Inflorescent Spring-time, with its asphodelian tapestry, its delicate wealth of emerald tinting, its soothing ripple of belated water, and grateful sighing of warmth-laden breezes, was reigning prophetically.
The vivid sunlight fell broadly; the earth basked genially; even in the pine-barrens the rejuvenating influence of the coy season was portrayed in the budding scrub-oaks; in the intense color of the sapfilled pine needles and the balsamic tonicity of the translucent atmosphere.
In the slightest concavity of the mounding hills clothed in vigorous, long-leaf pines, it was emphasized by a remarkable display of blossoms and delicate vines. The crystal sunlight sifting through the plumed pines imbibed a mystic tinge of gold-alloyed emerald. The impressive solemnity of the secluded solitude; the stately seeming of the tall pines; the glittering sheen of the sandy soil; the glancing light upon the glistening pine needles; aye, the bubbling joy of infantile Spring-time; its mysterious hopes and golden promises, stirred and thrilled the heart of Edwin Phillips as spirit-filled wine sends its permeating glow through the veins.
The inspiring glamor of Spring's individuality was so fascinatingly suggestive of heart-emotions it evoked vague longings and promulgated intangible dreams. The two months he had spent at the Turpentine Camp had been so squalid and dreary, with chill winds intruding through the cracks in the walls of his shanty; in February, snow and ice dissolving in an uncomfortable slush and the atmosphere reeking with a depressing dampness; in March, sharp winds shrieking and blustering and rasping his nerves, rendered life very unpleasant, generally, at the bare, make-shift camp.
He had grown homesick, restless and disillusioned with the ambition to make money at any cost to personal inclination or comfort. It had been so different to any other experience of his well-bred life! Why, in the mid-Winter, that then seemed forlornly distant, he had danced and dined in a dress suit, in the company of girls in evening dress; and he loved society and dancing upon waxed floors to the passionate music of skilled orchestras.
