Faint as a watch's tick,
As Kate stood by the sea,
She seemed to hear his pick
Tapping unceasingly
In the dark workings of the pit
To earn the price of brat and bit.

She watched the light wind whisk
The curd from creaming waves
And glancing waters glisk
And glint in hanging caves,
While in her heart she heard the sound
Of Robert hewing underground.

And as she stood adream,
Her young heart keeping beat
With his in that dark seam
Fathoms beneath her feet,
Haze-gazing on the unseen tide,
She felt a new pulse in her side —

The pulse of waking life
That promised he and she
Not merely man and wife
Ever again should be,
Since now into their coil of cares
Came a small heart to beat with theirs.