s "As the moon dieth and cometh to life again," she
p repeated with a sort of chanting cadence, "so man,
! though he die, will live again. Is it not better that
Elbe will wander forever through forests where crystal
If streams roll over golden sands, than grow into wicked-
SBess, and go out into the dark unrepenting, perhaps,
L to be bitten by serpents and scorched by lightning and
-^plunged down cataracts? 1 ' She turned to La Tulita.
"Will you stay here, sefiorita, while I go to bid them

nuke merry?"
The girl nodded, and the woman went out La Tulita

watched the proud head and erect carriage for a
foment, then bound up the fallen jaw of the little
corpse, crossed its hands and placed weights on the
Eyelids. She pushed the few pieces of furniture against
the wall, striving to forget the one trouble that had
Come into her triumphant young life. But there was
little to do, and after a time she knelt by the window
Mid looked up at the dark forest upon which long
thafts of light were striking, routing the fog that
touched in the hollows. The town was as quiet
l* a necropolis. The white houses, under the black
thadows of the hills, lay like tombs. Suddenly the roar
>f the surf came to her ears, and she threw out her
irms with a cry, dropping her head upon them and



i 5 o THE SPLENDID IDLE FORTIES

sobbing convulsively. She heard the ponderous i
of the Pacific lashing the keel of a ship.
