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Nigel glanced at Van der Kemp and was startled by the change that had come over him. The moonbeams, which had by that time risen above some intervening shrubs, shone full on him and showed that his usually quiet gentle countenance was deadly pale and transformed by a frown of almost tiger-like ferocity.
In thoughts like these the night wore away, the moonbeams that streamed through my window lighting up the spacious solitudes beyond, mead and creek, forest-land, mountaintop, and the silence without broken by the wild cry of the night hawk and the sibilant melancholy dirge of the shining chrysococyx, bird that never sings but at night, and obstinately haunts the roofs of the sick and dying, ominous of woe and death.
Again the faint shiver of cold ran through my veins like a sense of spiritual terror. If I should lose now what I had lost before! This was my chief thought, my hidden shuddering fear. Did the whole responsibility rest with me, I wondered? Mr. Harland laid his hand kindly on my arm. "You look like a wan spirit in the moonbeams," he said "So pale and wistful!
"I have been listening, and I am certain I hear the splash of paddles on the water," she said; "and see, are not these some black spots just under the moonbeams at the other end of the lake?" We, too, were soon certainly convinced that she was right.
A minute later the boat came clear of the tree shadows and the boys saw a long stretch ahead of them, shimmering like silver in the moonbeams. Sam, looking in the direction of the opposite shore, made out a rowboat moving thither. "There they are!" he cried. At once Dick essayed to turn their own craft in that direction.
Once more the clouds cleared away, and the moonbeams shone on the hull and sails of the schooner with all her canvas set, just about to cross our fore foot. "Now's your time, my men!" I sang out, as I sprung forward, luffing up at the same time, so as to get our broadside to bear on her. The foremost gun was the first fired, followed by the others in succession.
Only the notes of the harmony floated in and out through the trees; nothing else moved. Mrs. Powder had managed to secure some good musical talent, for the performance was of excellent quality. Perhaps summer air and moonbeams helped the effect. At any rate, the first performance, a duet between a flute and a violin, was undoubtedly listened to; and that is saying much.
The moonbeams, that have hitherto shone only upon the window, now illuminate other objects. First they display a small, white arm; then a light, simple robe; then a fair, graceful neck; and finally a bright, youthful, innocent face, directed steadfastly towards the wide moon-brightened prospect of the distant mountains. For some time the girl remains in contemplation at her window.
Then they packed their baskets and went home, feeling very tired but very happy and much pleased with the picnic. That night Betty could not go to sleep for a long, long time. She lay in bed and watched the moonbeams. "I wonder," she thought, "whether the fairies will come. I wonder whether the man in the moon is looking down at them now.
No language could give an adequate idea of the marvelous bewitchment and beauty of their united movements, and as they flew over the dark smooth turf, with the flower-laden trees drooping dewily about them, and the yellow moonbeams like melted amber beneath their noiseless feet, ... while the pale sapphire and white radiations from the dome, sparkling upon them aureole-wise, gave them the appearance of glittering birds circling through a limitless space of luminous and never-clouded ether.
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