“Not hurts like this; they couldn’t.”
“Yes, even hurts like this. Bear and stand straight; be brave. After all, Zora, no man is quite worth a woman’s soul; no love is worth a whole life.”
Zora turned away with a gesture of impatience.
‚ÄúYou were born in ice,‚Äù she retorted, adding a bit more tenderly, ‚Äúin clear strong ice; but I was born in fire. I live‚ÅÝ‚ÄîI love; that‚Äôs all.‚Äù And she sat down again, despairingly, and stared at the dull swamp. Miss Smith stood for a moment and closed her eyes upon a vision.
“Ice!” she whispered. “My God!”
Then, at length, she said to Zora:
“Zora, there’s only one way: do something; if you sit thus brooding you’ll go crazy.”
“Do crazy folks forget?”
“Nonsense, Zora!” Miss Smith ridiculed the girl’s fantastic vagaries; her sound common sense rallied to her aid. “They are the people who remember; sane folk forget. Work is the only cure for such pain.”
‚ÄúBut there‚Äôs nothing to do‚ÅÝ‚Äînothing I want to do‚ÅÝ‚Äînothing worth doing‚ÅÝ‚Äînow.‚Äù
“The Silver Fleece?”
The girl sat upright.
“The Silver Fleece,” she murmured. Without further word, slowly she arose and walked down the stairs, and out into the swamp. Miss