Diary of a Drug Fiend

358 The Diary of a Drug Fiend bridegroom was the Work which could never be satiated so long as we lived, and so could never lead to weariness and boredom. This honeymoon would blossom and bear fruit perennially, season by season, like the earth our mother and the sun our father themselves, an inexhaustible, frictionless enthusiasm. We were par- takers of the eternal sacrament; whatever happened was equally essential to the ritual. Death itself made no difference to anything; our calm continuous candescence burst through the chains of circumstance, and left us free for ever to do our wills, which were one will, the will of Him that sent us. The walk up to the Refectory was one long romp with Dionysus. Oh, wise dear Sister Athena! Was it by chance that you chose that sturdy sunlight imp to lead us up the hill that night ? Did you suspect that our hearts would see in him a symbol of our own serene and splendid hope? We looked into each other’s eyes as we held his hands on the last steep winding path among the olives, and we did not speak. But an electric flame ran through his tiny body from one to the other, and we knew for the first time what huge happiness lay in ambush for our love. The silence of dinner shone with silken lustre. It lasted long—so long—each moment charged with litanies of love. When coffee came, Big Lion himself broke the spell. “T am going to the tower to sleep to-night; so you will be in charge of the Strangers’ House, Sir Peter| The duties are simple ; if any wanderer should ask our hospitality, it is for you-to extend it on behalf of the Order.” We knew one wanderer who would come, and we would make him welcome. - “A bright torch and a casement ope at Night To let the warm Love in.” “ But before you go across, you will do well to jom