Then she would turn
her ear to some sudden bird-note, and Silas learned to please her by
making signs of hushed stillness, that they might listen for the
note to come again: so that when it came, she set up her small back
and laughed with gurgling triumph. Sitting on the banks in this way,
Silas began to look for the once familiar herbs again; and as the
leaves, with their unchanged outline and markings, lay on his palm,
there was a sense of crowding remembrances from which he turned away
timidly, taking refuge in Eppie's little world, that lay lightly on
his enfeebled spirit.
As the child's mind was growing into knowledge, his mind was
growing into memory: as her life unfolded, his soul, long stupefied in
a cold narrow prison, was unfolding too, and trembling gradually
into full consciousness.
It was an influence which must gather force with every new year:
the tones that stirred Silas's heart grew articulate, and called for
more distinct answers; shapes and sounds grew clearer for Eppie's eyes
and ears, and there was more that 'Dad-dad' was imperatively
required to notice and account for. Also, by the time Eppie was
three years old, she developed a fine capacity for mischief, and for
devising ingenious ways of being troublesome, which found much
exercise, not only for Silas's patience, but for his watchfulness
and penetration. Sorely was poor Silas puzzled on such occasions by
the incompatible demands of love.
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