【正文】 gave me an overdose of the practical considerations.RUTH—[Slowly puzzled.] Well, then, if it isn39。t any of those reasons—— [With sudden intensity.] Oh, Rob, why do you want to go?ROBERT—[Turning to her quickly, in surprise—slowly.] Why do you ask that, Ruth?RUTH—[Dropping her eyes before his searching glance.] Because—— [Lamely.] It seems such a shame.ROBERT—[Insistently.] Why?RUTH—Oh, because—everything.ROBERT—I could hardly back out now, even if I wanted to. And I39。ll be forgotten before you know it.RUTH—[Indignantly.] You won39。t! I39。ll never forget—— [She stops and turns away to hide her confusion.]ROBERT—[Softly.] Will you promise me that?RUTH—[Evasively.] Of course. It39。s mean of you to think that any of us would forget so easily.ROBERT—[Disappointedly.] Oh!RUTH—[With an attempt at lightness.] But you haven39。t told me your reason for leaving yet? Aren39。t you going to?ROBERT—[Moodily.] I doubt if you39。ll understand. It39。s difficult to explain, even to myself. It39。s more an instinctive longing that won39。t stand dissection. Either you feel it, or you don39。t. The cause of it all is in the blood and the bone, I guess, not in the brain, although imagination plays a large part in it. I can remember being conscious of it first when I was only a kid—you haven39。t forgotten what a sickly specimen I was then, in those days, have you?RUTH—[With a shudder.] They39。re past. Let39。s not think about them.ROBERT—You39。ll have to, to understand. Well, in those days, when Ma was fixing meals, she used to get me out of the way by pushing my chair to the west window and telling me to look out and be quiet. That wasn39。t hard. I guess I was always quiet.RUTH—[Compassionately.] Yes, you always were—and you suffering so much, too!ROBERT—[Musingly.] So I used to stare out over the fields to the hills, out there—[He points to the horizon] and somehow after a time I39。d forget any pain I was in, and start dreaming. I knew the sea was over beyond those hills,—the folks had told me—and I used to wonder what the sea was like, and try to form a picture of it in my mind. [With a smile.] There was all the mystery in the world to me then about that—faroff sea—and there still is! It called to me then just as it does now. [After a slight pause.] And other times my eyes would follow this road, winding off into the distance, toward the hills, as if it, too, was searching for the sea. And I39。d promise myself that when I grew up and was strong, I39。d follow that road, and it and I would find the sea together. [With a smile.] You see, my making this trip is only keeping that promise of long ago.RUTH—[Charmed by his low, musical voice telling the dreams of his childhood.] Yes, I see.ROBERT—Those were the only happy moments of my life then, dreaming there at the window. I liked to be all alone—those times. I got to know all the different kinds of sunsets by heart—the clear ones and the cloudy ones, and all the color schemes of their countless variations—although I could hardly name more than three or four colors correctly. And all those sunsets took place over there—[He points] beyond the horizon. So gradually I came to believe that all the wonders of the world happened on the other side of those hills. There was the home of the good fairies who performed beautiful miracles. [He smiles.] I believed in fairies then, although I suppose I ought to have been ashamed of it from a boy39。s standpoint. But you know how contemptuous of all religion Pa39。s always been—even the mention of it in the house makes him angry.RUTH—Yes. [Wearily.] It39。s just the opposite to our house.ROBERT—He39。d bullied Ma into being ashamed of believing in anything and he39。d forbidden her to teach Andy or me. There wasn39。t much about our home but the life on the farm. I didn39。t like that, so I had to believe in fairies. [With a smile.] Perhaps I still do believe in them. Anyway, in those days they were real enough, and sometimes—I suppose the mental science folks would explain it by selfhypnosis—I could actually hear them calling to me in soft whispers to e out and play with them, dance with them down the road in the dusk in a game of hideandseek to find out where the sun was hiding himself. They sang their little songs to me, songs that told of all the wonderful things they had in their home on the other side of the hills。 and they promised to show me all of them, if I39。d only e, e! But I couldn39。t e then, and I used to cry sometimes and Ma would think I was in pain. [He breaks off suddenly with a laugh.] That39。s why I39。m going now, I suppose. For I can still hear them calling, although I39。m a man and have seen the other side of many hills. But the horizon is as far away and as luring as ever. [He turns to her—softly.] Do you understand now, Ruth?RUTH—[Spellbound, in a whisper.] Yes.ROBERT—You feel it then?RUTH—Yes, yes, I do! [Unconsciously she snuggles close against his side. His arm steals about her as if he were not aware of the action.] Oh, Rob, how could I help feeling it? You tell things so beautifully!ROBERT—[Suddenly realizing that his arm is around her, and that her head is resting on his shoulder, gently takes his arm away. RUTH, brought back to herself, is overe with confusion.] So now you know why I39。m going. It39。s for that reason—that and one other.RUTH—You39。ve another? Then you must tell me that, too.ROBERT—[Looking at her searchingly. She drops her eyes before his gaze.] I wonder if I ought to. I wonder if you39。d really care to hear it—if you knew. You39。ll promise not to be angry—whatever it is?RUTH—[Softly, her face still averted.] Yes, I promise.ROBERT—[Simply.] I love you. That39。s the other reason.RUTH—[Hiding her face in her hands.] Oh, Rob!ROBERT—You must let me finish now I39。ve begun. I wasn39。t going to tell you, but I feel I have to. It can39。t matter to you now that I39。m going so far away, and for so long—perhaps forever. I39。ve loved you all these years, but the realization of it never came to me 39。til I agreed to go away with Uncle Dick. Then I thought of