Riders of the Silences

by Max Brand

"And I used to think that a still, small voice answered me out of the night."

"Oh, my dear, there was a voice; for I've loved you so hard that it must have been like a hand at your shoulder tapping, and asking you to remember me. Mary, you are crying."

"I'm so happy; I can't help it. It's as if—as if—Pierre——"

"Dear, my dear."

"Hold me closer. I want to feel your strength around me, so that I know I can never lose you again."

"Never."

"Tell me again that you love me."

"I love you."

"I love you, Pierre."

Then the wind spoke for them, using the trees for a harp above them. She looked up to him, and saw the nodding branches above his head, and higher still, the cold and changeless radiance of the stars. He bent back her head and stared so grimly down into her eyes that her smile ceased tremulously.