"
"I hadn't thought of it, but that is so. I dearly love a hillside, with
pines and cedars, and sloping meadows with sheep--and rides over mountain
roads to the gate of dreams, where Spottswood's golden horseshoe knights
ride out at you with a grand sweep of their plumed hats. Now what have
you to say to that?"
"Nothing, but my entire approval," he said.
He dimly understood, as he left her in this gay mood, at the Claiborne
house, that she had sought to make him forget the lurking figure in the
park thicket and the dark deed thwarted there. It was her way of
conveying to him her dismissal of the incident, and it implied a greater
kindness than any pledge of secrecy. He rode away with grave eyes, and a
new hope filled his heart.
CHAPTER X
JOHN ARMITAGE IS SHADOWED
Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
--Walt Whitman.
Armitage dined alone that evening and left the hotel at nine o'clock for
a walk. He unaffectedly enjoyed paved ground and the sights and ways of
cities, and he walked aimlessly about the lighted thoroughfares of the
capital with conscious pleasure in the movement and color of life.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143