"Jasper, Jasper!" she cried; "not dead!"
"'Jasper, Jasper!' she cried."
A few seconds later I had descended and stood in the garden, my heart swelling with joy until it seemed too large for my bosom. I came close to her, and then my confidence departed. All my old doubts came back to me. Joyful as I was at the thought that she was alive, I could not believe that she cared for me. How could she when I was so unworthy?
The moon shone brightly on the garden, while the rimy frost, reflecting its light, dispelled the darkness, and thus I was able to see the face of my love and the flash of her eyes. I seemed close to the gates of heaven, and yet I felt as though they were closed against me.
I stood still. "Naomi," I said, "forgive me. You know who I am—Jasper Pennington."
Then she came toward me, and I heard her sobbing again. Then I, anxious not to frighten her, went on talking.
"Naomi," I continued, "you are in trouble, and I fear that you have enemies. I have tried to make you feel my protection in the past, but I have been unable. But I have come to help you now, if you will let me."
All this I said like one repeating a lesson, and I said it badly, too, for I am not one who can speak easily. But when I had spoken so far a weight seemed removed from me, and my heart burned as though great fires were within my bosom.