"When shall I see you next?"
"To-morrow night without a doubt. I'll come up over for an hour after supper."
"'Tis a terrible long way up; an' a terrible rough road."
"Not to me—and never has been."
"I love you with every drop of blood in my body, you dear blessed Daniel!"
"Well I know it; but 'tis such an amazing thought, I can't grasp it yet. 'Twill take days, I doubt."
"I've grasped it tight enough! 'Tis the only thing in my head. I've forgot everything else in the world, for there's nought else worth knowing, except you love me."
Thus they prattled at the door. Then a great gust dashed in and blew out the lamp. Brendon had to stop until it was relighted, and they made three more partings. Then Mr. Friend's voice called Sarah Jane, and Brendon set out in earnest for home.
The darkness was full of storm; but his heart made a heaven of night, and the elements that swooped, and shouted, and soaked, were agreeable to Daniel as he plunged into them. They seemed tremendous as his love; and his love made him tremendous as they were. He felt kinship with the lash of the rain and the thrust of the wind. Underfoot, earth, like a slave, submitted to the torrent and the gale; and he also spurned it even as they did; he feared not its steep and stony miles; he swept forward as strong and fierce as the sky, as joyful as the fetterless forces of the air.