But if he did not see what he sought, another object met his gaze. One that caused his heart to leap to his very throat, while his brain grew dizzy with a wild, delirious hope.
Upon a crest to his left, Ayres beheld a human form, that, in the grim, gray light, was indistinct and phantom-like. But still he believed that he could discern the flowing drapery of a woman!
Ayres had learned a lesson by that night’s events, and still uncertain that the distant figure was not that of an enemy, he sunk down into the tall grass, and then peered keenly toward the spot where the vision had appeared. And, as he awaited, he saw that it was approaching, and was indeed a woman.
How his heart leaped, then! A woman—might it not be his lost love, who had so strangely disappeared from their midst?
And yet, how could it be? Clara had ridden away on her horse; this woman was on foot, many miles from the spot where he had last seen his friend.
Though the coming sun gilded the eastern horizon, the swale in which the woman now was, still gloomy, and only with the greatest difficulty could Ayres discern her shape at all. But then she began ascending the hill, almost directly toward him.
Trembling in every fiber of his being, the young man awaited the result, fearful lest his new-born hope should be dashed to the ground, after all. It did not seem possible that this could be Clara.
But then a glad cry—a cry so full of joy and heartfelt exultation—broke from his lips. The light fell full upon the features of her who approached, and Ayres knew that he beheld his lost love, Clara Calhoun!
She evidently heard the cry, for she paused and half-turned as if to flee. Then he sprung up, calling aloud her name, as he darted toward her trembling figure.
She stood as if petrified, then, with a glad cry, sunk to the ground, laughing and weeping at the same time. Her overtasked powers now seemed to give way before this unexpected happiness, and she sunk into a deathlike swoon, as her lover clasped her to his broad breast, covering her pale and haggard face with passionate kisses.