XIII
Of the Coming of John
What bring they 'neath the midnight,
Beside the River-sea?
They bring the human heart wherein
No nightly calm can be;
That droppeth never with the wind,
Nor drieth with the dew;
O calm it, God; thy calm is broad
To cover spirits too.
The river floweth on.
MRS. BROWNING.
Carlisle Street runs westward from the centre of Johnstown,
across a great black bridge, down a hill and up again, by little
shops and meat-markets, past single-storied homes, until sud-
denly it stops against a wide green lawn. It is a broad, restful
place, with two large buildings outlined against the west.
When at evening the winds come swelling from the east, and
the great pall of the city's smoke hangs wearily above the
valley, then the red west glows like a dreamland down Car-
lisle Street, and, at the tolling of the supper-bell, throws the
passing forms of students in dark silhouette against the sky.
Tall and black, they move slowly by, and seem in the sinister
light to flit before the city like dim warning ghosts. Perhaps
they are; for this is Wells Institute, and these black students
have few dealings with the white city below.
Pages:
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301