He began to whistle as he went to the
river's edge. He was whistling when he returned, the two birds in his hand.
Joanne was waiting for him in the door. Again her face was a faintly tinted
vision of tranquil loveliness; her eyes were again like the wonderful blue
pools over the sunlit mountains. She smiled as he came up. He was
amazed--not that she had recovered so completely from the emotional
excitement that had racked her, but because she betrayed in no way a sign
of grief--of suspense or of anxiety. A few minutes ago he had heard her
singing. He could almost believe that her lips might break into song again
as she stood there.
From that moment until the sun sank behind the mountains and gray shadows
began to creep in where the light had been, there was no other reference to
the things that had happened or the things that had been said since
Joanne's arrival. For the first time in years John Aldous completely forgot
his work. He was lost in Joanne. With the tremendous reaction that was
working out in him she became more and more wonderful to him with each
breath that he drew. He made no effort to control the change that was
sweeping through him.
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