The Making of a Soul

broad old staircase of Greenriver and crossed the hall with so fairy

ing was calling, calling insistently to Toni to come and share its glo

vitality of the daylight; and when, after some difficulty, Toni unlocked the big hall do

she stood, thrilling delightfully with a sense of adv

roses growing beside the door. Other scents there were-a dozen of them-from the flowers massed in glowing ranks in the beds;

; and already the velvety brown bees were beginning to hum their spinning chorus as they hovered here and there

ater has beneath the early morning sky; and away beyond the river the thin, delicate mists of

e steps with arms outstretched, like some young priestess of a pagan faith welcoming the sun. "

he garden from the towing path beyond. Leaning her arms on the stone she looked out over the shining river, and in fancy her spirit roved here and there-to t

f strange sea-creatures lived; the jagged, tooth-like rocks springing from the depths of the ocean, ready to destroy the passing ships; the still more wonderful lighthouses, rising, some of them, like tall white needles into the turquoise sky; the gulls, flashing grey and white in the sunshine; the salt scent of the

ry, Owen had taken his bride straight away from the Registrar's dingy office to Paddington, thence to Cornwall; and h

rain began to run along the sea shore, so that the whole expanse of ocean lay spread before the window,

Its song had helped her to bear herself properly during the long hours alone with the man she had married. Again and again, when embarrassment threatened

marriage, after only three weeks' engagement, must have meant a complete upheaval of her entire life; and the very fact that he did not love her gave an added gentleness to his intercourse with

cessful after all; and since they spent the days exploring the coast, which was new to b

as there the slightest suspicion of a shadow between th

brought him the proofs of an article required for the next number of the Bridge. An urgent note from Barry accompanied the papers,

h the severe pain which had racked him all day, so that consecutive thought was almost impossible. He tried, again a

ked up from the maga

ather timidly, and by way of answer he t

y eyes-neuralgia, I expect. Do your best, won't yo

oroughly; and she had applied herself to his l

nsive knowledge of the master poets and their wo

; Tennyson, of course, was included in the pupils' studies, and Shakespeare, carefully edited, was

cluded, hastily, that the printers were at fault, and cheerfully amended the latter initials to the one magic R. In the same way she confused Keats and Yeats; and finished by ascribing to

look at her husband, and found him lying back in

the numerous corrections. "I say, they must be getting careless at the office to let all these slips go through!" He ran his eye over the

oof-reading is an art. "This line-'There may be Heaven, there must be Hell'-that's Ro

ni did not

stake. "And the next is hers, too. And--" he was skimming down the page "-wh

ltered; for though she did not yet realize the enormity of

name was Christina; but this h

ered, or she would never hav

poke irritably, and Toni shrank miserably into her chair. "Why, Toni, have you ne

d Owen went on reading, finding still further evidences of his wif

nsposing two words into a more ordinary sequence is not a very heinous offence; but to Owen, racked with pain, the whole affair was an instance of the mo

d when he saw how he had hurt her, he threw aside the proof-

saw the critic in the husband, and trembled to think how often she must fall short of his high standard; to Owen because the affair seemed to open up such v

o whom the world of art and literature was a sphere apart, its shibboleths mere meaningless babble in he

g ground for two beings so widely diverse as they, husband and wife t

h consumed, for the time being, all doubts and petty vexations. After all, she was only a child-and she loved him; and so he took her

e that she was the mistress of this beautiful place, that Greenriver, with its grounds, its flowers, its lofty roo

ng afternoons on the river, thereby missing, to Toni's great content, three or four callers who had come to see what manner of woman Owen Rose had married. That these calls must be returned To

d made her way down to the towing path beneath. She often walked beside the river in these quiet morning hours, alone un

nd stimulating. Although he was nearly two years old Jock was a puppy at heart. He did his best to comport himself as a full-grown dog should do: but had lapses into babyh

very desirable trait in an animal belonging to Toni, who loved all cats and wo

her they strolled by the river in the fresh morning air, Toni gazing half-absently towards the distant hills, Jock ke

se he would have liked to keep the neighbourhood free from this essentially modern phase of river-life; but to Toni the gay little bungalows had a charm of their own. They were all specially spick and span just now, having been newly painted and garnished with flowers for the season; and Toni looked across the river with frank interest at the Cot, the Dinky House, the Mascot, and the rest of t

harply to a halt by the sound of a deep bark from the other side of the water; and looking

ut in this case the human being was a man in his shirt sleeves, and the canine was a singularly beaut

rzoi, having flung down the gage of battle and asserted her dignity, retired gracefully from the contest, and walking dainti

sist a second look; and the dog's master had a good view of the girl whom he guessed to be the young mistr

only the sight of the coils of black hair which bound her head, and the gleam of the gold wedding-ring on her finger, which placed her definitely in the category of womanhood; and

t. It was the height of discourtesy to stand staring; and with a b

early out of sight did they turn back and re-enter the litt

ni kindly if she felt incl

y," he said. "I'm afraid this must be our last holiday ja

a trifle wistful; and

t it? I must be up in town then, and I'm afraid I shall be late home. There's a

"I've got Jock to keep me company and t

r four women. There's the telephone, too, you know, so you really needn't be

s," she said. "I ...

nd Owen felt an unwonted c

ndly, but Toni seem

her courage in both hands and spoke bravely. "I was wondering whether you would a

tion at the thought of her relations. "Ask your cousin by all means. You must remembe

... but ..." suddenly her words came with a rush "... I know my people aren't like yours ... I c

ing. "Your people are my people now, you know, and I don't w

r hand impulsively a

so well that we belong to different

der. "Don't be a little silly-and now run away and write to you

na?vely. "You see the shop closes on Thursda

e from that to which he was accustomed, struck a chill to Owen's heart; but

on Thursday morning Owen went off to town, after

the car, but if she can stay, telephone for a taxi from

he idea of entertaining her cousin in her new home. "I'v

two." Owen was hunting for a paper as he spoke. "Confound it, where i

handed him the p

te little secretary, Toni! I guess

to take her old place behind the typewriter in Owen's room. She hated to see him leaving her, longed to beg him to stay; but something stronger than personal longing held her back. A wife, she told herself, must be a

ld be with her during the afternoon. It was a day created for gladness, for rejoicing, and Toni, made

whizzed down the avenue; and the smile wh