"
"Then you can do nothing till the music comes again?"
"I think I can do something now; for, last night I seemed so near
the place whence the sounds were coming, that the eye may now be
able to supplement the ear, and find the music-bird silent on her
nest. If the wind fall, as I think it will in the afternoon, I shall
go again and see whether I can find anything. I noticed last night
that simultaneously with the sound came a change in the
wind--towards the south, I think.--What a night it was after I left
you!"
"I think," said Arctura, "the wind has something to do with my
uncle's fits. Was there anything very strange about it last night?
When the wind blows so angrily, I always think of that passage about
the prince of the power of the air being the spirit that works in
the children of disobedience. Tell me what it means."
"I do not know what it means," answered Donal; "but I suppose the
epithet involves a symbol of the difference between the wind of God
that inspires the spiritual true self of man, and the wind of the
world that works by thousands of impulses and influences in the
lower, the selfish self of children that will not obey. I will look
at the passage and see what I can make out of it. Only the spiritual
and the natural blend so that we may one day be astonished!--Would
you like to join the music-hunt, my lady?"
"Do you mean, go on the roof? Should I be able?"
"I would not have you go in the night, and the wind blowing," said
Donal with a laugh; "but you can come and see, and judge for
yourself.
Pages:
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334