第138章 CHAPTER XXI(7)

He knelt and gathered her in his arms a second, then called Belshazzar to guard, and went into the sweet spring night, to jubilate with that wild surge of passion that sweeps the heart of a strong man when he is most nearly primal. He climbed the hill at a rush, and standing beneath the oak on the summit, he faced the lake, and stretching his arms widely, he waved them, merely to satisfy the demand for action. When urgency for expression came upon him, he laughed a deep rumble of exultation.

The night wind swept the lake and lifted his hair, the odour of spring was intoxicating in his nostrils, small creatures of earth stirred around him, here and there a bird, restless in the delirium of mating fever, lifted its head and piped a few notes on the moon-whitened air. The frogs sang uninterruptedly at the water's edge. The Harvester stood rejoicing. Beating on his brain came a rush of love words uttered in the Girl's dear voice. "I wanted you! Just you! He is my husband!

My dear, dear husband! To-morrow I am going home! Now, David, I know what you mean by love!"

The Harvester laughed again and sounds around him ceased for a second, then swelled in fuller volume than before. He added his voice. "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" he cried. "And may the Author of the Universe, the spirits of the little mothers who loved us, and all the good fairies who guide us, unite to bring unbounded joy to my Dream Girl and to guard her safely."

The cocks of Medicine Woods began their second salute to dawn. At this sound and with the mention of her name, the Harvester turned down the hill, and striding forcefully approached the cabin. As he passed the Girl's room he stepped softly, smiling as he wondered if its unexpected occupants were resting. He followed Singing Water, and stood looking at the hillside, studying the exact location most suitable for a home for the old people he was so delighted to welcome. That they would remain he never doubted. His faith in the call of the wild had been verified in the Girl; it would reach them also. The hill top would bind them. Their love for the Girl would compel them. They would be company for her and a new interest in life.

"Couldn't be better, not possibly!" commented the delighted Harvester.

He followed the path down Singing Water until he reached the bridge where it turned into the marsh.

There he paused, looking straight ahead.

"Wonder if I would frighten her?" he mused. "Ibelieve I'll risk it."

He walked on rapidly, vaulted the fence enclosing his land, crossed the road, and unlatched the gate. As he did so, the door opened, and Granny Moreland stood on the sill, waiting with keen eyes.

"Well I don't need neither specs nor noonday sun to see that you're steppin' like the blue ribbon colt at the County Fair, and lookin' like you owned Kingdom Come," she said. "What's up, David?"

"You are right, dear," said the Harvester. "I have entered my kingdom. The Girl has come and crowned me with her love. She had decided to return, but the letters you sent made her happier about it. I wanted you to know."

Granny leaned against the casing, and began to sob unrestrainedly.

The Harvester supported her tenderly.

"Why don't do that, dear. Don't cry," he begged.

"The Girl is home for always, Granny, and I'm so happy I am out to-night trying to keep from losing my mind with joy. She will come to you to-morrow, I know."

Granny tremulously dried her eyes.

"What an old sap-head I am!" she commented. "Istole your letters from your fireplace, pitched a willer plate into the lake----you got to fish that out, come day, David----fooled you into that trip to Doc Carey to get him to mail them to Ruth, and never turned a hair.

But after I got home I commenced thinkin' 'twas a pretty ticklish job to stick your nose into other people's business, an' every hour it got worse, until I ain't had a fairly decent sleep since. If you hadn't come soon, boy, I'd 'a' been sick a-bed. Oh, David! Are you sure she's over there, and loves you to suit you now?"

"Yes dear, I am absolutely certain," said the Harvester. "She was so determined to come that she brought the invalid grandmother she couldn't leave and her grandfather. They arrived at midnight. We are all going to live together now."

"Well bless my stars! Fetched you a family! David, I do hope to all that's peaceful I hain't put my foot in it.

The moon is the deceivingest thing on earth I know, but does her family 'pear to be an a-gre'-able family, by its light?"

The Harvester's laugh boomed a half mile down the road.

"Finest people on earth, next to you, dear. I'm mighty glad to have them. I'm going to build them a house on my best location, and we are all going to be happy from now on. Go to bed! This night air may chill you. I can't sleep. I wanted you to know first----so I came over. In mother's stead, will you kiss me, and wish me happiness, dear friend?"

Granny Moreland laid an eager, withered hand on each shoulder, and bent to the radiant young face.