The wealth of all the earth was at my command. Railroad train and ocean
grayhound, stage and pony cart, spurring horseman and naked brown runner
sweating through jungle paths under his mail bags, would bear the news of
me East and West, until they met in the antipodes and put a girdle of my
loveliness right round the world!
Never before had I realised what a great thing a newspaper is!
My heart was beating with a terrible joy. And so--prosaic detail--I threw
the papers down in a heap on the floor, combed my hair in a great loose
knot, put a rose at my belt, and went down to smile at my Aunt's
anxieties. I even went with my cousins to supper with Aunt Marcia. And in
the early evening Mr. Hynes came to walk with us home. I knew his step,
and my heart jumped with fright. What would he, so fastidious as he was,
think of that poster?
But his look leaped to mine as he entered, and I--oh, it seemed as if
there had never been such a night; never the snow, the delight of the cold
and dark and the far, wise stars! I couldn't tell what joy elf possessed
me as we walked homeward. I wanted to run like a child.
Pages:
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206