She sat down in the chair near him and picked up the Book. "What shall I read?" she asked without looking up. "It must be something that will soothe, and not make you think, except happily."
"It's all there…. The stately prose of Isaiah—I love the ringing authority of it——"
She read. There were delicate shadings of volume, even in her lowered voice, which lent a fine natural quality to her expression. Bedient knew the words, but he loved the mystery of this giving of hers—her giving of peace to him…. He had obeyed her implicitly, and the morning had become very dear…. Ill and weary, all his nerves smarting with terrific fatigue, as the eyes smart before tears, and yet her ministering had made him a little boy again…. His eyelids were shut and he was happy. It was a bewildering sense, so long had he been, and so far, from a moment like this. His immortal heroine was close once more—she of the answered questions and the healing arms. So real was it, that he thought this must be death…. A sign from her made him know that it was not…. Queer, bright thoughts winged in and out of his mind. There was a drowsy sweep to the atmosphere—no, it was the nuances of the voice that read to him…. "When one comes to see in this life a clearer, brighter way for the conduct of the next, he has not failed." His mind went over this several times…. And presently he felt himself sailing through space toward one bright star. For eternities he had sailed—dominant, deathless—often wavering in the zones of attraction of other worlds, but never really losing that primal impetus for his own light of the universe…. And so while she read, Bedient drifted afar, sailing on and on toward his star….
She saw that he slept, and her head dropped forward until it touched the edge of his bed, but very softly…. And there, for a long time, she remained, until the woven cane left a white impress upon her forehead.
Late in the afternoon the others met below, but Bedient had not awakened. Miss Mallory joined them and told what she had done, and how ill he had been for need of rest…. When the day was ending she stole through the little room into his. Still he slept, so softly, that she bent close to hear his breathing…. All the furious moments of action in recent days passed in swift review, as she stood there in the dark. And from it all came this:
"It is a good thing for a woman to serve a man, with hand and brain,—as one man might serve another—and there's high joy in it; but a woman must not serve a man that way—if she'd rather have his love than hope of heaven."
… And when he awakened, she was still beside him.
THIRTY-THIRD CHAPTER
THE HILLS AND THE SKIES
Varied were the emotions of Dictator Jaffier and Coral City generally, while Bedient slept through that long day of surpassing fortune to the Island. He communicated certain facts to the Dictator next morning, and a day later, the government forces entered and took possession of The Pleiad without firing a shot.