She was
flushed and hot, and her bosom rose and fell quickly; but there
was no doubt that she could at once have taken an equally long and
steep climb. He was not able to speak a word.
"Now turn round and look at the sea," she said.
The words affected him as though great Pan had uttered them from
the mountains far behind. He turned his eyes towards them. It
seemed as though Nature herself had spoken to him. The words
caressed him as with a hand now cold, now warm, and he became a
different being. For he had lost himself--lost himself in her as
she walked along the river-bank and climbed the hillside. She
seemed to draw fresh power from the woods, to grow taller, more
agile, more vigorous. The fervour of her eyes, the richness of her
voice, the grace of her movements, the glimpses of her soul, had
allured him down there in the valley, beside the rushing river,
and the feeling of loss of individuality had increased with the
exertion and the excitement. No ball-room or play-ground, no
gymnasium or riding-school can display the physical powers, and
the spirit which underlies them, the unity of mind and body, as
does the scaling of steep hills and rocky slopes.
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