And then the professor built an airier
and a fairer castle still: beneath it lay the heavy clouds of suffering,
barren effort, and hope deferred; its sunlit walls were hewn of solid
faith; the banner which floated over the battlements was woven with
white threads of truth; over the arched entrance-gate was written
"Constancy." Yet, fair and lofty as the castle was, the
building-materials were taken from no less homely edifices than the
village boarding-house and his own Parsonage!
By-and-by, however, the vision faded, or else the clouds upon which it
was built rose up and hid it. The professor, returning to himself, found
that he was now surrounded with thick darkness, and, strive as he would,
he could paint no fancies upon it which did not partake more or less of
the character of the background. Sophie seemed to have lost the steady
cheer of her aspect; she was pale and fragile, and every moment took
away yet more of earthly substance, till scarcely any thing but the
faint lustre of her face and form remained. Then, all at once, the
features which had heretofore been only sad, changed into an expression
of horror and torture and despair; and, while the professor, himself
aghast, strained his old eyes to make out more clearly the
half-indistinguishable image, it vanished quite away.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326