And Sandy Blair—he had again come into her life. Strange, that now whenever she thought of John, she should think of Sandy. “My books, the creatures of this quiet nook, the trees, the creek, the mountains, God’s altar for my prayers, these are my companions. John is my thought love, with whom I enjoy a mystic union that will last through life—as long as I am faithful. These are my interests, my life, other than teaching, and form and fill it and keep it free from what might otherwise have made it a weary materialism. These have transformed my very common, every-day life, raised me above a dark loneliness to contentment and at rare intervals into the company of the stars. Yet now the change threatens, I do not understand, I seem to feel a slow suffocation of the soul threatening me. Can it mean that—must I find some one to love? Must I quit weaving the web of my life with that of a mystical love?”
She was just beginning to realize that while her mind spun with this fantastic thread of life, another part of her being, the flesh, demanded other company, and held another distaff and spun quite another thread. She had yet to learn that a perfect love gives not only the mind but the body. That without the giving of both, love ends in darkness; and that to find happiness the two threads must be entwined and followed into the light.
She did not comprehend why now, when she saw John’s face, which had always been so distinct, it seemed gradually to fade and merge into Sandy’s. Sandy as he [pg 57] looked, when several nights before he had sat and played to her. She was vexed with herself—but even more with Sandy.
Young lady; you are about to have that experience which has come to every woman since Eve. God’s plan is breaking from its chrysalis before you. The slowly fading spirit of John is entering the lists in conflict with Sandy’s materialism; it is the conflict of the intangible with the tangible, the memories of yesterday with the hopes of tomorrow. You will act as second for one or the other. Faithful in the start you may follow behind the spirit; but if you follow the way of your sisters, and they go the right way, you will end by wishing you were second to the man who seeks to drive the wraith away. Mayhap you may shift your allegiance early in the conflict—who knows? You do not, nor do I. Take care! Beware! Your long dream of John may end by kissing Sandy.
“Nonsense.”
At this inopportune moment Sandy climbed upon the rock, saying:
“This shore is a nice place, may I set down.”
“You are welcome to the seat Mr. Blair, but you must excuse me, I was just going to the house.”
He sat down; his face as red as his hair; provoked at Jeannette’s abrupt departure. But when he recalled that she had called him Mr. Blair for the first time in his life, he was consoled, believing that it evidenced progress in his suit. He realized that he had made an impression of some kind; and his experiences, which were not limited, suggested that even an awakened animosity was better than the indifference of the past years.
Jeannette felt ashamed for having run away. “Running from Sandy Blair—sakes alive! Why did I do it? [pg 58] Have I grown timid? Am I afraid of Sandy Blair? I suppose he’s laughing at me. Well, tonight I’ll give him another lesson on the violin, just to show him, light-footed, empty-headed young men of his class mean nothing to me.”