Chapter VIII

The golden spirit in each lily bloom, That, pollen-vestured, laughs at care all day Had closed the doors and shutters of its house. Forth in the dewy garden, 'neath the stars, Walked Coralline and Ruth, sad and alone; For Ruth was owned again by Dalton Earl.

"I grieve," said Coralline, "that Stanley Thane Left me so rashly, and that he thinks My hasty words were said with earnest thought. Would that a bird might fly to him and sing-- 'She loves you still, Stanley, she loves you still.'"

Ruth followed quickly, "Your wish is heard; For I will go to him who once was here, And say to him the words that you have said." Then fell the other on the quadroon's neck, And kissed her through her tears, and promised her Her freedom, if she went to Stanley Thane. She did not dream what impulse urged the slave, Nor that in sending her toward the North Bearing a message full of trust and love, She sent a message smeared with blood instead.

For Ruth hoped now for vengeance for her past. Wronged by her father, she would wreak her hate Full on her sister, and destroy her peace, As hers had been destroyed in dark dead days.

IX.

That night she stole a knife, and sharpened it, And while she drew it up and down the stone, Sipped from the poison nectar of revenge. She thought of Stanley Thane, and pitied him That he should be the victim of her hate; But wished that Coralline could see him then, After the violent knife had done its work, Laid out and ready for his last abode.

X.

So Ruth arose, and when the wine-lipped Dawn, Gathering his robes about him like a god, Went up to the great summits of the world From the black valleys of immeasurable space, She passed beyond the limit of the vale.

Those she loved best had all been torn away; The last, her child, was sold she knew not where; And Coralline too should taste a bitter cup, Feeling the fury of a deep revenge.

XI.

For many days Ruth journeyed to the North, And reached at last the camp. She passed the guard, And in the night discovered Stanley's tent; Then gliding in, bent o'er him while he slept. He dreamed of Coralline, and in his sleep Said--"Coralline, 'tis better to forgive." And Ruth who heard, cried, "She forgives; She loves you still, Stanley--she loves you still!" At this he woke, and saw the woman there, And saw the weapon raised above his breast, And a vague horror at the mockery of the words Left him all powerless, and sealed up his speech. But one swift hand passed in and grasped the arm, And snatched the knife, and there before them stood Karagwe, with Ruth Earl face to face.

XII.

And after, at Fort Pillow, when the storm Had gone against us, and the traitors slew Five hundred men who had laid down their arms, Karagwe was shot, and with a prayer For his whole country, he fell back and died.

Some, seeking the highest type of noble men, Compare their heroes with the cavaliers, Boasting their ancestry through tangled lines; But I, who care not for patrician blood, Hold him the highest who constrains great ends, Or rounds a prudent life with noble deeds.

DEMETRIUS.