It
must be admitted that he gave little heed to the sacred words she
read; but the flexible music of her voice, mingled with the murmur
of the brook, the rustle of the leaves and the occasional song of a
bird, all combined to form the sweetest symphony he had ever heard.
As an artist he exulted. His hand had not lost its cunning, and
his ruling passion, which the strange experiences of the past few
weeks had held in abeyance, was reasserting itself with a fuller,
richer power than he had known before. That WAS Ida Mayhew's face
that was growing beautiful and full of her new and better life
under his appreciative and skilful touch, and the consciousness
of success in the kind of effort in which success meant to him so
much, filled him with a strong enthusiasm.
Once or twice Ida glanced shyly at him, and his appearance did not
tend to fix her thoughts wholly on the sacred text.
At last Mr. Eltinge said: "That will do for to-day. I think, under
the circumstances, you have given most praiseworthy attention to
what you have read, and to what little I could say in the way of
explanation. Now for the picture, and I confess I'm as eager as a
child to see it;" and they came and looked over Van Berg's shoulder.
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