At last she murmured: “I think I coul' rest now.”
“I'm glad,” said he, and drew down a coil of rope for a pillow, and left her sleeping there.
Doane heard his step, but for a moment could not lift his head. Finally the boy, standing respectfully, spoke his name: “Mr. Doane!”
“I've got to talk to somebody. It's so strange. You see, she and I--Miss Hui Fei--it's all been such a whirl I couldn't think, but....”
That sentence never got finished. The boy dropped down on the deck and clasped his knees. Doane, very gravely, considered him. He was young, fresh, slim. He had changed, definitely; a degree of quiet had come to him. And there could be no mistaking the unearthly light in his eyes. The love that is color and sunshine and exquisite song had touched and transformed him.
Doane could not speak. He waited. Young Kane finally brought himself with obvious, earnest effort in a sense to earth. But his voice was unsteady in a boyish way.
“Mr. Doane,” he asked, “do you believe in miracles?”
Thoughtfully, deliberately, Doane bowed his great head. “I am forced to,” he replied.
“You've seen men change--from dirty, selfish brutes, I mean, to something decent, worth while?”
“Really?.... But does it have to be religion?”
“Can it be love? The influence of a woman, I mean--a girl?”
“Might that not be more or less the same thing?”
Again the great head bowed. And there was a long silence. Rocky broke it
“I wish you would tell me exactly how you feel about marriage between the races.”
“You must have observed a lot, all these years out here. And the pater tells me that you're an able man, except that you've sort of lost your perspective. He did tell me that he'd like to have you with him, if you could only bring yourself around to our ways.” Rocky, even now, could see this only as a profound compliment. He rushed on: “Oh, don't misunderstand me! She doesn't love me yet. How could she? I've got to earn the right even to speak of it again. But if I should earn the right--in time--tell me, could an American make her happy?”
“I'm afraid I can't answer that general question.” But Rocky felt that he was kind. “The pater says I'd be wrecking my life. He says she'd always be pulled two ways--you know! God! He seemed to think I had only to ask her, and she'd come. He doesn't understand.”