And, as the road grew steeper, her attention was directed to the scenes around. Below, the blue abysses, hidden in mists, with jutting pinnacles of rock rising from out of them. Mountains and wooded plains on every side--massed peak behind peak into the far distance. Yet, covering the path where she was walking, a velvet carpet of mountain flowers blowing in the moonlit breezes. And above, the mystic rowan berries, scarlet and drooping--a contrast to the white airy bells beneath. And, thrilled with the intense beauty of the scene, Marigold sat down and waited. And then, in the far distance, she heard a merry whistling, rich and clear, that came vibrating on the moonbeams--a simple shepherd song they sang in the mountain valleys, in that Land of Song where she had lived--a child. And Marigold rose to her feet, smiling and joyous; and, as the sound came nearer, she began to sing--the old sweet notes, yet now far sweeter, that Patches used to love. And her rich notes, mingled with that flute-like accompaniment, caused all the air to tremble, and, from the shading bowers and trees around, a thousand merry throats poured forth a song--the magic notes of the perfect nightingale--passion and tenderness and love all blended with gaiety and Heaven’s sadness too, not that of duller spheres. Then, on an instant, the merry whistle ceased, Marigold’s song, and the birds’ ecstatic trills. For he had climbed the last steep point and stood beside her. Intense stillness; the air still vibrating, though the song had gone in a thousand echoes up to Heaven. Without a word, with eyes for no one else but him, she felt the strong arms round her, drawing her to his breast. And thus they soared away, high over peaks and precipices, above the moon--the song of birds in the distance, like the lark in the deep blue sky; and beauty and light all round them, the rosy shafts of sunrise dyeing the silver rays of the moon. THE END PRINTED BY M’LAREN AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. AT ALL LIBRARIES AND BOOKSELLERS Reginald Turner’s Novels SIX SHILLINGS EACH Castles in Kensington Review of Reviews.--“Distinctly amusing.” Dally Telegraph.--“We welcome the gaiety and humour with which the book is brimming over.” Times.--“A light, good-tempered, and amusing comedy.” St James’ Gazette.--“A clever and delightful exposition of the true art of trifling. No one with a taste for humour, without labels, can help liking this book.” Record.--“A thoroughly honest and amusing story, the aim of which is to gently chide the pretentiousness of the more harmless type of summer society at a minor French watering place.” The Comedy of Progress