Rejoice, O wind, in thy strength, said he,
For thou fulfillest thy destiny.
Shake the trees, and the faint flowers fan:
For me, I am only a man.
I am here, said the night, with moon and star;
The sun and the wind are gone afar;
I am here with rest and dreams of choice.
But man would not rejoice.
For he said--What is rest to me, I pray,
Who have done no labour all the day?
He only should dream who has truth behind.
Alas! for me and my kind!
Then a voice, that came not from moon nor star,
From the sun, nor the roving wind afar,
Said, Man, I am with thee--rejoice, rejoice!
And man said, I will rejoice!
"A wonderful physician this!" thought I to myself. "He must be a
follower of some of the old mystics of the profession, counting
harmony and health all one."
He sat still, for a few moments, before the instrument, perhaps to
compose his countenance, and then rose and turned to the company.
The colonel and Percy had entered by this time. The traces of tears
were evident on Adela's face, and Percy was eyeing first her and then
Armstrong, with some signs of disquietude. Even during dinner it had
been clear to me that Percy did not like the doctor, and now he was as
evidently jealous of him.
A little general conversation ensued, and the doctor took his
leave. The colonel followed him to the door. I would gladly have done
so too, but I remained in the drawing-room. All that passed between
them was:
"Will you oblige me by calling on Sunday morning, half an hour before
church-time, colonel?"
"With pleasure."
"Will you come with me, Smith?" asked my friend, after informing me of
the arrangement.
"Don't you think I might be in the way?"
"Not at all. I am getting old and stupid. I should like you to come
and take care of me. He won't do Adela any good, I fear."
"Why do you think so?"
"He has a depressing effect on her already. She is sure not to like
him. She was crying when I came into the room after dinner."
"Tears are not grief," I answered; "nor only the signs of grief, when
they do indicate its presence. They are a relief to it as well. But I
cannot help thinking there was some pleasure mingled with those tears,
for he had been playing very delightfully. He must be a very gifted
man."
"I don't know anything about that. You know I have no ear for
music.--That won't cure my child anyhow."
"I don't know," I answered. "It may help."
"Do you mean to say he thinks to cure her by playing the piano to her?
If he thinks to come here and do that, he is mistaken."
"You forget, Cathcart, that I have had no more conversation with him
than yourself. But surely you have seen no reason to quarrel with him
already."
"No, no, my dear fellow. I do believe I am getting a crusty old
curmudgeon. I can't bear to see Adela like this."
"Well, I confess, I have hopes from the new doctor; but we will see
what he says on Sunday."
"Why should we not have called to-morrow?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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