Emma Wolf

“ Are you feeling better, Bob?”
The soft, star-like eyes did not wander in their gaze.
“Why did you come?” he breathed finally. His voice was surprisingly musical.
“Why?” faltered Ruth. “Oh, to bring you these roses. Do you care for flowers, Bob?” She lifted the mass of delicate buds toward him. Two pale, transparent hands went out to meet them. Tenderly as you sometimes see a mother press the cheek of her babe to her own, he drew them to his cheek.
“Oh, my darlings, my darlings!” he murmured passionately, with his lips pressed to the fragrant petals. ”

“ During the week in which Ruth had established herself as nurse-in-chief to her mother she had seen him almost daily. Time in a quiet sick-room passes monotonously; events that are unnoticed in hours of well-being and activity here assume proportions of importance; meal-times are looked forward to as a break in the day; the doctor’s visit especially when it is the only one allowed, is an excitement. Dr. Kemp’s visits were short, but the two learned to look for his coming and the sound of his deep, cheery voice, as to their morning’s tonic that would strengthen the whole day. ”

“ Levice sat on. No further sound broke from him; he had clinched his teeth hard. It had come to this, then. She loved him; it was too late. If the man’s heart alone were concerned, it would have been an easy matter; but hers, Ruth’s. God! If she really loved, her father knew only too well how she would love. Was the man crazy? Had he entirely forgotten the gulf that lay between them? Great drops of perspiration rose to his forehead. Two ideas held him in a desperate struggle,—his child’s happiness; the prejudice of a lifetime. ”

“ Mrs. Levice was in bright spirits, and seemed striving to outdo the night in brilliancy. For a while Kemp maintained a sort of Roland-for-an-Oliver conversation with her; but with his eyes continually straying to the girl before him, it became rather difficult. Some merry rowers down the river were singing college songs harmoniously; and Mrs. Levice soon began to hum with them, her voice gradually subsiding into a faint murmur. The balmy, summer-freighted air made her feel drowsy. She listened absently to Ruth’s occasional warnings to Kemp, and to the swift dip of the oars. ”

“ Kemp bowed his head. The dogged earnestness about his mouth and eyes deepened; he kept his gaze steadily and attentively fixed upon Levice. Ruth, who was the cause of the whole painful scene, seemed remote and shadowy.
“As you say,” began Levice, “we are not orthodox; but before we become orthodox or reform, we are born, and being born, we are invested with certain hereditary traits that are unconvertible. Every Jew bears in his blood the glory, the triumph, the misery, the abjectness of Israel. The farther we move in the generations, the fainter grown the inheritance. ”

“ Upon the mantel-piece, the unflickering light from a waxen taper burning in a glass of oil lent an unusual air of Sabbath quiet to the room.
“I have ‘Yahrzeit’ for my mother,” explained Jo Lewis, glancing toward the taper after greeting his visitors. He sat down quietly again.
“Do you always burn the light?” asked Arnold.
“Always. A light once a year to a mother’s memory is not much to ask of a son.”
“How long is it since you lost your mother?” questioned Ruth, gently.
Jo Lewis was a man with whom she had little in common. ”

“ Left to herself, Ruth hesitated before going to her father with her ill-boding tidings. None knew better than she of the great, silent love that bound her parents. As a quiet, observant child, she had often questioned wherein could be any sympathy between her father, almost old, studious, and reserved, and her beautiful, worldly young mother. But as she matured, she became conscious that because of this apparent disparity it would have been still stranger had Mrs. Levice not loved him with a feeling verging nearer humble adoration than any lower passion. ”

“ All through the performance Ruth sat a silent, attentive listener. Kemp, with his ready laugh at Gratiano’s sallies, would turn a quick look at her for sympathy; he was rather surprised at the grave, unsmiling face beside him. When, however, the old Jew staggered alone and almost blindly from the triumphantly smiling court-room, a little pinch on his arm decidedly startled him.
He lowered his glass and turned round on her so suddenly that Ruth started.
“Oh,” she faltered, “I—I beg your pardon; I had forgotten you were not Louis.”
“I do not mind in the least,” he assured her easily. ”

“ A young girl with a winsome, sympathetic face, and hearty manner, can easily become the confidante of a fine fellow of fourteen. Will, with his arm tucked through hers, would saunter around after dusk and tell her all his ambitions.
The soft, starry evenings up in the mountains, where heaven seems so near, are just the time for such talk.
They were walking thus one evening toward the river, Ruth in a creamy gown and with a white burnous thrown over her head, Will holding his hat in his hand and letting the sweet air play through his hair, as he loved to do. ”

“ Arnold’s playing was the poem, Ruth’s voice the music the poet might have heard as he wrote, sweet as a violin, deep as the feeling evolved,—for when she came to the line beginning, “oh, love, they die in yon rich sky,” she might have stood alone with one, in some high, clear place, so mellow was the thrill of her voice, so rapt the expression of her face. Kemp looked as if he would not tire if the sound should “grow forever and forever.”
Mrs. Levice was wakeful after she had gone to bed. Her husband also seemed inclined to prolong the night, for he made no move to undress. ”

“ But Ethel Tyrrell, aged three, thought they had the “dolliest” time when she and Ruth, having rowed a space out of sight, jumped out, and taking off their shoes and stockings and making other necessary preliminaries to wading, pattered along over the pebbly bottom, screaming when a sharp stone came against their tender feet, and laughing gleefully when the water rose a little higher than they had bargained for; then, when quite tired, they would retire to the beach or the boat and dry themselves with the soft damask of the sun. ”

“ You have just said, my Ruth, that you would not renounce your religion. How could that be when you have a Christian husband who would not renounce his?”
“I should hope he would not; I should have little respect for any man who would give up his sacred convictions because I have come into his life. As for my religion, I am a Jewess, and will die one. My God is fixed and unalterable; he is one and indivisible; to divide his divinity would be to deny his omnipotence. ”

“ In this gentle mood a tenderness had come into view that drew her to him with a touch of kinship.
“Thirty years,” he answered musingly,—“thirty years. It is a long time, Ruth; but every year when I light the taper it seems as if but yesterday I was a boy crying because my mother had gone away forever.” The strong man wiped his eyes.
“The little light casts a long ray,” observed Ruth. “Love builds its own lighthouse, and by its gleaming we travel back as at a leap to that which seemed eternally lost.”
Jo Lewis sighed. ”

“ Life was full for her, not because she was occupied,—for a busy life does not always prove a full one,—but because she entered thoroughly into the lives of others, struggled with their struggles, triumphed in their triumphs, and was beginning to see in everything, good or bad, its necessity of existence. Under ordinary circumstances one cannot see much misery without experiencing a world of disillusion and futile rebellion of spirit; but Ruth was not living just at that time under ordinary circumstances. ”

“ Here at Beacham’s it is very narrow and shallow, with low, shelving beaches on either bank; but in the tiny row-boat which she immediately secured, Ruth pushed her way into enchantment. The river winds in and out through exquisite coves entangled in a wilderness of brambles and lace-like ferns that are almost transparent as they bend and dip toward the silvery waters; while, climbing over the rocky cliffs, run bracken and the fragrant yerba-buena, till, on high, they creep as if in awe about the great redwoods and pines of the forest. ”

“ If Ruth, in the privacy of her heart, realized that she was sailing toward dangerous rapids, the premonition gave her no unpleasant fears. Possibly she used no lens, being content to glide forever on her smooth stream of delight. When the sun blinds us, we cannot see the warning black lurking in the far horizon. Without doubt the girl’s soul and sympathies were receiving their proper food. ”

“ The Levices’ house stood well back upon its grounds, almost with an air of reserve in comparison with the rows of stately, bay-windowed houses that faced it and hedged it in on both sides. But the broad, sweeping lawns, the confusion of exquisite roses and heliotropes, the open path to the veranda, whereon stood an hospitable garden settee and chair, the long French windows open this summer’s morning to sun and air, told an inviting tale.
As Dr. Kemp ascended the few steps leading to the front door, he looked around approvingly. ”

“ A pause, and then, “Did Ruth?”
Mrs. Levice saw a flash of daylight, but her answer hinted at no perturbation.
“Very much. Booth is her actor-idol, you know.”
“So I have heard.” She spread her crochet work on her knee as if measuring its length, then with striking indifference picked it up again and adjusted her needle,—
“She came in rather late, didn’t she?”
“Did she?” questioned Mrs. Levice, parrying with enjoyment the indirect thrusts. “I did not know; had the curtain risen?”
“No; there was plenty of time for every one to recognize her.” ”

“ A pleased smile broke over Mrs. Levice’s face; she buried her face in the roses, and then opened the envelope.
“From Louis!” she exclaimed delightedly. “Poor fellow! he was dreadfully upset when he came in. He did not say much, but his look and hand-shake were enough as he bent to kiss me. Do you know, Ruth, I think our Louis has a very loving disposition?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Yes. One would not think so, judging from his manner; but I know him to be unusually sympathetic for a man. I would sooner have him for a friend than many a woman; he has not many equals among the young men I know. ”

“ We do not live wholly through ourselves. What is called fate is but the outcome of the spinning of other individuals twisted into the woof of our own making; so no life should be judged as a unit.
Ruth Levice was not alone in the world; she was neither recluse nor a genius, but a girl with many loving friends and a genial home-life. Having resolved to bear to the world an unchanged front, she outwardly did as she had always done. Her mother’s zealous worldliness returned with her health; and Ruth fell in with all her plans for a gay winter,—that is, the plans were gay ”

“ I can never forgive you; love’s litany holds no such word. Be happy if you can, my santa Filomena; it will help me much,—the fact that you are somewhere in the world and not desolate will make life more worth the living. If it will strengthen you to know that I shall always love you, the knowledge will be eternally true. Wherever you are, whatever the need, remember—I am at hand.
HERBERT KEMP.
Mr. Levice’s face was more haggard than Ruth’s when, after this answer was received, she came to him with a gentle smile, despite the heavy shadows around her eyes. ”

“ The rain had ceased for the time, and she stepped out upon the veranda. The fragrance of the rain-soaked flowers stole to her senses; the soft, sweet breeze caressed her temples; she stood still in the perfumed freshness and enjoyed its peace. By and by she began to walk up and down. Evening was approaching, and Louis would soon be home. She had decided to meet him on his return and have it over with. She must school herself to some show of graciousness. The thing must not be done by halves or it must not be done at all. Her father’s happiness ”

“ Levice, wholly in the dark as to the cause, wondered openly.
“You might be thirty, Ruth, instead of twenty-two, by the staidness of your demeanor. While other girls are laughing and chatting as girls should, you look on with the tolerant dignity of a woman of grave concerns. If you had anything to trouble you, there might be some excuse; but as it is, why can’t you go into enjoyments like the rest of your friends?”
“Don’t I? Why, I hardly know another girl who lives in such constant gayety as I. Are we not going to a dinner this evening and to the ball to-morrow night?” ”

“ But let us inspect this box which Nora has just handed me, before we consider you;” and Mrs. Levice softly deposited a huge box upon Ruth’s lace-enveloped bed.
She was still bonneted and gloved, and with a slight flush in her clear olive cheek she looked like anything but a subject for fears. From the crown of her dainty bonnet to the point of her boot she was the picture of exquisite refinement; tall, beautifully formed, carrying her head like a queen, gowned in perfect, quiet elegance, she appeared more like Ruth’s older sister than her mother. ”