Mingled emotion stirred in the young man's breast—joy at the meeting, and wounded pride and bitterness. He felt an impulse to hurry across, run to the girl and take her in his arms, forgetting all else. But there was that between them cold and clear as the dividing water.
The girl reached the bank, and stood looking out over the water in silence.
The young man could contain himself no longer. "You have come!" he cried.
"How could I help it?" she said in a low voice—the words hardly carried to the opposite bank.
"And I could not help thinking of you."
The river looked at the pair. "If only I were frozen over!"
* * * * *
"Couldn't you—couldn't you come across—just for a moment?" asked the girl timidly.
"Just what I was going to do. But we can't stay there on the bank—the men will be coming down directly."
He thought for a moment.