Summer was on the world again, and with its coming, melancholy was banished for a season from Le CrÉpuscule. With the first northward flight of storks, a new air, a breath of hidden life and gayety, crept into the Castle household, and, in the early days of June, broke forth in a riot of pleasures,—caroles, garland-weaving parties, and hunting. As in former times, Laure was now the moving spirit in every sport, and, to the general amazement, madame, who in her younger days had been celebrated at the chase, herself headed one of the rabbit-hunts,—in that day a favorite pastime with women. The country around Le CrÉpuscule was as beautiful in summer as it was desolate in winter; In the first week of July, however, the period of gayety was checked by the loss of four members of the household. Two of the demoiselles of noble family, whom madame had taken to train as gentlewomen of rank, Berthe de Montfort and Isabelle de Joinville, had now been in Le CrÉpuscule the customary time for the acquirement of etiquette and the arts of needlework, and escorts arrived from their homes to convoy them away. After their departure, the squires Louis of Florence and Robert Meloc resigned their places and rode out into the world, to seek a life of action. There were now left in Le CrÉpuscule the demoiselles whom Lenore had brought with Of the mood of Alixe during these summer months, much might be said. Throughout the spring she had been in a state of hot desire for what was not in Le CrÉpuscule. She was filled with unrest; but her plans On the 19th of July the tide was at low ebb at half-past two in the afternoon; and at three o’clock Alixe entered the cave, and climbed, dry-shod, up to her ledge of rock. Here, as she knew, she was safe for two hours, if she chose to stay so long. The interior of this cave was by no means an uninteresting place, though Alixe had never yet explored it beyond the space of twenty feet, where it was bright with the daylight that poured in through its jagged entrance. After that it wound a darker way into the cliff, and the far recesses were lost in utter blackness. A spoken word directed toward the inner passage-way would reverberate along that mysterious interior till one could not but To-day, certainly, there was no suggestion of the uncanny about her as she lay upon her Alixe started, and sat up straight, while a high tenor voice cried out: “Ho, Mistress Alixe, ’tis thou, then? Is’t I that discover “OhÉ, David, thou’st startled me! Meseemeth I all but slept.” “’Tis a day for sleep, but this is not the place. Is there room there on the ledge? Wilt let me up? ’Tis wet enough, below here.” “Yea; thy feet slop i’ the sand, and thou’st frightened two crabs. Canst climb hither?” He laughed merrily, and scrambled up beside her, his light body seeming but a feather in weight. She made room beside her, and he sat down there, cocking one parti-colored knee upon the other, and beginning lightly: “Thus bravely, then, thou comest into the cave of the water goblin. Art thou, perchance, courted here by some sly water sprite?” The maiden, responding to his mood, laughed also. “Not unless thou’lt play the sprite, Master David. Say—wilt court me?” “Nay, sister. Thou and I, and all i’ the Castle up above, know each other in a way that admits no love-foolery. Heigho!” The little man’s tone had changed to one of whimsical earnestness. Alixe made no immediate reply to his speech, and so, to entertain himself, For a few seconds Alixe watched him absently. Then she said: “Those pebbles, David, are like thee and me. Watch now which will be the first to fall from thy hand. Thou’rt the mottled; I the gray.” “And I, damsel,” said he, as he began to handle them a little less carelessly, “I, who sit here forever, for my amusement tossing into the air two light souls, catching them when they come back to me, and flinging them again away—who am I, I ask?” “Thou, David?” Alixe’s face took on a little, bitter smile. “Why, thou art that inexorable thing that men call God. Wilt never drop thy stones from their wearisome sphere, Almighty One?” “They will not fall. They return to me evermore,” he answered; and, after another toss or two, he let them both remain in his hand while he looked at them for a moment. After that he put them back into his bag again, with a curious smile. “That, then, is our end,” he remarked, at last. “Ay. There are things that keep thee here—and me too. There is the baby, now, and its angel-faced mother. And then madame—how is one to leave her, when she is a little more alive than formerly? I, too, Alixe, have dreamed dreams. The fever of my boyhood, with its wanderings, its life, its continual change, comes upon me strong sometimes. Here, in this place, my wit lies buried, my soul grows gray within me, my eyes have forgot the look of the world’s bright colors. And yet I stay on—I stay on forever.” “How if we two went out together, David, thou and I? Think you the world might hold a place for us? I would be a good comrade, I promise thee. I would march stoutly at thy side, nor complain when weariness overcame me. We should not have always to beg for food, for I have a little bag—” “See, Alixe, look! There below, on the sand, by that sharp-pointed stone,—there is Alixe failed to smile. This last augury, though it confirmed the one that she herself had made, did not please her. She sat silent on the ledge, her feet hanging, her elbows on her knees, her head on her hand, watching intently all the little dramas taking place below her among the sea-creatures. Nor was David in a mood to make conversation. So the two of them sat silent for a long time—how long a time neither of them knew. The water was growing more brightly golden under the beams of the fast-descending sun, and Alixe noted the fact, but held her peace. It was David who, after a little while, suddenly exclaimed,— “Diable, Alixe! See how the tide hath risen! We shall be wet enough getting out and back to the upper cliff. Come quickly!” As he spoke, he slid from the ledge, landing in water that was up to his ankles. “Quickly, Alixe! Alixe sat motionless upon the ledge above, and looked calmly down upon the dwarf. “Reflect, David, how easy it were not to wet my ankles thus. How easy ’twould be just to sit here—until the stone should drop for the last time into the hand of God.” David stood looking up at her, wide-eyed. The idea was slow to pierce his brain. “Why, yes,” said he, “’twere easy enow, easy enow. Yet when I go, ’t must be from mine own room, and by a clean dagger-stroke. I care not to choke myself to death in a goblin’s cave. Come, Alixe, the water riseth.” “Go thou on, David. I can come down when I will; for I have traversed the way often.” “Come down!” “Nay, David.” “Come down.” “Nay.” The water was deeper by four inches than it had been when he first reached the bottom of the cave. The dwarf looked up at the girl, who sat smiling at him, and his face reddened “David, thou must go. Climb down, and save thyself quickly. Thy slender body cannot much longer breast the tide.” David crossed his knees and clasped his hands around them. “If thou stayest, I also will remain.” “I beg of thee, go, ere it is too late!” “Not without thee.” “In the name of God I ask it.” “We two were together in God’s hand.” “Then so be it, David. Sit thou here beside me. We will wait together.” The little man did not reply to her this time, and Alixe felt no more need for speech. They sat there, occupied with their own thoughts, both watching, under the spell of a peculiar fascination, how the green water was mounting, mounting toward them. The cave was filled with blinding light from the setting sun. The roar of the ocean, a voice mighty and ineffable, filled all their consciousness. Alixe was growing cold. A deadly intoxication stole upon her senses, and she bent far over the ledge to look into the swirling, foamy green below her. “By the Almighty God, His creation is wondrous! This is a scene worthy of the end!” cried David, suddenly, in a hoarse, emotional tone. Alixe started violently. The sound of a human voice, breaking in upon the universal murmur of the infinite waters, sent a sudden stab to her heart. In a quick flash, she beheld Lenore’s baby holding out its feeble hands to her. Near it stood Laure, the penitent; and, on the other hand, madame, with her great, grave, sorrowful eyes fixed full upon herself, Alixe. “David!” cried the girl, suddenly, wildly, above the roar of the tide: “David! We must escape!—Quickly! Quickly! Quickly!” As she spoke, she left the ledge, to find herself swaying almost shoulder deep in the For an instant, David looked down upon her with something resembling a smile. Then he followed her, and would have been carried off his feet in the water, had not Alixe steadied him with one hand, while, with the other, she clung to the rock above her head. The sudden chill woke David’s senses, and he said sharply: “We must hurry, Alixe! There is no time to lose.” Hand in hand, by the murmurous She was dizzy and weak and sick, and her lungs ached furiously; yet with it all, she saw David’s distress, and managed to keep herself conscious by staring at him fixedly. “Up, Alixe! Up!” he muttered. “Thou must get up to the Castle. I cannot carry thee With an effort that seemed to her to be superhuman, Alixe struggled to her feet. He held her dripping skirts away from her, so that she could walk as little hampered as possible; and though she staggered and reeled at every step, they still made progress, and were halfway up the cliff before she collapsed again, utterly exhausted. Happily, at that moment, David spied the figure of Laure at the top of the cliff, and he cried to her with all the strength that was left him to come down. In a moment she was beside them, staring in silent astonishment at their plight. “The demoiselle Alixe had a fancy for bathing. She hath bathed,” observed David. Alixe did not speak. But suddenly her eyes met Laure’s, and she burst into hysterical laughter. Laure, being a woman, realized that she was strained to the point of collapse. So she bade David go on before them and take all precautions to recover from his bath; and then, as soon as Alixe signified her ability to go on again, Laure put one of her strong, young arms A few moments later the exhausted girl lay in her bed, wrapped round with blankets, her dripping garments stripped away, and her body glowing again with the warmth of vigorous friction, while her wet hair was fastened high on her head, away from her face. When Laure had removed, as far as possible, every evidence of the escapade, she bent for a moment over the pillow of her foster-sister, and then “Drink, Alixe. ’Twill give thee strength.” Obediently, Alixe drank; and the posset sent a new glow of warmth through her body. “Now, if thou canst, thou must sleep.” Alixe sent a thoughtful glance into her companion’s eyes, and there was something in her look that caused Laure to take both of the trembling hands in her own, and to wait for Alixe to speak. “Nay, Laure, nay; I cannot sleep till I have told thee. Some one I must tell,—some one that will understand. Let me confess to thee.” Laure seated herself on the edge of the bed, Alixe still retaining her hands. And Laure’s Alixe’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. “It is so. I tried—to leave Le CrÉpuscule.” The last she only whispered, faintly. “But it drew thee back again? The Castle would not loose its hold on thee? Even so was it with me. Methought I hated it, Alixe, with its loneliness and its shadows and its vast silences. Yet however far away I was, I found it always before my eyes, or hidden in my thoughts. Through my hours of highest happiness I yearned for it; and it drew me back to it at last.” “It is true! It is true! I know thou speakest truth.” “And thou wilt not try again to go away, my sister?” “Not again; oh, not again! I could see you all, you and madame and Madame Lenore, and your eyes called me back. It is my home, is’t not? I have a place here, have I not? Ah, Laure, thou’st been so good to |