





if the hypocritical performance had been 

 part of the original deception. 1 am con- 

 fident now that it was, for that brief drench- 

 ing of trees and sward was almost the last 

 noticeable preparation before the curtain 

 rose. The next day there was a deep, 

 unbroken quiet across our piece of world, 

 as if a fragment of eternity had been 

 quietly slipped into the place of one of 

 our brief, noisy days. The trees stood 

 motionless, as if awaiting some signal, and 

 I listened in vain for that inarticulate and 

 half -heard murmur of coming life which, 

 day and night, had filled my thoughts 

 these past weeks, and set the march of the 

 hours to a sublime rhythm. 



The next morning a faint perfume stole 

 into my room. I rose hastily, ran to the 

 window, and lo! the secret was out: the 

 apple trees were in bloom ! Three days 

 later, and the miracle so long in preparation 

 was accomplished; the slowly rising tide 

 of life had broken into a foam of blossoms 

 and buried the world in a billowy sea. 

 There will come days of greater splendour 

 22 



