. Midsummer Eve : a fairy tale of loving and being loved . ver the dried - up andscorched marshes; andthe waters of the lakesseemed to recede farther andtuthti liomtheiisedgy margins—now, indeed, no longer sedgy,for the green rush had become a brown,sapless, coarse-grained straw, and the broadleaves of the water-lily were drawn up by the scorching heat into crumpled heaps, where nothing, not even a tinysnail, obtained food ; the very woodpaths were thick with dust, and thebounding river reduced to a peevish brook—as if it were itself thirsty—crawled, where it had so often triumphed, amid huge
. Midsummer Eve : a fairy tale of loving and being loved . ver the dried - up andscorched marshes; andthe waters of the lakesseemed to recede farther andtuthti liomtheiisedgy margins—now, indeed, no longer sedgy,for the green rush had become a brown,sapless, coarse-grained straw, and the broadleaves of the water-lily were drawn up by the scorching heat into crumpled heaps, where nothing, not even a tinysnail, obtained food ; the very woodpaths were thick with dust, and thebounding river reduced to a peevish brook—as if it were itself thirsty—crawled, where it had so often triumphed, amid huge stones and rocks. Theday was, in truth, not only sultry but feverish; and Eva felt the enervatingeffects of such oppressive weather: it increased tlie weariness that weighedher spirits down. She knew she must use some exertion for her futuremaintenance, for her mothers store must, sooner or later, be was too proud, too right-minded, for a moment to endure felt bewildered and sorrow-stricken; kind as were all to her, she. \ 168 MIDSUMMER EVE hud no heart-fnend—no one to whom she could open her mind. Sheknew none who really sympathised with her spirits yearning for felt as all feel, in a degree, who liave been used to the companion-ship of souls. At last Keeldar, who had watched her, came and laid hishead on her lap, and not receiving the attention ho expected, placedhimself at her feet. He had not rested long, however, when his flap earsmoved ; he arched them upwards, leaving more space for sound to enter;and then his tail stiffened, and he moved his nostrils, rose iip, turnedround, and stood in an attitude peculiar to his race, when expecting anintruder. A shadow rested on the grass—a lengthened shadow; and,before Eva could rise from her seat, a stranger, for she knew him not,stood before her. He removed his hat, and she saw at once that hishair was dark—it was not the nut-brown hair of Sidney. Do you not know me, Eva ?—no
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidmidsummereve, bookyear1870
