Ralph Henry Barbour

“ Was he dreaming or had he really seen a white form rise from the seat beyond the gate and flit noiselessly, like a specter, into the shadow of the trees? He rubbed his eyes, his heart beating a little faster. Light and dark were deceptive to sight, and yet—he could have sworn that he had seen a tall figure move into the darkness. A ghost? More likely a fairy, on such a night, he thought, smilingly, or—why, surely, a druidess! ”

“ Whatever the future might hold, to-night the play was a great play, the characters still came and went in the dimness beyond the circle of lamplight, and the pregnant tinkle of the bell under Miriam’s finger still echoed in his ears even after he had arisen and gathered the sheets together in an orderly pile. ”

“ He came to his own chair and sat down, his form silhouetted vividly black on the gravel, his gaze fixed upon the avenue beyond, a fairy lane of intense white radiance and somber shadow.
In the act of relighting his cigarette, he paused, dropped the match from his hand and slowly drew himself from the chair. Halfway up the avenue, slowly moving from shadow to light and from light to shadow, coming and going to his sight, was a white-gowned figure—tall, feminine, ethereal. Even as he looked the darkness swallowed it. ”

“ XIII. Forty-eight hours later the end was in sight. Not only was the third act well-nigh done when Roger stopped for luncheon the second day after his visit to New York, but he had gone back and, to a great extent, rewritten the first act. ”