sky, the dewiness and freshness of all nature and all life. It seemed
the unstained beginning of all things to me.

The woods were wet; we could not go through them, and so we went a
longer way, along the river and back by the road.

This time he did not do all the talking, but made me talk, and listened
carefully to all I said; and I was so happy, talking was not any effort.

At last he made some allusion to the music of last night; that he was so
glad to see that I loved music as I did. "But I don't particularly," I
said in confusion, with a great fear of being dishonest, "at least I
never thought I did before, and I am so ignorant. I don't want you to
think I know anything about it, for you would be disappointed." He was
silent, and, I felt sure, because he was already disappointed; in fear
of which I went on to say--

"I never heard any one sing like that before; I am very sorry that it
gave any one an impression that I had a knowledge of music, when I
hadn't. I don't care about it generally, except in church, and I can't
understand what made me feel so yesterday."

"Perhaps it is because you were in the mood for it," he said. "It is
often so, one time music gives us pleasure, another time it does not."

"That may be so; but your voice, in speaking, even, seems to me
different from any other. It is almost as good as music when you speak;
only the music fills me with such feelings."

"You must let me sing for you again," he said, rather low, as we walked