He would lay the plan before the colonel,
have him judge of its expediency and its ethics--and even the
question whether she already knew the real truth, or was self-
deceived. That done, he would return to his own affairs in
Sacramento. There was nothing difficult in this, or that need
worry him, only he could have done it just as well an hour ago.
He opened the window again. The scent of the jessamine came in as
before, but mingled with the cooler breath of the roses. There was
nothing intoxicating or unreal in it now; rather it seemed a gentle
aromatic stimulant--of thought. Long shadows of unseen poplars
beyond barred the garden lanes and alleys with bands of black and
yellow. A slanting pencil of sunshine through the trees was for a
moment focussed on a bed of waxen callas before a hedge of
ceanothus, and struck into dazzling relief the cold white chalices
of the flowers and the vivid shining green of their background.
Presently it slid beyond to a tiny fountain, before invisible, and
wrought a blinding miracle out of its flashing and leaping spray.
Yet even as he gazed the fountain seemed to vanish slowly, the
sunbeam slipped on, and beyond it moved the shimmer of white and
yellow dresses.
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