The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-11-15

Rachel; meaning Anthony as the
apex of the worlds pyramid Of fools.
After what was to Anthony con
strained and wretched evening, but
which seemed to Nelly just the same
as all other evenings, and to Rachel
neither more nor less filled with fool
lshness and the waywardness of life,
the lawyers ldaughter, to her lovers
profound relief, prepared to go home.
Never had he felt her presence so
oppressive, nor her society so uninte-
resting; never had Rachel appeared
harsher, less womanly, less admira-
bic; never had he felt himself less
suited to his companions, more lone
y ID heart, or more desirous of es-
cape. He could think of nothing
but that beautiful stranger who spoke
to him so kindly in the wood, whose
smile had made his life a glory, and
whose friendship seemed as if it
would be no unworthy foretaste of
Heaven. He could render no account
to himself for the persistency of his
thoughts. Youths of his age and
temperament are rarely introspective,
and for the most part content them
selves with feeling, without caring to
examine; and Anthony gave himself
up to the tide without seeking to
fathom its depth or discern it's outlet.
lime enough for that, perhaps, when
the wreck came.
The weary night passed, and the
dull morning broadened into day.
But the hours seemed, to Anthony,
to lag as they had never Jagged be-
tore-as if they were all halt and
lame, staggering one step where, for
merly, they ran two-until he stood
at the lodge-gate of the Hall. Had a
magician passed through that ruined
place? Or how was it that the waste
and desolation which had grown
round the Hall in its seven years
desertion had been removed with such
marvellous speed? The tangled shrub
berry was thinned and trimmed; the
broad walks. which had grown green
with moss and weeds, were newly
gravelled, hard-rolled, smooth and
firm; the lawn was closely mown,
and, from rank, coarse grass, span
gled with o1-eyes and the bitter hawk
weed, had turned to moss, close
grown and fragrant; the hower-heds
had been cleared of their waste of
nettles and groundsel, and now were
gay with the choicest flowers; while
the house itself was changed in all
but the mere outside -trellis-
work, paint and gliding, marble and
paper and cement transforming its
whole appearance, and creating a pa
lace from ruin. But the marvel of
it all was the exceeding celerity with
which the transformation had been
accomplished, and the unostentatious
manner in which it had been done.
Anthony was bewildered and,
while looking about him, almost mys-
teriously, 81 have been expeditions,
monsieur, have I not?" said that
sweetest voice the world had ever
heard; and the Countess stood noise
lsssly beside him.
In her fresh morning dress, with
the soft wind blowing her chestnut
curls loosely over her face, and giving
a warmer tinge to her fair cheek; with
her strange eyes, so full of hidden
meanings, looking at him more kind
ly than woman's eyes had ever looked
before, her smiling mouth and grace
full figure, she seemed more than
mortal to the young country tutor.
He scarcely knew what he answered.
And something never felt before
rose up within him; the inner depth
was, for the first time, struck. the
living spring, for the first time,
opened. The acquaintance was not
twenty-four hours old, but already it
had stolen from Anthony the sacred
treasures of his life.
How the time passed he never
knew. He thought he had been
about an hour, perhaps a couple of
hours, at the Hall, when the sunset
fell and the moon came out. He had
spent, then, the whole afternoon and
part of the evening in tho gardens
with the lady, and had taken his de-
light in such deep draughts that he
had scarce been able to understand its
flavor. But if Anthony had been un-
conscious of all save feeling, the
Countless had done her appointed
work with vigor and understanding;
and long before parting-time had
come, had learnt the names, biogra-
phies and rent-rolls of every family in
the neighborhood, their weak points
and their strong ones, where they