But after a moment he became conscious of the soft warmth of her body there; and he caught the sound of her slow and pleasant breathing; so he fumbled and found her hand and held it and was comforted.
The touch of his hand seemed to wake her; her fingers answered his with a loving pressure, and she said reassuringly to him:
“All right, Jimmie.”
He leaned in the darkness and found her lips and kissed her. “All right, Anne,” he replied. “Just a bad dream.”
He heard her laugh softly; and at the sound of her gentle mirth he felt strangely humble. “What is it, Anne?” he begged.
“I, too, dreamed,” she told him. “I woke before you; that is all. In the morning you will understand.”
“Understand?” he pleaded; and he was trembling with eagerness for this understanding which was already in some parts revealed to him.
“That though it seemed so long, and seemed so real, it was after all but the matter of an instant’s dream,” she told him lovingly. Her hand was on his hair as it had used to be....
So he began to understand; and he held tight to Anne’s hand for a space; and presently they slept for a little time, and woke in the glory of the risen sun, to begin together the new Day.