One day I cooked a delicious mess of cowslip greens
with a ham-bone. She seemed to be happy; and I should have been if I had
not made myself so miserable. I remember almost every moment of this
time--so long ago.
One day as we were fishing we were obliged to clamber along the bank
where a tree crowded us so far over the water that Virginia, in stooping
to pass under the body of the tree, was about to fall; and I jumped down
into the stream and caught her in my arms as she was losing her hold. I
found her arms about my neck as she clung to me; and, standing in the
water, I turned her about in my arms, rather roughly of necessity,
caught one arm about her waist and the other under the hollows of her
knees and held her so.
"Don't let me fall," she begged.
"I won't," I said--and I could say no more.
"You've got your feet all wet," said she.
"I don't care," I said--and stopped.
"How clumsy of me!" she exclaimed.
"It was a hard place to get around," said I.
"I hope you didn't lose the fish," said she.
"No," said I, "I dropped the string of them in the grass."
Now this conversation lasted a second, from one way of looking at it,
and a very long time from another; and all the time I was standing
there, knee-deep in the water, with Virginia's arms about my neck, her
cheek almost against mine, one of my arms about her waist and the other
under the hollows of her knees--and I had made no movement for putting
her ashore.
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