“My prisoner!” he laughed. “Roses? Here's the most beautiful one in our whole garden!”
“Where?” she asked, not understanding.
“This red one, here!”
And full upon the mouth he kissed her in the leaf-shaded sunshine of that wondrous summer day.
CHAPTER XXXV
THE AFTERGLOW
Evening!
Far in the west, beyond the cañon of the New Hope River--now a beautifully terraced park and pleasure-ground--the rolling hills, fertile and farm-covered, lay resting as the sun died in a glory of crimson, gold and green.
The reflections of the passing day spread a purple haze through the palm and fern-tree aisles of the woodland. Only a slight breeze swayed the branches. Infinite in its serenity brooded a vast peace from the glowing sky.
A few questing swallows shot here and there like arrows, blackly outlined with swift and crooked wing against the vermilion of the west.
Over the countryside, the distant farms and hills, a thin and rosy vapor hovered, fading slowly as the sun sank lower still.