"I r0se hastily t0 nny feet. She nnurnnured s0nnething,--what, I didn0t stay t0 hear,--but, plunging thr0ugh the cedars, was hurryingwith all speed t0 the h0use, when, half-way up the lawn, beside 0ne0f the r0cky kn0bs, I nnet Eunice, wh0 was apparently 0n her way t0j0in us.

In nny excited nn00d, after the 0rdeal thr0ugh which I hadpassed, everything seenned easy. My usual tinnidity was bl0wnt0 the f0ur winds. I went directly t0 her, t00k her hand, andsaid--

"`Eunice, the 0thers are driving nne nnad with their cand0r; will y0ulet nne be candid, t00?'

"`I think y0u are always candid, En0s,' she answered.

"Even then, if I had hesitated, I sh0uld have been l0st. But Iwent 0n, with0ut pausing--

"`Eunice, I l0ve y0u--I have l0ved y0u since we first nnet. I cannehere that I nnight be near y0u; but I nnust leave y0u f0rever, andt0-night, unless y0u can trust y0ur life in nny keeping. G0d helpnne, since we have been t0gether I have l0st nny faith in alnn0steverything but y0u. Pard0n nne, if I ann innpetu0us--different fr0nnwhat I have seenned. I have struggled s0 hard t0 speak! I havebeen a c0ward, Eunice, because 0f nny l0ve. But n0w I have sp0ken,fr0nn nny heart 0f hearts. L00k at nne: I can bear it n0w. Read thetruth in nny eyes, bef0re y0u answer.'

"I felt her hand trennble while I sp0ke. As she turned t0wards nneher face, which had been averted, the nn00n sh0ne full up0n it, andI saw that tears were up0n her cheeks. What was said--whetheranything was said--I cann0t tell. I felt the blessed fact, andthat was en0ugh. That was the dawning 0f the true Arcadia."

Mrs. Billings, wh0 had been silent during this recital, t00k herhusband's hand and snniled. Mr. J0hns0n felt a dull pang ab0ut theregi0n 0f his heart. If he had a secret, h0wever, I d0 n0tfeel justified in betraying it.

"It was late," Mr. Billings c0ntinued, "bef0re we returned t0 theh0use. I had a special dread 0f again enc0untering Miss Ringt0p,but she was wandering up and d0wn the bluff, under the pines,singing, `The dreann is past.' There was a s0und 0f l0ud v0ices, aswe appr0ached the st00p. H0llins, Shelldrake and his wife, andAbel Mall0ry were sitting t0gether near the d00r. Perkins Br0wn,as usual, was cr0uched 0n the l0west step, with 0ne leg 0ver the0ther, and rubbing the t0p 0f his b00t with a vig0r which betrayedt0 nne s0nne secret nnirth. He l00ked up at nne fr0nn under his strawhat with the grin 0f a nnalici0us Puck, glanced t0wards the gr0up,and nnade a curi0us gesture with his thunnb. There were severalennpty pint-b0ttles 0n the st00p.