“She’s a young woman,” Jerry explained, “only twenty-eight, yet she gave the ten best years of her life to an insane husband. He went out of his mind while they were half-engaged to be married. Phœbe insisted upon the ceremony. Talk about giving! Yet Phœbe is the cheerfullest red-head in Jerusalem township.”
“’Tain’t so red,” Walter objected.
“Oh, it’s a torch!” Jerry laughed.
“Well! Well!” Richard showed interest. “Saint Phœbe attracts me mightily.... I thought she was an old woman.”
“She ought to be, considering the sacrifice she has made of her life—but she isn’t; not by a jugful. Wait till you see her!”
“I don’t need to see her,” Richard stretched himself out more comfortably. “It is enough to know that you who know her know nothing about her. Sacrifice? Why, you talk of sacrifice like a Quaker paying a bill.... I wager that Phœbe Norris is no saint at all. She’s had the finest time of her young life, that’s all—doing the most selfish act in her character—giving up to others.”
Objections came from both ends of the boat, Walter’s suspiciously vehement.
“Listen, my children, and you shall hear true philosophy,” Richard broke in. “For some persons the only joy is having and holding; for a rare few the only joy is giving. Find out what a man wants, the givers say, and give it to him quickly. But first want nothing yourself—or want everything equally. If he covets your watch, give it to him; you can tell time by the sun and by the stars; or better still, do without knowing the time at all. ‘Give all thou hast to the poor,’ the poor devils who cry so loudly for the baubles and gewgaws.”
Sailing before the wind is like not sailing at all. Wind and ship are in perfect balance. Except for the swish of water flowing by, the sensation is of standing still. Suddenly the silence was broken by a rapid flapping of the sheet. Walter swung the tiller over and pushed the boom out with his foot and held it there steadily.
“What’s up?” Richard inquired languidly. He was enjoying the rest and the sun and openly drank in the sensation of living.