circumstances were such that I should
weep. But sleep was sweeter than
tears, and not only the pain in my mind
but the jar and bruise of my body
seemed to demand that oblivion. So I
gave way to the impulse, and the grey
veils wrapped around and around me
as a spider's web enwraps a fly. And
for hours I knew nothing.

When I awoke it was the close of day.
Long tender shadows lay across the
fields, the sky had that wonderful clear-
ness and kindness which is like a hu-
man eye, and the soft wind puffing in
at the window was sweet with field
fragrance. A glass of milk and a plate
with two slices of bread lay on the win-
dow sill by me, as if some one had
placed them there from the outside. I
could hear birds settling down for the
night, and cheeping drowsily to each
other. My cat came on the scene and,
seeing me, looked at me with serious,
expanding eyes, twitched her whiskers
cynically, and passed on. Presently I
heard the voices of my family. They
were re-entering the sitting-room. Sup-
per was over -- supper, with its cold
meats and shining jellies, its "floating