The Argosy — page 189: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

174 The White Witch. when he, after gathering right and left, without paying much attention to what he was doing, came towards her with a huge bunch of all sorts of things, she started in surprise. “Oh, I did not want all those! Only one or two little pieces.” ‘Well, now you can choose what you want, and we can throw the rest away.” ‘‘Oh, no,” she said, as if he had proposed something wicked. ‘* Well, you can choose the prettiest for drawing, and we'll put the rest in water at home.” He sat down on the tree-trunk and spread out his collection between them because—because he wanted to finish his cigar before going in. So he smoked on, with his eyes on the flowers and the white fingers busy among them, for some minutes in silence. Then his gaze rose from the fingers to the face. “You look tired,” said he. ‘‘T am tired,” she answered. And then a momentary gleam of light seemed to pass over her face, as if a new thought had struck her. But she said nothing more. ** So hot and dusty, those polo matches are!” "Do you think so? I liked it. Only—lI believe mamma was right ; I ought not to have gone,” said she in a low voice. ‘Why not?” “Tt was tiring. I am tired now.” The red light had faded. She was looking white now, and her eyes seemed very large and dark. Godfrey thought the fragile appearance this gave her made her face strangely interesting. ‘But you will be all right to-morrow, after a good night’s rest.” ‘To-morrow, perhaps. But it will not always be so,” said she, hastily. ‘“‘Mamma is always saying, Be careful. But one can’t always be; one must forget and enjoy oneself sometimes.” A touch of the restless earnestness of her talk with her mother was in her voice, and in her impatient movements, “Forget what?” asked Godfrey in a low voice, but with fiery interest. ‘Forget that I—-—oh, but what does it matter? I ought not to talk about it even.” “Tell me what you mean. Forget what?” ** Forget that I am—dying.” He did not see the expression of guilty self reproach that passed over her face as she saw the effect of these words on him. For the shock made him shudder and look down; and when he raised his eyes, there was a light in them as he turned to her which told that in that first moment of surprise and pity, he would have given his own life to save that of the fragile girl by his side. It was a generous impulse, nothing more, gone almost as soon as it had come, But his voice, when he at length spoke, was low and gentle as a woman’s, “You cannot mean that? I hope not; I hope not!” Eomichooks. co m