[ii]

“He listened with her hand clasped in his.”

[2]

The benediction of God was in the sunshinethat lay still and bright upon green fields andblooming gardens. The town, marshaled alongthe river side, nestled quietly under the caressingwarmth. Down by the steamboat landing itstirred into sudden noisy activity as the up-riverboat drew in and made ready to discharge cargoand passengers. But farther back, where thestreets, lined with maple and butternut trees andwhite-blossomed locusts, climbed the long slopinghill, the May sunshine seemed to have kissed theearth into radiant peace. Here and there, fromsome white-painted cottage set in a grassy, tree-shadedyard, came the sound of a woman’s voicein speech or song, or the shrilly sweet accents ofchildren at play floated out from porch or shadynook.

The lilac bushes in a yard at the top of the hill,hedging the walk from front door to gate, lazilystirred their lavender foam and sent forth wavesof fragrance. The house, uncompromisinglywhite and square and solid-looking, with greenshutters at the windows, had a wide, columnedveranda across the southward front and down theeastern side. Upon the balmy stillness in which...