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Riders of the Purple Sage-Part29_Zane Gray(1872-1939)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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nest in a niche under the arch. A driving pall of rain, black as

the clouds, came sweeping on to obscure the bridge and the



gleaming walls and the shining valley. The lightning played

incessantly, streaking down through opaque darkness of rain. The



roar of the wind, with its strange knell and the re-crashing

echoes, mingled with the roar of the flooding rain, and all



seemingly were deadened and drowned in a world of sound.

In the dimming pale light Venters looked down upon the girl. She



had sunk into his arms, upon his breast, burying her face. She

clung to him. He felt the softness of her, and the warmth, and



the quick heave of her breast. He saw the dark, slender, graceful

outline of her form. A woman lay in his arms! And he held her



closer. He who had been alone in the sad, silent watches of the

night was not now and never must be again alone. He who had



yearned for the touch of a hand felt the long tremble and the

heart-beat of a woman. By what strange chance had she come to



love him! By what change--by what marvel had she grown into a

treasure!



No more did he listen to the rush and roar of the thunder-storm.

For with the touch of clinging hands and the throbbing bosom he



grew conscious of an inward storm--the tingling of new chords of

thought, strange music of unheard, joyous bells sad dreams



dawning to wakeful delight, dissolving doubt, resurging hope,

force, fire, and freedom, unutterable sweetness of desire. A



storm in his breast--a storm of real love.

CHAPTER XIV. WEST WIND



When the storm abated Venters sought his own cave, and late in

the night, as his blood cooled and the stir and throb and thrill



subsided, he fell asleep.

With the breaking of dawn his eyes unclosed. The valley lay



drenched and bathed, a burnished oval of glittering green. The

rain-washed walls glistened in the morning light. Waterfalls of



many forms poured over the rims. One, a broad, lacy sheet, thin

as smoke, slid over the western notch and struck a ledge in its



downward fall, to bound into broader leap, to burst far below

into white and gold and rosy mist.



Venters prepared for the day, knowing himself a different man.

"It's a glorious morning," said Bess, in greeting.



"Yes. After the storm the west wind," he replied.

"Last night was I--very much of a baby?" she asked, watching him.



"Pretty much."

"Oh, I couldn't help it!"



"I'm glad you were afraid."

"Why?" she asked, in slow surprise.



"I'll tell you some day," he answered, soberly. Then around the

camp-fire and through the morning meal he was silent; afterward



he strolled thoughtfully off alone along the terrace. He climbed

a great yellow rock raising its crest among the spruces, and



there he sat down to face the valley and the west.

"I love her!"



Aloud he spoke--unburdened his heart--confessed his secret. For

an instant the golden valley swam before his eyes, and the walls



waved, and all about him whirled with tumult within.

"I love her!...I understand now."



Reviving memory of Jane Withersteen and thought of the

complications of the present amazed him with proof of how far he



had drifted from his old life. He discovered that he hated to

take up the broken threads, to delve into dark problems and



difficulties. In this beautiful valley he had been living a

beautiful dream. Tranquillity had come to him, and the joy of



solitude, and interest in all the wild creatures and crannies of

this incomparablevalley--and love. Under the shadow of the great



stone bridge God had revealed Himself to Venters.

"The world seems very far away," he muttered, "but it's



there--and I'm not yet done with it. Perhaps I never shall

be....Only--how glorious it would be to live here always and



never think again!"

Whereupon the resurging reality of the present, as if in irony of



his wish, steeped him instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly in contending thought. Out of it

all he presently evolved these things: he must go to Cottonwoods;



he must bring supplies back to Surprise Valley; he must cultivate

the soil and raise corn and stock, and, most imperative of all,



he must decide the future of the girl who loved him and whom he

loved. The first of these things required tremendous effort, the






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