Part 25 (2/2)
”In all these years he has tried to be both father and mother to me, and even in this he thinks he is acting for my good. I have never disobeyed him, and were I to do so now I believe it would break his heart. I am all that he has left, and after what he has suffered in his silent, Spartan way, I must bring joy--not sorrow--to his declining years. And this will be my only reason for yielding.”
”But, Kathie, dear child,” Darrell interposed, ”have you considered what such a life means to you--what is involved in such a sacrifice?”
She met his troubled gaze with a smile. ”Yes, I know,” she replied; ”there is not a phase of this affair which I have not considered. I am years older than when we met three months ago, and I have thought of everything that a woman can think of.”
She watched him a moment, the smile on her lips deepening. ”Have you considered this?” she asked. ”Only those whom we love have the power to wound us deeply; one whom I do not love will have little power to hurt me; he can never reach my heart; that will be safe in your keeping.”
Darrell bowed his head upon his hands with a low moan. Kate, laying her hand lightly upon his shoulder, continued:
”What I particularly wanted you to know before our parting and to remember is this: that come what may, I shall never be false to my love for you. No matter what the future may bring to you or to me, my heart will be yours.”
Darrell raised his head, his face tense and rigid with emotion; she had risen and was standing beside him.
”I can never forgive myself for having won your heart, Kathie,” he said, gravely; ”It is the most precious gift that I could ask or you could bestow, but one to which I have no right.”
”Then hold it in trust,” she said, softly, ”until such time as I have the right to bestow it upon you and you have the right to accept it.”
Startled not only by her words but by the gravity of her tone and manner, Darrell glanced swiftly towards Kate, but she had turned and was slowly climbing the mountain path. Springing to his feet he was quickly at her side. Drawing her arm within his own he a.s.sisted her up the rocky trail, scanning her face as he did so for some clew to the words she had just spoken. But, excepting a faint flush which deepened under his scrutiny, she gave no sign, and, the trail for the next half-hour being too difficult to admit of conversation, they made the ascent in silence.
On reaching the summit an involuntary exclamation burst from Darrell at the grandeur of the scene. North, west, and south, far as the eye could reach, stretched the vast mountain ranges, unbroken, with here and there gigantic peaks, snow-crowned, standing in bold relief against the sky; while far to the eastward lay the valleys, threaded with silver streams, and beyond them in the purple distance outlines of other ranges scarcely distinguishable from the clouds against which they seemed to rest.
Kate watched Darrell, silently enjoying his surprise. ”This is my favorite resort,--on the summit of the 'divide,'” she said; ”I thought you would appreciate it. It involves hard climbing, but it is worth the effort.”
”Worth the effort! Yes, a thousand times! What must it be to see the sunrise here!”
Lifted out of themselves, they wandered over the rocks, picking the late flowers which still lingered in the crevices, watching the s.h.i.+fting beauty of the scene from various points, for a time forgetful of their trouble, till, looking in each other's eyes, they read the final farewell underlying all, and the old pain returned with tenfold intensity.
Seating themselves on the highest point accessible, they talked of the future, ignoring so far as possible the one dreaded subject, speaking of Darrell's life in the mining camp, of his studies, and of what he hoped to accomplish, and of certain plans of her own.
Duke, after an extended tour among the rocks, came and lay at their feet, watching their faces with anxious solicitude, quick to read their unspoken sorrow though unable to divine its cause.
At last the little that could be said had been spoken; they paused, their hearts oppressed with the burden of what remained unsaid, which no words could express. Duke, perplexed by the long silence, rose and, coming to Kate's side, stood looking into her eyes with mute inquiry. As Kate caressed the n.o.ble head she turned suddenly to Darrell:
”John, would you like to have Duke with you? Will you take him as a parting gift from me?”
”I would like to have him above anything you could give me, Kathie,” he replied; ”but you must not think of giving him up to me.”
”I will have to give him up,” she said, simply; ”Papa dislikes him already, he is so unfriendly to Mr. Walcott, and he himself absolutely hates Duke; I believe he would kill him if he dared; so you understand I could not keep him much longer. He will be happy with you, for he loves you, and I will be happy in remembering that you have him.”
”In that case,” said Darrell, ”I shall be only too glad to take him, and you can rest a.s.sured I will never part with him.”
The sinking sun warned them that it was time to return, and, after one farewell look about them, they prepared to descend. As they picked their way back to the trail they came upon two tiny streams flowing from some secret spring above them. Side by side, separated by only a few inches, they rippled over their rocky bed, murmuring to each other in tones so low that only an attentive ear could catch them, sparkling in the sunlight as though for very joy. Suddenly, near the edge of the narrow plateau over which they ran, they turned, and, with a tinkling plash of farewell, plunged in opposite directions,--the one eastward, hastening on its way to the Great Father of Waters, the other westward bound, towards the land of the setting sun.
Silently Kate and Darrell watched them; as their eyes met, his face had grown white, but Kate smiled, though the tears trembled on the golden lashes.
”A fit emblem of our loves, Kathie!” Darrell said, sadly.
”Yes,” she replied, but her clear voice had a ring of triumph; ”a fit emblem, dear, for though parted now, they will meet in the commingling of the oceans, just as by and by our loves will mingle in the great ocean of love. I can imagine how those two little streams will go on their way, as we must go, each joining in the labor and song of the rivers as they meet them, but each preserving its own individuality until they find one another in the ocean currents, as we shall find one another some day!”
<script>