Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/238

238THE HALLIG.

untrue to it so long as I remember the moment when
your shout and that of your companions, came ringing
over the waves which were playing around my head."
  Godber resisted no longer ; a glance of his eye in
which stood a grateful tear, and a hearty pressure of
the hand, showed that the reserve he had hitherto
maintained, was entirely overcome by the cordial man-
ner in which he had been approached.
  Godber now spoke frankly of his position and his
feelings. He did not conceal the fact that Idalia's con-
duct for some time past, had greatly wounded, and
almost convinced him that she wished to see her con-
nection with him dissolved.
  "Then let it be so !" said Hold. "Separate what
naturally stands apart as far as pole from pole. And
if your heart bleeds, cast it, with all its wounds, on
your heavenly Father's heart. He will know how to
heal it so that it shall come forth safely from the severe
conflict, with only scars to show that one may confi-
dently trust its strength and purity."
  Hold trusted more to the future than Godber, for the
latter alone knew the self-reproach which tormented
him whenever he allowed himself to reflect seriously.
It was but a show of strength which gave him courage
to have a last decisive conversation with Idalia. The
foundation of his weakness lay deeper than in disap-
pointed affection, for in that case a return to entire
peace of mind would have been very easy, since he was
now on the point of breaking a chain that had thus far
withheld him from the happiness for which he had
toiled patiently and hopefully during long years, and
which, even through the flames of a new passion, some-