THE ROMANCE OF BESSIE WARREN 105 



to her, but there was no answer; he touched her with a feeling of 

 awe, for there was that about her that transcended his under- 

 standing. His eyes filled with tears; he broke away from her 

 with a great cry. He understood: Bessie had found her lost 

 lover. 



Tradition says that they laid her tenderly in a grove of tall 

 elms on the hillside where she watched nightly for the return of her 

 lover : 



"In vain her vigils did the maiden keep — 



This patriot daughter with her love-lit eyes — 

 Waiting her absent lover's slow return 



Beneath Westchester's mellow evening skies. 



Dim figures they of that far-distant strife 



Whose swords are sheathed, with all their dent and stain, 

 This warrior bold, this sweetheart desolate 



Wounded to death by war's stern thrust of pain. 



Yet still above thy turf-grown bed, sweet girl, 



Walk other lovers of this latest day, 

 Who hear thy tale of passion and of grief 



And in their reverance hold thee dear alway. 



So shall the memory of thy woman's trust 



More beauteous ever grow, as swift time flies, 

 Like flowers that blossom from the common dust 



And shed their fragrance as of Paradise." 



