TO THE LIGHTHOUSE

took to itself and treasured up like the air which

held the smoke of the steamer, her thoughts, her

imaginations, her desires. What did the hedge

mean to her, what did the garden mean to

her, what did it mean to her when a wave

broke? (Lily looked up, as she had seen Mrs.

Ramsay look up; she too heard a wave falling on

the beach.) And then what stirred and trembled

in her mind when the children cried, " How's

that? How's that? " cricketing? She would stop

knitting for a second. She would look intent.

Then she would lapse again, and suddenly Mr,

Ramsay stopped dead in his pacing in front of her,

and some curious shock passed through her and

seemed to rock her in profound agitation on its

breast when stopping there he stood over her,

and looked down at her. Lily could see him.

He stretched out his hand and raised her from
her chair. It seemed somehow as if he had done
it before; as if he had once bent in the same way
and raised her from a boat which, lying a few
inches off some island, had required that the ladies
should thus be helped on shore by the gentlemen.
An old-fashioned scene that was, which required,
very nearly, crinolines and peg-top trousers.
Letting herself be helped by him, Mrs. Ramsay
had thought (Lily supposed) the time has come
now; Yes, she would say it now. Yes, she would
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