Ray Cummings

“ Henry struck the lake near its upper end, where it was wildest. He was glad to find himself quite alone; be laid his hat on the ground and sat down close beside the shore, facing the wind that blew strongly toward him from across the water. The lake was rough, and the sound of its little angry waves beating against the pebbly beach at his feet thrilled him. ”

“ There is a little lake near Rosewood, which during the summer months is ideal for canoeing. It was toward this lake that Henry bent his steps. The night was warm, but not unpleasantly so, for there was a stiff breeze blowing. Almest a full moon hung overhead, with scudding, low-flying clouds passing swiftly across its face at intervals. Henry jammed his straw hat down firmly on his head and strode forward with rapid steps into the wind.
Not that Henry was particularly interested in canoeing. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had, in fact, never been in a canoe together. ”

“ They can be imagined, but they cannot be told. He did not close his eyes until dawn, but sat propped up in bed, staring blankly across the moonlit little bedroom. Once in the middle of the night he became aware that his wife was not asleep, but lying wide awake watching him.
As he turned to face her, she put her hand gently upon his.
“What is it, dear?” she asked softly.
“’Sall right,” said Henry. He felt the answering pressure of her hand. In the dim moonlight, her face suffused with love and tenderness, seemed suddenly very beautiful. “’Sall right, Martha. I was just thinking. ”

“ Six years before this important morning to the Jones family, Martha Lewis had married Henry Jones. At the age of—twenty-five—one year Henry's junior—she had felt herself in a fair way of being laid upon the shelf of perpetual maidenhood, and so she had married the prosaic, plodding Henry, as the only available eligible unattached young man of her acquaintance.
You are not to imagine Martha Lewis as an acrid, designing young female. She was merely a comparatively unattractive girl according to the standards demanded by the young men of Rosewood. ”

“ Henry’s heart almost stopped beating.
“It’s easy enough for two,” the girl went on, “when the bow’s not up in the air—and there’s an extra paddle. The wind’s letting up anyway. If it wouldn’t be troubling you too much—it isn’t far by water.”
“No—I mean yes—of course I will,” said Henry.
The girl stood up. “I’m cold—good gracious, look at that canoe; we’ll have to empty it out.”
Together they lifted the canoe. The water came spilling out of Henry’s end, wetting him still more, and they both laughed. Then his coat slipped off her shoulders into the lake, and again they both laughed. ”

“ The wind increased with a sudden gust, and all at once the girl stopped paddling. The bow of the canoe, acting almost like a sail, swung rapidly around. The canoe rode more quietly now, but drifted steadily shoreward. After a moment the girl started paddling again, and came slanting across the waves in a direction that Henry realized with a start would land her almost at his feet. ”

“ And Martha had listened to his swaggering statement that “a man must have some vices,” with inscrutable eyes, and let him go. Perhaps now she fathomed—in part at least, for she was wiser far than Henry—the malady with which he was suffering. And so she did nothing, but waited; which you shall see was perhaps the wisest thing she could have done.
Henry called upon Miss Morton some—ten times that month—always in the evening. Miss Morton, it appeared, was living with her mother for the summer only, in this tiny cottage which they had rented. ”

“ The thin locks of straight black hair that were spread upon her pillow were shot through with gray. The vision of a great soft, fluffy mass of wavy golden tresses flashed into his mind—the crowning glory of no particular woman, but just an abstract picture. ”

“ You can’t hold it up against the wind when you’re alone, you know.”
Henry didn’t know exactly, but he nodded confidently.
The girl took off her little slippers and emptied the water out of them.
“I live about a mile beyond the point—on this side.” She pointed down the lake. “I don’t know how I’m going to get home—I’d hate to walk out in the road looking like this.” She glanced ruefully at the clinging wetness of her filmy dress. “And I wouldn’t want to leave the canoe here anyway.”
“You mustn’t trust yourself on that water again to-night,” said Henry. ”

“ And something made him add doggedly: “I won't let you do that.”
“I couldn't make it alone across that wind,” said the girl. “But I could easily if”—she hesitated—“if you'd paddle down with me. Would you mind?” ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1957, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 66 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”