Ralph Henry Barbour

“ It was not difficult to imagine that those floating cups held the colors into which Nature dipped her brushes ere she painted the summer flowers. The lazy, luxury-loving swans were dozing in the sunlight on their tiny island. The cascade plashed and tinkled over moss and stone. The fringing trees blew welcome shade upon the grassy sides of the little basin. And Ethan, lifting [144] his dripping paddle as the canoe rippled its way across the mirror-like surface, drew a deep breath of the scented air and experienced a sudden bewildering joy of life, an almost paganish exultation. ”

“ Underfoot the ground was carpeted with the red leaves of the maples. Here and there a white birch stood like a pale gold flame in the dying sunlight. The dark green larches alone held themselves unchanged.
The pool was sadly different. Yellowing lily-pads floated upon the surface, but no blossoms caught the slanting rays of the sun. Ethan sat down under the willow, took his knees into his arms and puffed blue smoke-wreaths into the amber light. Presently [172] a shadow presence came and sat beside him. ”

“ Such youthful softness belonged rather to Iris or Daphne or Syrinx.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT TO FIND A GRECIAN GODDESS UNDER NEW ENGLAND SKIES?
And all the while—just the little time it took for the canoe to glide from the stream well into the pool—she had been regarding him tranquilly with her deep blue eyes, her bare arms, stretching downward to the grass, supporting her in an attitude suggesting recent recumbency. And now, as the craft brushed the lily-pads aside, she spoke.
“Do you not fear the resentment of the gods?” she asked gravely. “It is not wise for a mortal to look upon us.” ”

“ Ethan went slowly up the winding stream with divided opinions on the subject of his own sanity. To sit in a canoe in the broiling sun on a morning like this merely to talk to a girl was rank idiocy, he told himself. Then he recalled her eyes, her tantalizing little laugh, the soft tones of her voice, the provocative ghost of a smile that so often trembled about her red lips, and owned that she was worth it. ”

“ Through the rain-drenched windows a cold white light entered, flooding the stack room with its iron tiers of slumbering volumes, and, here at the barrier-like counter, illumining faintly the rebellious brown hair of the girl who, with pen in hand, bent over the pile of catalogue cards. The library was very still, so still that the sibilation [192] of the moving pen sounded portentously loud. Now and then the rustle of a turning leaf or the scraping of feet on the floor came from around the corner of the arched doorway where sat a solitary occupant of the reading room. ”

“ He lighted a cigarette with fingers that trembled a little and walked up through the orchard.
As he had expected, Vincent Graves was awaiting him on the porch. He was a tall, dark, fine-looking fellow, with a deep, pleasant voice and a remarkable, careless ease of manner; just the sort of a chap, Ethan told himself, that any sensible girl would fall in love with. Vincent did not see him for a moment, and in that moment Ethan had opportunity to study his friend with a new interest, view him from a novel point. But he found he could not be coldly critical ”

“ Dew-gems shimmered under the caressing breeze and the tips of the spreading, reaching branches [142] nodded and whispered together. Beyond, the little silver-voiced river laughed amongst its shallows and flashed in the sunlight. From the marshland came the happy gurgle of a flock of red-winged blackbirds, while fainter, yet sweet and clear, the light-hearted tinkle of the bobolink floated across from the rising meadows. Sleek, well-conditioned robins balanced amidst the apple-trees and sang contentedly between groomings of their red waistcoats. And louder, clearer, gladder sang Ethan’s heart. ”

“ On the tap-room windows you may still find the diamond-etched initials of by-gone celebrities. And much of the old-time atmosphere remains.
The room into which Ethan had his [26] bag taken after his return from his adventure in Arcady was low-ceilinged and dim. The two small windows, one overlooking the dilapidated orchard at the rear and the little river beyond, the other revealing the murmuring depths of a big elm, afforded little light. The floor was delightfully uneven; Ethan went downhill to the washstand and uphill again to the old mahogany bureau. ”

“ After supper Ethan drew a chair to the open window of his room, set the lamp precariously on the bureau where the light would fall upon the portfolio in his lap, and replied to Vincent:
“My dear Vincent (he wrote) , life moves sweetly in Arcadia. Clytie, she who beside her blossom-starred pool has so long gazed, enamored, upon the fiery Apollo, now hearkens to the wooing tones of green-garlanded Vertumnus. No more she fills the leafy hollow with her [102] tears and soft reproaches, but reclined where shading branches defy the sun god’s fiercest rays, she smiles betimes upon Vertumnus. ”

“ Artifice had aided nature. Pink and white and yellow lilies dotted the stream, while at a little distance a slender, graceful stone bridge arched from shore to shore. Woodbine clustered about it and threw cool, trembling leaf-shadows against the sunlit stones. The arch framed a charming vista of the brook beyond. The canoe slipped noiselessly under the bridge and the strip of shadow rested gratefully for an instant on Ethan’s face. ”

“ Then she went on, passing from shadow to sunlight, until the trees hid her. When she was quite out of sight Ethan lighted a cigarette, smiling the while. Then he flicked aside the charred match, lifted his left foot, stooped and picked up a little white wad which, as he gently shook it out, became a dainty white handkerchief. He looked at it, held it to his nose, touched it to his lips, folded it carefully and clumsily and placed it in his pocket. ”

“ It is a glorious thing to find oneself really, wholly in love for the first time, glorious, wonderful, absorbing....
[97]
The robin ceased his pæan and was silent, with his head cocked attentively. Perhaps his ears were better than yours or mine and he heard a song sweeter and more triumphant than any of his own, for after a moment of listening he spread his wings and floated down across sunlit spaces to the orchard.
I wonder if the safety razor was not invented for the man in love. Certain it is that Ethan could never have used any other sort this morning. ”

“ A more prolonged scraping of feet, followed by the sound of a moving chair, caused the girl at the desk to raise her head and pause at her work. A little frown of annoyance gathered and then gave place to a smile of humorous resignation as footfalls sounded on the echoing silence. From the reading room emerged a tall, thin youth of about twenty, a youth with a [193] pale, cadaverous face lighted by a pair of patient, contemplative brown eyes which looked strangely incongruous and out of place. He carried two books which he laid apologetically on the counter. ”

“ You know we New Englanders find it very difficult to reconcile pleasure with religion. I [131] can fancy the ghost of my great-great-great-grandfather, in sugar-loaf hat and with beruffed neck, standing over there in the shadows, holding his hands aloft in holy horror at the sight of me sitting here on Sunday morning with a volume of love-poems in my hands.”
“What nonsense!” she cried indignantly. “Isn’t love just as holy as—as anything? Isn’t——” She stopped abruptly and Ethan, lifting his head, found her gazing toward him with something almost like horror in her wide eyes. ”

“ The youth looked from the book to Ethan.
“How—how did you know?” he stammered resentfully.
“Never mind how, my boy. You’ve got it. Run along.”
After a moment of indecision, of many silent looks of inquiry and dark suspicion, the youth trod softly away again. Ethan looked at Cicely and they smiled together. Then she sank into her chair at the desk and laughed helplessly, and cried a little, too. And [212] Ethan said no word until she had pressed the handkerchief to her eyes and turned toward him again. Then,
“Will you come back to your lotus pool, O Clytie?” he asked softly. ”

“ Ethan laid aside his paddle and mopped his face with his handkerchief. The canoe, left to its own devices, poked its nose against the meadow bank and allowed its stern to float slowly around in the languid current. He gazed across the fields over which the heat-waves danced and shimmered and addressed himself to his cigarette case.
“Providence,” he said, “showed great wisdom when it arranged that the Pilgrims should land on the coast of Massachusetts. ”

“ Make my excuses to your mother and sisters; invent any old story you like. You might say, for instance, that Vertumnus, fickle god, has transferred his affections [28] from Pomona to a water-nymph. But you needn’t if you’d rather not. I don’t care what you say. Expect me when you see me.
“Yours,
“Ethan.”
With a smile as he thought of his friend’s perplexity on reading the note, Ethan folded it and tucked it into an envelope. Then addressing it to “Mr. Vincent Graves, The Boulders, Stillhaven, Mass.,” he sealed it, dropped it into his pocket and made his way downstairs to dinner. ”

“ And yet I reiterate my former adjective; good-looking he was; good-looking in a healthy, frank, [13] happy and rather boyish way that was eminently satisfying.
If the sign on the old willow was right, and he really was trespassing, I have no excuse to offer, or at least none that my conscience will allow me to suggest. I can’t plead ignorance for him, for the simple reason that he had seen the sign and read it and that he knew all about trespass—or as much as was taught in the three-year course at the Harvard Law School, which he had finished barely a fortnight ago. ”

“ But I happened to overhear yesterday afternoon at the Inn that a family by the name of Devereux had taken The Larches. And, as I have been in Riverdell before, I know where The Larches is—are—. Would you say is or are?”
“I am only a listener.”
“Then I shall say am, to be on the safe side; I know where The Larches am. You are living at The Larches.”
“No, I—I am merely staying there.”
“For the summer; exactly. That’s what I meant. When you are at home you live in Boston. ”

“ She positively beamed on him, and Ethan felt a sudden warmth at his heart. “I suppose every person has a sneaking desire to act,” she went on. “I know I have. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve loved to—to ‘make believe.’ That’s why I did it yesterday.”
“Have you ever considered a stage career?” he asked gravely. She leaned her chin in one small palm and observed him doubtfully.
“I never seem to know for certain,” she complained, “whether you are making fun of me or not. And I don’t like to be made fun of—especially by——”
“Strangers? I don’t blame you, Miss—Clytie. I wouldn’t like it myself.” ”

“ Occasionally a far-reaching branch threw trembling shadows on the water, but for the most part the trees stood back from the margin of the pool and allowed the fresh green turf to descend unhampered to the water’s edge. At a point farthest from where Ethan had entered a little cascade tumbled. On all sides the ground [18] sloped slightly upward, and in one place a group of larches crowned the summit of a knoll and mingled their delicate branches far above the neighboring maples. ”

“ At all events, being less bizarre than the flowing peplum of yesterday, Ethan—whose tastes in attire were quite orthodox—liked it far better. The effect was quite different, too. Yesterday she might have been Clytie; to-day reason cried out against any such possibility; [34] she was a very modern-appearing and extremely charming young lady of, apparently, twenty or twenty-one years of age, with a face, at present seen in profile, piquant rather than beautiful. ”

“ She arose and turned her face upward to the sun. Slowly she raised her white arms and stretched them forth in tragic appeal.
SLOWLY SHE RAISED HER WHITE ARMS.
“Apollo!” she cried. “Apollo! Hear me! Clytie calls to you!”
Such a passion of melancholy longing spoke in her voice that Ethan thrilled in spite of himself. Unconsciously his gaze followed hers to the blazing orb. The light dazzled his eyes and blinded him for a moment. When he looked again toward the bank it was empty, but between the trees, [24] along the slope, a white garment fluttered and was lost to sight. ”

“ Then he turned toward the pool and the canoe.
“She’s a coquette,” he muttered, “an arrant coquette. But—but she’s simply—ripping!”
[80]
VI.
Ethan finished his second cigarette and tossed it hissing into the pool. The nearest swan immediately paddled over to investigate. Ethan sighed exasperatedly.
“Go ahead, then, you old idiot!” he muttered. “You won’t like it any better than you liked the last one; they’re out of the same box; but try it if you want to. There, I told you so! Oh, that’s it; blame me now! Blessed if you aren’t almost human!” ”

“ You have the cheerful, care-free countenance of a gentleman strolling to the gallows! Been ill?”
“Ill?” laughed Ethan. “Certainly not; never felt better in my life.”
“If you felt any better you’d scream, eh? Well, you’ve been up to [152] something, Ethan, and you can lie yourself black in the face for all I care. You’re going back with me this evening; that’s settled. I came over in your machine and for a wonder it didn’t even spring a leak. I left it at The Larches,” he went on in response to Ethan’s questioning survey of the driveway and stable-yard. ”

“ She watched him while he did so, biting her lip in smiling vexation. When it was done he passed the composition across to her.
“FOUND!”
“A lady’s lace-bordered handkerchief bearing the initial H in one corner. Owner may recover same by proving ownership and rewarding finder. Apply to Vertumnus, care Clytie, Lotus Pool, Arcadia, between ten and twelve.”
“What’s the reward?” she asked. He shook his head thoughtfully.
“I haven’t decided yet. Something—rather nice, I fancy.”
A faint flush crept into her cheeks and she turned her gaze toward the pool.
“It is much cooler to-day,” she said. ”

“ Ethan laid it on the table, his eyes still upon it. “I don’t think they’ll want it. Doubtless Miss Devereux has plenty more.”
“Yes, sir; they took a good many, sir, between them.”
“They? Oh, she had a friend with her?”
“Yes, sir. Miss Hoyt. I remember when they was taking those, sir. It was early in the summer, soon after they came. The young ladies they dressed themselves up in those queer things—sort o’ like sheets, they was, sir—” the gardener’s voice became faintly apologetic, as though he had not quite approved of such doings—“and went out on the lawn one forenoon. ”

“ He raised his paddle and turned the canoe about.
“But you will not see me to-morrow,” she said, stifling the smile that threatened to mar her severity.
“You are not thinking of leaving Arcady?” he asked in surprise. “Where, pray, could you find a more delightful pool than this? Observe those swans! Observe the lilies! Besides, even in Arcady one [55] doesn’t move so late in the season.” ”