But why should I weary the reader by a detailed account of my
wanderings and searchings with my strange guide that day, and the
next, and the next? Why should I burthen him with the mental agonies
I suffered as Sinfi and I, during the following days, explored the
country for miles and miles--right away beyond the Cross Foxes, as
far as Dolgelley and the region of Cader Idris? At last, one evening,
when I and Rhona Boswell and some of her family were walking down
Snowdon towards Llanberis, Sinfi announced her conviction that
Winifred was no longer in the Snowdon region at all, perhaps not even
in Wales at all.
'You mean, I suppose, that she is dead,' I said.
'Dead?' said Sinfi, the mysterious sibylline look returning
immediately to her face, that had just seemed so frank and simple.
'She ain't got to _die_; she's only got to beg. But I shall ha' to
leave you now. I can't do you no more good. And besides, my daddy's
goin' into the Eastern Counties with the Welsh ponies, and so is
Jasper Bozzell and Rhona. Videy and me are goin' too, in course.'
With deep regret and dismay I felt that I must part from her. How
well I remember that evening. I feel as now I write the delicious
summer breeze of Snowdon blowing on my forehead. The sky, which for
some time had been growing very rich, grew at every moment rarer in
colour, and glassed itself in the llyns which shone with an enjoyment
of the beauty like the magic mirrors of Snowdonian spirits. The
loveliness indeed was so bewitching that one or two of the
Gypsies--a race who are, as I had already noticed, among the few
uncultivated people that show a susceptibility to the beauties of
nature--gave a long sigh of pleasure, and lingered at the llyn of the
triple echo, to see how the soft iridescent opal brightened and
shifted into sapphire and orange, and then into green and gold. As a
small requital of her valuable services I offered her what money I
had about me, and promised to send as much more as she might require
as soon as I reached the hotel at Dolgelley, where at the moment my
portmanteau was lying in the landlord's charge.
'_Me_ take money for tryin' to find my sister, Winnie Wynne?' said
Sinfi, in astonishment more than in anger. 'Seein', reia, as I'd jist
sell everythink I've got to find her, I should like to know how many
gold balansers [sovereigns] 'ud pay me. No, reia, Winnie Wynne ain't
in Wales at all, else I'd never give up this patrin-chase. So fare ye
well;' and she held out her hand, which I grasped, reluctant to let
it go.
'Fare ye well, reia,' she repeated, as she walked swiftly away; 'I
wonder whether we shall ever meet agin.'
'Indeed, I hope so,' I said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account