"
Moccasins?--She remembered when last she had moccasins on her feet--the
day she rode the horse at the quick-set hedge, and nearly lost her life.
How very distant that all was, and yet how near too! Suddenly she
remembered also why she took that mad ride, and her heart hardened a
little.
"You have been kind to my father since I left?" she asked.
He met her eyes steadily. "No, not always; not more than I have been
kind to you. But at the last, yes." Suddenly his voice became intensely
direct and honest. "Lali," he continued, "there is much that I want to
say to you." She waved her hand in a wearied fashion. "I want to tell
you that I would do the hardest penance if I could wipe out these last
four years."
"Penance?" she said dreamily--"penance? What guarantee of happiness
would that be? One would not wish another to do penance if--"
She paused.
"I understand," he said--"if one cared--if one loved. Yes, I understand.
But that does not alter the force or meaning of the wish.
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