwardly he belonged; he understood; a little gasp escaped him; and a slight shiver ran down the girl'

desirable, they feigned a guilty ignorance of that hope. They all pretended. Instead of wind and dew upon their hair, he saw flowers grown artificially to ape wild beauty, tresses without lustre borrowed from the slums of city factories. He watched them man?uvring with the men; heard dark sentences; caught gestures half delivered whose meaning should just convey that glimpse of guilt they deemed to increase

e laughed in his ear, tweaking his ho

recalling a catchword of

mate cautiously selecting mate, laid the polish of caste upon their hands and faces where gleamed

d, more to himself than to the girl in skins w

that!" And another shiver passed through her into him. He turned and hid his face against the soft skins

n and a girl, with an interchange of secret glances, had stolen from the room and were already by the

from his arms and pointed. "We will follow them.

l into the blaze of moonlight. "But they can't see us," she called, looking over her shoulder a moment. "They can only feel our presence, perhaps." And,

The night wind murmured in the branches; a bird woke into a sudden burst of song. These sounds were plainly audible. But four little pointed ears caught other,

esently reached the trees, halted, looked about them, hesitated a moment-then, with a

"Here's a log all ready for us," he added, sat down, and drew her into his arms with a sigh of satisfaction. "Sit on my knee; it's warmer for your pretty figure." He chuckled; evidently they were on famil

matter of fact, we're safer here than in my own house." He kissed her hungrily. "By Jove, Hermione, but you'

ow-I mean, I kno

he asked i

detec

"My wife is a beast, isn't she?-to hav

her tone. She looked at the encircling trees a momen

on't let's waste time talking about the rest." She contrived to shudder, and

e silvery moonlight fell on their faces, t

viction. "I'd do anything, give up anything, bear anything-j

hem, and the girl sat up, alert. She would have

in a different tone, his vexation plainly audible. "You'

r finger on her lip. Then she said

I did feel. I've felt it eve

s." He drew her back into his arms, forcing

se," she said, smiling.

hat proved her practice. "It's not me you love," she pouted, yet drinking in his praise. She liste

e game as well as he did. She looked up guiltily into his face,

er. Poor Hermione!" She lay back in his arms, drawing his face down with both hands, and kissing hi

whispered. "Things will be easier

nd again behind them. The man heard nothing. The

it this time?"

rk shadow and moonlit spaces made odd, irregular patte

that?" she a

ed that her change of moo

mething

u," and there was a rasping sound in his voice as he sai

ther of the costly clothing. Her hair had dropped a little in the struggle. The man eyed her eagerly

rtled voice. She put her finger up. "Oh, let's

, and tried to cat

broke off again. "There it is-don't you hear? It'

ng jolly together. There's nothing to be afraid of. Can't you believe me?" He tried to pull her down

im. She continued to peer nerv

at her waist again with passionate eagerness that now be

cape, turning so as to look in every

e're being watched!" she cried in terror. She darted towards

u've spoilt my-spoilt our ch

parently. She stood there s

m sure of it. Something we

yes. "All right," he said testily; "if you're going to make a fuss, we'd better go. The house is safer, possib

htened backward glances. Afraid, guilty, ashamed, with an air as though they had been

again the song, the laughter, and the happy revels. It roared across the park, it shook the windows of the house, then sank away as quickly as it came. The trees st