"Charmian?" said I at last, speaking almost in a whisper. Surely
this was the sweet goddess herself, and I the wondering shepherd
on Mount Ida's solitude.
"Charmian!" said I again, "you--have come then?" With the words
I rose. "You have come, then?" I repeated.
But now she sighed a little, and, turning her head away, laughed
very sweet and low--and sighed again.
"Were you expecting me?"
"I--I think I was--that is--I--I don't know!" I stammered.
"Then you were not--very surprised to see me?"
"No."
"And you are not--very sorry to see me?"
"No."
"And--are you not very--glad to see me?
"Yes."
Here there fell a silence between us, yet a silence that was full
of leafy stirrings, soft night noises, and the languorous murmur
of the brook. Presently Charmian reached out a hand, broke off a
twig of willow and began to turn it round and round in her white
fingers, while I sought vainly for something to say.
"When I went away this morning," she began at last, looking down
at the twig, "I didn't think I should ever come back again."
"No, I--I supposed not," said I awkwardly.
"But, you see, I had no money."
"No money?"
"Not a penny. It was not until I had walked a long, long way,
and was very tired, and terribly hungry, that I found I hadn't
enough to buy even a crust of bread."
"And there was three pounds, fifteen shillings, and sixpence in
Donald's old shoe," said I.
"Sevenpence!" she corrected.
"Sevenpence?" said I, in some surprise.
"Three pounds, fifteen shillings, and sevenpence. I counted it."
"Oh!" said I.
She nodded. "And in the other I found a small, very curiously
shaped piece of wood."
"Ah--yes, I've been looking for that all the week. You see, when
I made my table, by some miscalculation, one leg persisted in
coming out shorter than the others, which necessitated its being
shored up by a book until I made that block."
"Mr. Peter Vibart's Virgil book!" she said, nodding to the twig.
"Y-e-s!" said I, somewhat disconcerted.
"It was a pity to use a book," she went on, still very, intent
upon the twig, "even if that book does belong to a man with such
a name as Peter Vibart."
Now presently, seeing I was silent, she stole a glance at me, and
looking, laughed.