One stood upright in it; the face the moonlight
did not show, but the figure she knew. It was passing swiftly; it seemed
as if no one propelled it; the moonlight's shimmer did not let her see
clearly, and the boat was far from shore, but it seemed almost as if there
was another figure sitting in the stern. Faster and faster it glided over
the water away, away. She ran along the shore; she came no nearer it. The
garment she had held closed fluttered open; she stretched out her arms, and
the moonlight shone on her long loose hair.
Then a voice beside her whispered, "What is it?"
She cried, "With my blood I bought the best of all gifts for him. I have
come to bring it him! He is going from me!"
The voice whispered softly, "Your prayer was answered. It has been given
him."
She cried, "What is it?"
The voice answered, "It is that he might leave you."
The girl stood still.
Far out at sea the boat was lost to sight beyond the moonlight sheen.
The voice spoke softly, "Art thou contented?"
She said, "I am contented."
At her feet the waves broke in long ripples softly on the shore.
V. THREE DREAMS IN A DESERT.
Under a Mimosa-Tree.
As I travelled across an African plain the sun shone down hotly. Then I
drew my horse up under a mimosa-tree, and I took the saddle from him and
left him to feed among the parched bushes. And all to right and to left
stretched the brown earth. And I sat down under the tree, because the heat
beat fiercely, and all along the horizon the air throbbed.
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