THE MAN IN SADDLE
account, but on hers. It was on her account, because of that strange idea she had, that woman idea, which has nothing to do with the activities of men, that must be set aside very carefully so as not to be hurt, and not to interfere. Therefore silence, absolute, impenetrable! No action, no word, no glance to give any hint to her of what was going forward.
And, since no hint to her on his life, no hint to any other! That would be treachery. But with silence treachery vanished. Silence is darkness. To the eye that sees no color there is none; and to the mind that does not know of an action, that action does not exist. And the action itself would rob her of nothing. For what was it Rader had said? The horse was only an idea to her. She would not lay fingers on the actual creature. She must know that some day she would cease to find it, and be left with her idea and her dream.
What a fool he was sitting here in the sodden garments of yesterday while the hours of to-day ran past him. High impossibilities lay between him and his object, but nothing looked too high for him now. Only a mountain to overleap, and then to mount the back of the wind. Reason might cry, "No man has ever ridden the wind," but a man's will would answer, "Time then for some one to be about it." He was ready to begin, even though he could not see an
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