MIDSUMMER SUN.
'For Phœbus' awful self encountered him
Amid the battle throng invisible,
In thickest darkness shrouded all his face;
He stood behind, and with extended palm
Dealt on Patroclus' neck and shoulder broad
A mighty buffet.'
Iliad, Book xvi. (Earl of Derby.)
Warmer weather came at last, and brought Mr. Froggatt back to his daily work, lifting a weight of responsibility from his young partner's shoulders.
The cough mended too, but did not entirely cease; and when June came in with an unusual access of summer heat, there were those who felt it as trying as the sharp wind had been. One evening, when the home party had been sitting in the garden, and the fall of the dew sent Cherry indoors, Felix, as usual, gave her his arm, and lifted her step by step up the stairs. She felt, all over her frame, that what used to be almost nothing to the boy was a severe exertion to the man.
'You should not do it!' she said, as they both stood resting at the top, he leaning back against the wall, and wiping his forehead, where the big blue V of the veins stood out prominently.
'Having so often carried the calf—I should be able to carry—the cow,' he said, the smile not disguising the panting of his voice.
'You are to be at the agricultural meeting at Dearport to-morrow. I wish you would just go and see Dr. Lee.'
'I think I shall.' And there they were interrupted.