"So the dream ends," said he. "So comes the awakening. But if life
were all a dream!" And his eyes sought hers.
"Yes," she whispered, "if life were all a dream, sir?"
"Then I should dream of two dreamers whose dream was one, and in that
dream I should see them ride together at break of day from Strelsau."
"Whither?" she murmured.
"To Paradise," said he. "But the dream ends. If it did not end--" He
paused.
"If it did not end?" a breathless longing whisper echoed.
"If it did not end now, it should not end even with death," said he.
"You see them in your dream? You see them riding--"
"Aye, swiftly, side by side, they two alone, through the morning. None
is near, none knows."
He seemed to be searching her face for something that yet he scarcely
hoped to find.
"And their dream," said he, "brings them at last to a small cottage,
and there they live--"
"They live?"
[Illustration: "'YOU ARE THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD,' HE ANSWERED
SMILING, AND HE KISSED HER HAND."]
"And work," he added. "For she keeps his home while he works."
"What does she do?" asked Osra, with smiling, wondering eyes.
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