" "He" lay too close before their eyes to be discovered fully.
Tim had long ago described it instinctively as "an enormous hide," but
it was more than that; it was a universal hide.
Alone, perhaps, Weeden's lost optic, wandering ubiquitously and
enjoying the bird's-eye view, possessed the coveted power. But, like
the stars, though somewhat about, it was invisible. WEEDEN made no
reference to it. He attended to one thing at a time, he lived in the
present; one eye was gone; he just looked for truffles--with the
other.
Yet this did not damp their ardour in the least; increased it rather:
the gathering of the clues became more and more absorbing. Though not
seen, the hider was both known and felt; his presence was a certainty.
There was no real contradiction.
For signs grew and multiplied till the entire world seemed overflowing
with them, and hardly could the earth contain them. They brimmed the
sunny air, flooded the ponds and streams, lay thick upon the fields,
and almost choked the woods to stillness. They trickled out, leaked
through, dripped over everywhere in colour, shape, and sound. The
hider had passed everywhere, and upon everything had left his
exquisite and deathless traces.
Pages:
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400