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Asshedidnotimmediatelyanswer，hewenton。
“IknowverywellthatIamnot——thatIhavenotmuchtoofferyoueitherinmyselforinmycircumstances。AndIforget；itcannotseemthemiracletoyouthatitdoestome。UntilImetyouI
hadgoneoninmyownquietway——wearebothveryquietpeople，mysisterandI——quitecontentwithmylot。MyfriendshipwithArthurwasthemostimportantthinginmylife。NowthatIknowyou，allthathaschanged。Youseemtoputsuchaspiritintoeverything。
LifeseemstoholdsomanypossibilitiesthatIhadneverdreamtof。“
“That’ssplendid！“Evelynexclaimed，graspinghishand。
“Nowyou’llgobackandstartallkindsofthingsandmakeagreatnameintheworld；andwe’llgoonbeingfriends，whateverhappens……we’llbegreatfriends，won’twe？“
“Evelyn！“hemoanedsuddenly，andtookherinhisarms，andkissedher。
Shedidnotresentit，althoughitmadelittleimpressiononher。
Asshesatuprightagain，shesaid，“Ineverseewhyoneshouldn’tgoonbeingfriends——thoughsomepeopledo。Andfriendshipsdomakeadifference，don’tthey？Theyarethekindofthingsthatmatterinone’slife？“
Helookedatherwithabewilderedexpressionasifhedidnotreallyunderstandwhatshewassaying。Withaconsiderableefforthecollectedhimself，stoodup，andsaid，“NowIthinkIhavetoldyouwhatIfeel，andIwillonlyaddthatIcanwaitaslongaseveryouwish。“
Leftalone，Evelynwalkedupanddownthepath。Whatdidmatterthan？
Whatwasthemeaningofitall？
Allthateveningthecloudsgathered，untiltheyclosedentirelyovertheblueofthesky。Theyseemedtonarrowthespacebetweenearthandheaven，sothattherewasnoroomfortheairtomoveinfreely；
andthewaves，too，layflat，andyetrigid，asiftheywererestrained。
Theleavesonthebushesandtreesinthegardenhungcloselytogether，andthefeelingofpressureandrestraintwasincreasedbytheshortchirpingsoundswhichcamefrombirdsandinsects。
Sostrangewerethelightsandthesilencethatthebusyhumofvoiceswhichusuallyfilledthedining-roomatmealtimeshaddistinctgapsinit，andduringthesesilencestheclatteroftheknivesuponplatesbecameaudible。Thefirstrollofthunderandthefirstheavydropstrikingthepanecausedalittlestir。
“It’scoming！“wassaidsimultaneouslyinmanydifferentlanguages。
Therewasthenaprofoundsilence，asifthethunderhadwithdrawnintoitself。Peoplehadjustbeguntoeatagain，whenagustofcoldaircamethroughtheopenwindows，liftingtableclothsandskirts，alightflashed，andwasinstantlyfollowedbyaclapofthunderrightoverthehotel。Therainswishedwithit，andimmediatelytherewereallthosesoundsofwindowsbeingshutanddoorsslammingviolentlywhichaccompanyastorm。
Theroomgrewsuddenlyseveraldegreesdarker，forthewindseemedtobedrivingwavesofdarknessacrosstheearth。Nooneattemptedtoeatforatime，butsatlookingoutatthegarden，withtheirforksintheair。Theflashesnowcamefrequently，lightingupfacesasiftheyweregoingtobephotographed，surprisingthemintenseandunnaturalexpressions。Theclapfollowedcloseandviolentlyuponthem。Severalwomenhalfrosefromtheirchairsandthensatdownagain，butdinnerwascontinueduneasilywitheyesuponthegarden。Thebushesoutsidewereruffledandwhitened，andthewindpresseduponthemsothattheyseemedtostooptotheground。Thewaitershadtopressdishesuponthediners’notice；andthedinershadtodrawtheattentionofwaiters，fortheywereallabsorbedinlookingatthestorm。
Asthethundershowednosignsofwithdrawing，butseemedmassedrightoverhead，whilethelightningaimedstraightatthegardeneverytime，anuneasygloomreplacedthefirstexcitement。
Finishingthemealveryquickly，peoplecongregatedinthehall，wheretheyfeltmoresecurethaninanyotherplacebecausetheycouldretreatfarfromthewindows，andalthoughtheyheardthethunder，theycouldnotseeanything。Alittleboywascarriedawaysobbinginthearmsofhismother。
Whilethestormcontinued，nooneseemedinclinedtositdown，buttheycollectedinlittlegroupsunderthecentralskylight，wheretheystoodinayellowatmosphere，lookingupwards。
Nowandagaintheirfacesbecamewhite，asthelightningflashed，andfinallyaterrificcrashcame，makingthepanesoftheskylightliftatthejoints。
“Ah！“severalvoicesexclaimedatthesamemoment。
“Somethingstruck，“saidaman’svoice。
Therainrusheddown。Therainseemednowtoextinguishthelightningandthethunder，andthehallbecamealmostdark。
Afteraminuteortwo，whennothingwasheardbuttherattleofwaterupontheglass，therewasaperceptibleslackeningofthesound，andthentheatmospherebecamelighter。
“It’sover，“saidanothervoice。
Atatouch，alltheelectriclightswereturnedon，andrevealedacrowdofpeopleallstanding，alllookingwithratherstrainedfacesupattheskylight，butwhentheysaweachotherintheartificiallighttheyturnedatonceandbegantomoveaway。Forsomeminutestheraincontinuedtorattleupontheskylight，andthethundergaveanothershakeortwo；butitwasevidentfromtheclearingofthedarknessandthelightdrummingoftherainupontheroof，thatthegreatconfusedoceanofairwastravellingawayfromthem，andpassinghighoverheadwithitscloudsanditsrodsoffire，outtosea。Thebuilding，whichhadseemedsosmal
