Wandering Heath by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
page 102 of 194 (52%)
page 102 of 194 (52%)
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"'You see it? Ah! but you didn't observe it till I spoke. Nobody
does. Miss Montmorency, when I pointed it out, declared that in all the time she has lived here she never once noticed it. Yet the first night I came here I saw it. My window looks westward, and I pulled the curtain aside for a moment before getting into bed. It had been dark as pitch when the coach dropped me; but now the moon was up, over opposite; and the first thing my eyes lit on was this line of lights reaching up the mountain. When I woke, next morning, it was still there, flashing in the sun. I think it was at breakfast, when I asked Miss Montmorency about it, and found she'd never remarked it, that it first came into my head 'twas meant for me. Anyhow, the idea's fixed there now, and I can't get away from it. I've asked many people, and there's not one can explain it, or has ever remarked it till I pointed it out.' "His hand trembled on his stick, and a fit of coughing shook him. While we stood still I heard a banjo in a saloon across the road tinkle its long descent into the chorus of 'Juliana'--" 'Was it weary there In the wilderness? Was it weary-y-y, 'way down in Goshen?' The chorus came roaring out and across the street; ceased; and the banjo slid into the next verse. "'I wish they wouldn't,' said the Bishop, taking the handkerchief from his lips and speaking (as I thought) rather peevishly. "'It's a weariful tune.' |
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