[Gutenberg 32935] • What a Man Wills

"There are occasions, however, when the most reserved natures are tempted to unclose, and of these the opening of the New Year is surely the most seductive. When the guests have departed, and the laughter is stilled, when for a last half hour men and women sit quietly over the fire, there arises in the mind a consciousness of sever ance with the past, a sense of newness, which is not untouched with awe.

A new year has opened - what will it, bring? What gifts, what losses, lie awaiting in its lap? When its last hour trembles away on the striking of a deep twelfth chime, what will happen to me?

Where Shall I be? In the language, the conscious ness of earth - shall I be at all?

The tall dark girl, who had borne herself so proudly during the dance, shivered and bent forward to warm her hands at the fire..."