CHAPTER XXX.
My brother had arrived at the Delightful Island. His first letter
dated from there was a very long one, it was written on thin paper
that had been stained a light yellow by the sea, for it had been upon
its way four months.
It was a great event in our family, and I still recall that as my
father and mother broke its seal, I sprang joyously up the stairs, two
steps at a time, in my haste to reach the second floor and call my
grandmother and aunts from their rooms.
Inside the plump-feeling envelope, which was covered over with South
American stamps, there was a note for me, and enclosed in this I found
a pressed flower, a sort of five-petalled star which, though somewhat
faded, was still pink. The flower, my brother wrote, was from a shrub
that had taken root and blossomed beside his window, almost within his
Tahitian hut, which was actually invaded by the luxuriant vegetation
of the region. Oh! with what deep emotion;--with what avidity, if I
may express it thus, did I gaze at and touch the periwinkle which was
almost a fresh and living part of that unknown and distant land, of
that voluptuous nature.
Then I pressed it again with so much care that I possess it intact to
this day.
And after many years, when I made a pilgrimage to the humble dwelling
in which my brother lived during his stay in Tahiti, I saw that the
shady garden surrounding it was rosy with these periwinkles; they had
even pushed their way over the threshold of the door to blossom within
the deserted cabin.
