“I was never able to read the horruck's riddle,” I said.
“Oh, you didn't know!” she exclaimed. “I thought you meant it for me.”
“I cannot say until I know the message.”
“But I wouldn't dare tell you. It's one thing to say it yourself, and another to speak with the horruck. You must find and study it. Goodnight! My dear old father is dozing here beside me, and doesn't dream that I am talking to you. I feel guilty, but I was afraid that you would come here.”
“Don't say good-night. I'm not half through talking.”
“But we mustn't say everything at once, and he is tired. We'll have another talk. Goodnight!”
I closed the office, and started for my home. As I walked alone in the darkness under the singing wires, I got my first broad view of their mission. My sweetheart and I were miles apart, but that rushing power on the string of metal had almost removed the distance and helped us to understand each other. Would it not, by-and-by, remove seas and continents and make all the races of one mind, and keep them in peace and good-will?