CHAPTER XXXI.
He looked,
Ocean and earth, the solid frame of earth
And ocean's liquid mass beneath him lay
In gladness and deep joy. The clouds were touched,
And in their silent faces did he read
Unutterable love....
No thanks he breathed, he proffered no request;
Rapt with still communion that transcends
The imperfect offices of prayer and praise,
His mind was a thanksgiving to the Power
That made him; it was blessedness and love!
The Excursion.
Spell-bound, the three gentlemen stood looking at the sleeping girl, till the pause was broken by Miss Ellen.
"Well?" she said, "what do you think?"
Henry Fowler opened his lips to speak, but closed them again, with a glance at Percivale.
The glance was unheeded, the young man was standing with a look on his face which, for some inexplicable reason, made Henry's heart leap in his side. So might Adam have looked on Eve when first he saw her sleeping—a look of intense admiration, mixed with a reverence that was almost worship. He seems to have forgotten everything but the fact that he stood there, by a wonderful chance, gazing at this consecrated girlish slumber.
Claud, who stood next him, at last put out his hand, and lightly touched his arm. He started.