Tired, deliriously content, she nestled to him with a sigh of absolute rapture. There they remained; still; ineffably beatific; at rest; while the fire snapped merrily and the dog at their feet growlingly pursued numberless coveys of low-flying partridges through the aisles of dreamland. Then—
“I don’t s’pose I’ll ever reely understand it,” mused Caleb. “Here I’ve always been thinkin’ I looked on you like you were my daughter an’ that I was a million years older’n you’d ever get to be. An’ now in just one second the whole world turns inside out, an’ I land in heaven; I’m talkin’ ’bout ‘heaven’ to-night like any sky-scout, ain’t I? But it sort of seems the only word.”
“It is very near us,” she made reply, softly. “See,” raising herself in his arms and looking out over the star-gleaming mists below them. “See, the world is new. The seas have swept over all its old sins and follies and sordid workaday life. This island stands alone in the universe. All the rest is engulfed. And you and I are the only people on God’s new earth. We have risen above the old life of mistakes and blindness. Here,—alone—in our new marvel world,—forever and ever.”
Her head sank on his breast. He buried his face in the fragrant wonder of her hair. And once more they fell silent.
“There ain’t a thing I won’t do for you, girl,” went on Conover, by and by. “All by myself I’ve got rich an’ I’ve won ev’ry fight I’ve made. With you to work for I’ll hammer away at Old Man Dest’ny till I’ve got the whole State in my vest pocket. Yes, an’ I’ll try for the White House, too, before I’m done; if you’d like me to. We’re goin’ to build the biggest, most expensive house, right off, that was ever put up in Granite. We’ll build it on Pompton Av’noo, right in the thick of the swells. White marble we’ll make it. An’ you’ll have all the servants an’ horses an’ joolry an’ everything else you want. There won’t be a thing money can buy that you can’t have. I’ll fight the whole world till I’ve piled up such a fortune as’ll make those great big eyes of yours dazzled. An’ it’ll all be for you. All yours.”
“You darling old schoolboy!” she laughed. “Even your daydreams are studded with dollar signs. What do you suppose I care for such things? I have you, and we’re to be together always and always. What else could I want? And, dear,” more gravely, “I’d rather we stayed just as we are and not try for more wealth or more power. I seem to see such things in a new way to-night. Every dollar you win, every forward step in fame or fortune that you take, may mean unhappiness for someone who is less lucky. And, we are so happy, heart of mine, that we can surely let others be happy, too. Can’t we? Let us be content where we stand. You are so rich already that everyone envies you. Don’t let’s turn that envy into hatred by wringing more from people who already have less than we. It will make me so much comfortabler to feel we are using our wealth for happiness. Both for our own and for other peoples’. Am I talking like a goody-goody Sunday School teacher? I don’t mean to. But I know my way is best.”
“It’s always best,” he agreed after a moment. “An’ even if it wasn’t, it’s your way; and so it goes. We’ll do whatever you say. It’ll seem queer to stop fightin’. But,—it’ll seem nice, too. I never thought I’d feel that way. But I do now. An’ I always shall, while you’re by me. You can do anything you want to with me. You always could, an’ you always can.”
“Your arms are so big—so strong,” murmured Desirée. “I seem to be in a fortress where no ill can ever get to me. I’m home!”
He wrapped the coat more closely about her and held her tenderly as a mother, reverently as a priest might bear the Host. And after a time, as she lay against his broad breast, the long curling fringe of her eyelashes began to waver. Sleepily she lifted her face.
“Kiss me goodnight,” she said, her voice slow with drowsiness.