“Our own discordant restlessness is all that hinders this world from actually being heaven!” replied he emphatically.
“Oh, nonsense! This is earth, and that is good enough for me; I do not wish to think on such gruesome subjects; life is so pleasant. Some time I must prepare for eternity, I suppose; but I wish to enjoy myself now; it is time enough when I have grown old to be solemn, and give up all pleasures,” she half-pouted.
August laid his head back against the boll of the tree and laughed heartily. “So you think that one must be solemn to prepare for eternity? In the first place we are in eternity now—the present is just as much a part of eternity as the future state will be; eternity is only an expression, meaning all time; it always was and always will be, and it seems to me that the very best way to prepare for the future state is to be innocently happy in this——”
“I think that you are talking nonsense—you make me afraid!”
“Of what are you afraid? Afraid of opening the door to step into the next room? Afraid to go to sleep in the evening of life, to awaken in the sunlit morning of an advanced day? I’ll tell you what, Aimee, if I go before you do—and return is possible—I will come back and tell you what I find in the Beyond.”
Aimee jumped up nervously, and walked away without speaking.
August arose at the same time, and leaned against the trunk of the tree. “Come back here!” he called.
“No, indeed! I do not want to hear that kind of talk,” she replied irritably.
The clouds had been gathering in the west, and once or twice the thunder had growled menacingly; but in the shelter of the trees they had not observed the signals of the coming storm.
A great drop of rain struck Aimee on the cheek, causing her to utter an exclamation of surprise.