CHAPTER VIII

AT THE GATE OF EDEN

HEN Eric went to the old Con-

\; \/ nors orchard the next evening

he found Kilmeny waiting for him on the bench under the white lilac tree, with the violin in her lap. As soon as she saw him she caught it up and began to play an airy delicate little melody that sounded like the laughter of daisies.

When it was finished she dropped her bow, and looked up at him with flushed cheeks and questioning eyes.

“ What did that say to you? ” she wrote.

“ It said something like this,” an- swered Eric, falling into her humour smil- ingly. “ Welcome, my friend. It is a very beautiful evening. The sky is so blue and the apple blossoms so sweet.

106