d Troubling of the Waters 
     
    
   
   
    
     meny, beautiful, dumb Kilmeny was, as 
     
     he had once involuntarily thought, “ the 
     
     one maid ” for him. Nothing should part 
     
     them. The mere idea of never seeing her 
     
     again was so unbearable that he laughed 
     
     at himself for having counted it a possible 
     
     alternative. 
     
    

    
     “ If I can win Kilmeny’s love I shall 
     
     ask her to be my wife,” he said, looking 
     
     out of the window to the dark, southwest- 
     
     ern hill beyond which lay his orchard. 
     
    

    
     The velvet sky over it was still starry; 
     
     but the water of the harbour was begin— 
     
     ning to grow silvery in the reflection of 
     
     the dawn that was breaking in the east. 
     
    

    
     “ Her misfortune will only make her 
     
     dearer to me. I cannot realize that a 
     
     month ago I did not know her. It seems 
     
     to me that she has been a part of my life 
     
     for ever. I wonder if she was grieved that 
     
     I did not go to the orchard last night—if 
     
     she waited for me. I wonder if she cares 
     
     for me. If she does, she does not know 
     
     it herself yet. It will be my sweet task 
     
    
   
   
    
     I37