"Now as I started down the farther slope of a hill a whistling sound ran upon me through the wind, and looking back I saw a horseman galloping with great swiftness along the line of the crest, very plainly outlined by the sky, and by something of smoothness in the running of the horse I knew that it was Barry and his black stallion. But the whistling--the music! Dear God, man, have you read of the pipes of Pan? That night I heard them and it made a riot in my heart. "He was gone, suddenly, and the whistling went out like a light, but something had happened inside me--the first beginning of this process of internal change. The ground no longer seemed so dark. There were earth smells--very friendly--I heard some little creature chirruping contentedly to itself. Something hummed--a grasshopper, perhaps. And then I looked up to the stars. There was not a name I could think of--I forgot them all, and for the first time I was contented to look at them and wonder at their beauty without an attempt at analysis or labelling. "If I say that I went back to the ranch-house with my feet on the ground and by heart up there among the stars, will you understand? "I found the girl sewing in front of the fire in the living room. Simply looked up to me with a smile, and a certain dimness about the eyes--well, my breath stopped. "'Kate,' said I, 'I am going away to-morrow morning!' "'And leave Dad?' said she. "'To tell you the truth,' I answered, 'there is nothing I can do for him. There has never been anything I could do for him.' "'I am sorry,' said she, and lifted up her eyes to me. "Now, I had begun by being stiff with her, but the ringing of that whistling--pipes of Pan, you know--was in my ears. I took a chair beside her. Something overflowed in my heart. For the first time in whole days I could look on her beauty without pain. "'Do you know why I'm going?' I asked. "She waited. "'Because,' said I, and smiled right into her face, 'I love you, Kate, most infernally; and I know perfectly well that I will get never the devil a bit of good out of it.' "She peered at me. 'You aren't jesting?' says she. 'No, you're serious. I'm very sorry, Doctor Byrne.' "'And I,' I answered, 'am glad. I wouldn't change it for the world. For once in my life--to-night--I've forgotten myself. No, I won't go away and nurse a broken heart, but I'll think of you as a man should think of something bright and above him. You'll keep my heart warm, Kate, till I'm a very old man. Because of you, I'll be able to love some other girl--and a fine one, by the Lord!' "Something in the nature of an outburst, eh? But it was the music which had done it. All the time it rang and echoed through my ears. My words were only an echo of it. I was in tune with the universe. I was living for the first time. The girl dropped her sewing--tossed it aside. She came over to me and took my hands in a way that would have warmed even the icicles of your heart, Swinnerton.