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Hichens, Robert Smythe, 1864-1950

"A Spirit in Prison"

He thought of the torch as
that; as youth with its hot strength, its beautiful eagerness, its
intense desires, its spark-like hopes, moving without fear amid the
dark mysteries of the world and of life; seeking treasure in the
blackness, the treasure of an answering soul, of a completing nature,
of the desired and desirous heart, seeking its complement of love--the
other fire.
He looked far over the sea. But there was no other fire upon it.
And still the light came on.
And now he thought of it as Vere.
She was almost a child, but already her fire was being sought, longed
for. And she knew it, and must be searching, too, perhaps without
definite consciousness of what she was doing, instinctively. She was
searching there in the blackness, and in her quest she was approaching
him. But where he stood it was all dark. There was no flame lifting
itself up that could draw her flame to it. The fire that was
approaching would pass before him, would go on, exploring the night,
would vanish away from his eyes.


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