"Is Easter ready? " he shouted up the steps.
A confused chorus answered him affirmatively, and he
immediately arranged Clayton in one corner of the room with his
serious attendants on one side, and Raines, grave to solemnity, on
the other. Easter's mother and her assistants came in from the
kitchen, and the doors were filled with faces. Above, the tramping
of feet became more hurried; below, all stood with expectant faces
turned to the rude staircase. Clayton's heart began to throb, and a
strange light brightened under Raines's heavy brows.
"Hurry up, thar!" shouted Hicks, impatiently.
A moment later two pairs of rough shoes came down the steps, and
after them two slippered feet that fixed every eye in the room, until
the figure and face above them slowly descended into the light.
Midway the girl paused with a timid air. Had an angel been
lowered to mortal view, the waiting people would not have been
stricken with more wonder. Raines's face relaxed into a look
almost of awe, and even Hicks for the instant was stunned into
reverence. Mountain eyes had never beheld such loveliness so
arrayed. It was simple enough-the garment-all white, and of a
misty texture, yet it formed a mysterious vision to them. About the
girl's brow was a wreath of pink and white laurel. A veil had not
been used.
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