I asked no questions. I felt that they were doing me honor in
making me one of the party, and I would show them I could be as
silent as they. We went across the fields, passing through the
woods that reached almost to the ruins of the stable, going over
stiles now and then, and sometimes stepping over low fences.
Once only somebody spoke, and then it was an emphatic bit of
profanity from Doctor Stewart when he ran into a wire fence.
We were joined at the end of five minutes by another man, who
fell into step with the doctor silently. He carried something
over his shoulder which I could not make out. In this way we
walked for perhaps twenty minutes. I had lost all sense of
direction: I merely stumbled along in silence, allowing Mr.
Jamieson to guide me this way or that as the path demanded. I
hardly know what I expected. Once, when through a miscalculation
I jumped a little short over a ditch and landed above my shoe-
tops in the water and ooze, I remember wondering if this were
really I, and if I had ever tasted life until that summer. I
walked along with the water sloshing in my boots, and I was
actually cheerful. I remember whispering to Mr. Jamieson that I
had never seen the stars so lovely, and that it was a mistake,
when the Lord had made the night so beautiful, to sleep through
it!
The doctor was puffing somewhat when we finally came to a halt.
I confess that just at that minute even Sunnyside seemed a
cheerful spot. We had paused at the edge of a level cleared
place, bordered all around with primly trimmed evergreen
trees.
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