Sunny Slopes
Page 15
CHAPTER XV
THE SECOND STEP
They sat on canvas chairs on the sand outside the porch of thesanatorium, warmly wrapped in rugs, for the summer evenings in NewMexico are cold, and watched the shadows of evening tarnish the gold ofthe mesa. Like children, they held hands under the protecting shelterof the rug. They talked of little Julia off in Mount Mark, how she wasgrowing, the color of her eyes, the shape of her fingers. They talkedof her possible talents, and how they could best be developed, judgingas well as they could in advance by the assembled qualities of all herrelatives. David suggested that they might be prejudiced in her favora little, for as far as they could determine there was no avenue ofability closed to her, but Carol stanchly refused to admit theimpeachment. They talked of the schools best qualified to train her,of the teachers she must have, of the ministers they must demand forher spiritual guidance. They talked of the thousand bad habits ofother little girls, and planned how Julia should be led surely, sweetlyby them.
Then they were silent, thinking of the little pink rosebud baby as shehad left them.
The darkness swept down from the mountains almost as sand-storms come,and Carol leaned her head against David's shoulder. She was happy.David was so much better. The horrible temperature was belowninety-nine at last, and David was allowed to walk about the mesa, andhis appetite was ravenous. Maybe the doctors were wrong after all. Hewas certainly on the high-road to health now. She was so glad Davidhad not known how near the dark valley he had passed.
David was rejoicing that he had never told Carol how really ill he hadbeen. She would have been so frightened and sorry. He pictured Carolwith the light dying out in her eyes, with pallor eating the roses inher cheeks, with languor in her step, and dullness in her voice,--theCarol she would surely have been had she known that David was walkingunder the shadow of death. David was very happy. He was so muchbetter, of course he would soon be himself. Things looked very bright.Somehow to-night he did not yearn so much for work. It was Carol thatcounted most, Carol and the little Julia who was theirs, and would someday be with them. The big thing now was getting Julia ready for thelife that was to come to her.
He was richly satisfied.
"Carol, this is the most wonderful thing in the world, companionshiplike this, being together, thinking in harmony, hoping the same hopes,sharing the same worries, planning the same future. Companionship islife to me now. There is nothing like it in all the world."
Carol snuggled against his shoulder happily.
"Love is wonderful," he went on, "but companionship is broader, for itis love, and more beyond. It is the development of love. It is thefull blossom of the seed that has been planted in the heart. Serviceis splendid, too. But after all, it takes companionship to perfectservice. One can not work alone. You are the completion of my desireto work, and you are the inspiration of my ability to work. Yes,companionship is life,--bigger than love and bigger than service, forcompanionship includes them both."