Ford lifted Alicia to the gangway and made her comfortable on the fireman"s box, fixing a footbrace for her, and giving her his arm for a shoulder rest when Gallagher sent the steam whistling through the cylinder-c.o.c.ks for the impulse needful to start the downward rush.
""With a michnai--ghignai--"" she began; but when the engine plunged over the summit and the matchless view to the westward came suddenly into, being, the quotation lapsed in a long-drawn, ecstatic "O-o-oh!"
"You are not afraid, are you?" said the bridegroom, man-like, letting her feel the support of his arm.
"Afraid? No, indeed; I am just happy--happy! There lies the world before us, Stuart; _our_ world, because, more than any other man"s, yours were the brain that conceived it and the hands that brought it to pa.s.s. Let us go down quickly and possess it. Tell Mr. Gallagher that he may run as fast as ever he dares." Then with a sigh of contentment and a comfortable nestling into the hollow of the strong arm of protection: "Was there ever another wedding journey just like ours, Stuart, dear?"