Considered as a kiss, that was a failure, but since it
was the first, other than those
demanded
by duty, in all the world that
either had ever given or taken, it opened to them new worlds, and every
one of them glorious, so that they were lifted above the consideration
of any worlds at all, especially those in which tea is necessary, and
sat still, holding each other's hands and saying not a word.
Kipling - Poems
" A second
"darling" came to his lips more easily than the first. There were
few endearments in Dick's home or school life; he had to find them by
instinct. Dick caught the little hand blackened with the escaped gas of
the revolver.
"I promise," she said solemnly; "but if I care there is no need for
promising."
"And do you care?" For the first time in the past few minutes their eyes
met and spoke for them who had no skill in speech....
"Oh, Dick, don't! Please don't! It was all right when we said
good-morning; but now it's all different!" Amomma looked on from afar.
He had seen his property quarrel frequently, but he had never seen
kisses exchanged before. The yellow sea-poppy was wiser, and nodded its
head approvingly.
Considered as a kiss, that was a failure, but since it
was the first, other than those
demanded
by duty, in all the world that
either had ever given or taken, it opened to them new worlds, and every
one of them glorious, so that they were lifted above the consideration
of any worlds at all, especially those in which tea is necessary, and
sat still, holding each other's hands and saying not a word.
"You can't forget now," said Dick, at last. There was that on his cheek
that stung more than gunpowder.
"I shouldn't have forgotten anyhow," said Maisie, and they looked at
each other and saw that each was changed from the companion of an hour
ago to a wonder and a mystery they could not understand. The sun began
to set, and a night-wind thrashed along the bents of the foreshore.
"We shall be awfully late for tea," said Maisie. "Let's go home."
"Let's use the rest of the cartridges first," said Dick; and he helped
Maisie down the slope of the fort to the sea,--a descent that she was
quite capable of covering at full speed. Equally gravely Maisie took the
grimy hand. Dick bent forward clumsily; Maisie drew the hand away, and
Dick blushed.
"It's very pretty," he said.
"Pooh!" said Maisie, with a little laugh of gratified vanity. She stood
close to Dick as he loaded the revolver for the last time and fired
over the sea with a vague notion at the back of his head that he was
protecting Maisie from all the evils in the world. A puddle far across
the mud caught the last rays of the sun and turned into a wrathful red
disc. The light held Dick's attention for a moment, and as he raised his
revolver there fell upon him a renewed sense of the miraculous, in
that he was standing by Maisie who had promised to care for him for an
indefinite length of time till such date as----A gust of the growing
wind drove the girl's long black hair across his face as she stood with
her hand on his shoulder calling Amomma "a little beast," and for a
moment he was in the dark,--a darkness that stung.
