Charles W. Chesnutt

“ Ordinarily a careful driver and merciful
to his beast, his eagerness to reach Patesville
increased gradually until it became necessary to
exercise some self-restraint in order not to urge
his faithful mare beyond her powers; and soon he
could no longer pretend obliviousness of the fact
that some attraction stronger than the whole
amount of Duncan McSwayne's note was urging
him irresistibly toward his destination. The old
town beyond the distant river, his heart told him
clamorously, held the object in all the world to
him most dear. ”

“ By this time he had well-
nigh forgotten about the legal business that formed
the ostensible occasion for his journey, and was
conscious only of a wild desire to see the woman
whose image was beckoning him on to Patesville
as fast as his horse could take him.
At sundown he stopped again, about ten miles
from the town, and cared for his now tired beast.
He knew her capacity, however, and calculated
that she could stand the additional ten miles without
injury. The mare set out with reluctance,
but soon settled resignedly down into a steady jog. ”

“ If, perchance,
their secret should be disclosed, the world was
wide; a man of courage and ambition, inspired by
love, might make a career anywhere. Circumstances
made weak men; strong men mould circumstances
to do their bidding. ”