Rafael would not be
outdone by her, and kept close at her heels. But, great heavens!
what it cost him. Partly because he was out of practice, partly--
"It is a little difficult to get over here," she said. A tree had
fallen during the last rainy weather, and hung half suspended by
its roots, obstructing the path. "You must not hold by it, it
might give way and drag us with it."
At last there is something which she considers difficult, he
thought.
She deliberated for a moment before the farthest-spreading
branches which had to be crossed; then, lifting her skirts to her
knees, over them she went, and over the next ones as well, and
then across the trunk to the farthest side, where there were no
branches in the way; then obliquely up the hillside. She stood
still at the top of the height and watched him crawl up after her.
It cost him a struggle; he was out of breath and the perspiration
poured off him. When he got up to her, everything swam before him;
and although it was only for a fraction of a second, it left him
fairly captivated by her strength,
She stood and looked at him with bright, roguish eyes.
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