There was a swift brook in the woods beyond his cultivated acres. Into it he scattered the herbs to be dispersed by the dancing water. The basket he broke in his strong brown hands and sent the pieces after the flowers. Then he took off his shoes, cuffed his pants to his knees and waded across the brook to the other side.
Pine nettles and small twigs gave under his stride. He never felt the pain of angled stones where he trod. He walked a long time, without stopping, and his breath did not become labored though his path was always upward.
When he reached the clear crest of the hill he looked down to the patchwork valley where he lived. He saw his house, a green-topped miniature fashioned like a jewel in the pastoral setting.
But the flaw in the jewel was the ominous helicar at the gate of the house.
He sat in the tall grass, pulling his knees up to his chest. He clasped his hands about his legs, and prepared himself for the long vigil ahead.
The sky became colored with sunset tints. He saw all the beauty without lifting his head. Cool breezes of dusk blew upon him. The sky became darker; the moon increased in brilliance. In the moonlight the metal car was silvered. During all the hours he had watched not one figure had emerged from the house. In a waiting game they were persistent and tireless.
He rose at last, and stretched. He saw his hands before him, taught and strong, finely formed. On impulse he rubbed his chin, touched his cheek. How smooth and hard the flesh, how bronzed his powerful body.
Suddenly he raised himself, stretching as high as he could, feeling the pull of well coordinated muscles. He smiled almost joyfully. His was a body to prize.
He whirled and started to run noiselessly, and without hurry over the tabled clearing. Where the terrain sloped he did not brake his speed, and momentum carried him faster down among the slim white birches, and fragrant firs.
He ran like a football player, in and out among the trees, leaping boulders and small streams, or plunging recklessly into crystal cold waters.