.
It would be a better place still--to love and be happy in." There was a brooding melancholy in his tones, and Sara, hearing it, spoke very gently.
"I hope you will find it--like that," she said.
"I ?" He laughed hardly.

"No! Those gifts of the gods are not for such as I.The husks are my portion.

If it were not so"-- his voice deepened to a sudden urgent note that moved her strangely--"if it were not so--" As though in spite of himself, his arms moved gropingly towards her.
Then, with a muttered exclamation, he turned away and sprang hastily to his feet.
"Let us go back," he said abruptly, and Sara, shaken by his vehemence, rose obediently, and they began to retrace their steps.
It had grown much colder.

The sun hung low in the horizon, and the deceptive warmth of mid-afternoon had given place to the chill dampness in the atmosphere.

Half unconsciously, feeling that the time must have slipped away more rapidly than she had suspected, Sara quickened her steps, Garth striding silently at her side.