Loving the sea so well, her few flights from home had given her only
marine experiences, and the flavor of entire novelty was added to the
feast her husband had provided for her. It came to her not only when she
could enjoy it most, but when she needed it most, soothing the unquiet,
stimulating the nobler elements which ruled her life by turns and
fitting her for what lay before her. Choosing the quietest roads, Moor
showed her the wonders of a region whose wild grandeur and beauty make
its memory a life-long satisfaction. Day after day they followed
mountain paths, studying the changes of an ever-varying landscape,
watching the flush of dawn redden the granite fronts of these Titans
scarred with centuries of storm, the lustre of noon brood over them
until they smiled, the evening purple wrap them in its splendor, or
moonlight touch them with its magic; till Sylvia, always looking up at
that which filled her heart with reverence and awe, was led to look
beyond, and through the medium of the friend beside her learned that
human love brings us nearer to the Divine, and is the surest means to
that great end.
The last week of the honeymoon came all too soon, for then they had
promised to return. The crowning glory of the range was left until the
last, and after a day of memorable delights Sylvia sat in the sunset
feasting her eyes upon the wonders of a scene which is indescribable,
for words have limits and that is apparently illimitable. Presently Moor
came to her asking--
"Will you join a party to the great ice palace, and see three acres of
snow in August, worn by a waterfall into a cathedral, as white if not as
durable as any marble?"
"I sit so comfortably here I think I had rather not. But you must go
because you like such wonders, and I shall rest till you come back."
"Then I shall take myself off and leave you to muse over the pleasures
of the day, which for a few hours has made you one of the most eminent
women this side the Rocky Mountains. There is a bugle at the house here
with which to make the echoes, I shall take it with me, and from time to
time send up a sweet reminder that you are not to stray away and lose
yourself."
Sylvia sat for half an hour, then wearied by the immensity of the wide
landscape she tried to rest her mind by examining the beauties close at
hand. Strolling down the path the sight-seers had taken, she found
herself in a rocky basin, scooped in the mountain side like a cup for a
little pool, so clear and bright it looked a diamond set in jet. A
fringe of scanty herbage had collected about its brim, russet mosses,
purple heath, and delicate white flowers, like a band of tiny hill
people keeping their revels by some fairy well. The spot attracted her,
and remembering that she was not to stray away, she sat down beside the
path to wait for her husband's return.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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