"Hush, dear!" said Mrs. Leighton. "He is gone."

They buried him at the very top of the valley, where the eye, guided by
the parallel hills, sought ever and again the great mountain thirty
miles away. In that clear air the distant mountain seemed very near.
There were those who said they could see the holy cross upon its brow.

That night Mrs. Leighton and mammy sat idle and staring in the house.
Suddenly they had realized that for them the years of tears had passed.
They looked at each other and wondered by what long road calm had come
to them. Not so Natalie. Natalie was out in the night, out upon the
hills.

She climbed the highest of them all. As she stumbled up the rise, she
lifted her eyes to the stars. The stars were very high, very far, very
cold. They struck at her sight like needles.

Natalie covered her eyes. She stood on the crest of the hill. Her
glorious hair had fallen and wrapped her with its still mantle. Her
slight breast was heaving. She could hear her struggling heart pounding
at its cage. She drew a long breath. With all the strength: of her young
lungs she called: "Lew, where are you? O, Lew, you _must_ come! O, Lew,
I _need_ you!"

The low hills gave back no echo. It was not silence that swallowed her
desperate cry, but distance, overwhelming distance. She stared wide-eyed
across the plain. Suddenly faith left her. She knew that Lewis, could
not hear. She knew that she was alone. She crumpled into a little heap
on the top of the highest hill, buried her face in her soft hair, and