The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1869-01-15

shouted in rapturous joy laughing to hear
the echoes among the hills.
Her entire being seemed charged, and why,
She could not have told why; only the Joy
was in her heart such glad sense of exqui-
site Joy, and she must let Nature know her
goodness.
What were frowns, bitter words, and tired
limbs now2-only rivet to bind closer still
his image.
She did not dream Of his ever Low:
ing her, content with the meagre privi-
lege of worshiping him in secret; treasur-
ing each word, look, and smile, as some-
| thing precious, to be thought and dreamed
over alone.
On her return to the house, she ran past
her mother, feeling as if she must know all
| about the secret confidence 80 suddenly
sprung up between Robert and herself
Then she began to anticipate all sorts of
evils. What if the old tree should blow
downf What if the berries should show
signs of being spilled? A thousand new
fears tormented her Would her mother
notice the unwonted bloom of her cheeks
she felt them glowing-or the unusual
| brightness of her eye2 Filled with these
thoughts, blissful while they frightened her,
| Agnes whisked on the tea things with most
extraordinary vigor, to the infinite surprise
of Mrs. Hatfield, and looked vt the berries,
| over which she was sprinkling sugar SO low
ingly, that her motheI stared in wonder. Lit
tie she thought that to Agnes every berry
was an opal, and who to this day always as
sociates black caps and opals with that sum-
mer afternoon.
Agnes could not refrain from kissing little
| Nellie dozen times in succession; she smil-
ed when her mother scoded and hurried
softly singing, "Comin' through the Rye"
| as she went about fitting from cellar to
kitchen, much to the disgust of Mrs. Hat
| field, who fancied that she must have lost her
wits. ..
GOOD night, mother"
Exclaimed Aggio, blithely; and not wait
| ing for reply, she ran up stairs to bed, and
fell asleep dreaming of dangerous black eyes,
kindly smiling mouth, and on opal gemmed
hand, that fingered in hers with mans warm
clasp. A sweet perfume hung over ALL as
| she sank into innocent slumber with another
dearer than herself sheltered in her heart
as who of us has notH
CHAPTER III.
For wonder, as Mrs. Hatfield expressed
| it, Agnes came down next morning without
| being called, before the chickens had fairly
left their roosts, blinking about in the damp
dawn as if not quite certain of whether they
| were not getting up rather early.
A faint line of red and yellow just tinged
the eastern horizon, when she appeared
smong the cows, humming merrily, "Five
o'clock in the morning." in a voice as pure
and fresh as the dewy morn, laughing de-
murely to see her step father, with a savage
growl hurl the battered pail-that lay q
FURNISHED memento of AIS valor peacefully
in the yard-spitefully over the fence, among
the smart-weeds, leaving it, with muttered
curse, to rust and forgetfnlness.
| After the affair of the grove, close OBJ
server might have noticed that Aggie took
particular pains to carefully draw on a pair
of huge. ugly gloves when she had occasion,
as she frequently did, to go out in the sun.
She would blush guiltily If any one appear
ed, and hasten to thrust her hands under her
apron, as if detected in crime; always
taking care to conceal the cotton gloves
until safely out of sight, dreading the rdi,
cule of her mother and the coarse jeers of her
father ' -
She took frequent opportunity to remark
that never were black caps SO large and
exceedingly plentiful as they were this sea-
son, and was accordingly hurried of every
afternoon to pick them. And of course Bob
sauntered about under the trees, ostensibly
to while away the heat of the day in the
shady wood, but in reality to wait for her
coming.
The trees told no tales; the wind did not
repeat the sweet story-only whispering,
sighingly, their approval; nothing of the
low-toned reading under the majestic walnuts
during the balmy summer days. until the sur
declined towards the west; nothing of tender
glances and young hopes born there, sighed
over by the trees. Nature is mute, never
| hot fho AaGl 3@1l 10 la.
Agnes lived in heaven of her own, beyond
the penetration of those about her, and wa!
happy-oh, so happy-in her new found love
And yet, oh! foolish Agnes! What had she
A gay mans smile-the sound of o win
ming voice-the touch of. careless hant
the passing admiration of man of tn
world.
He is your sun and moon, your Joy by da,
and night, while you are but the smalles
and most obscure of planets that Fate ha
placed in his orbit; solitary star that thu
slightest cloud may forever hide from view
Flowed to-day, forgotten tomorrow,
E so says the adage. Yet trust on and be hap
py! We will not dethrone the prince, 70
p we, too, have faith in human nature and tru
loves pure devotion. Anoint with the dev
of your simple affection the idol of all you
thoughts; give him your young heart, innc
, cent in the purity of untarnished girlhood
unblemished with thoughts of another, an
trust in my honor to hold the gift sacred
and In all faith shelter the dove that he ha
! lured to his bosom from the GOODNESS of
: loveless nest.
The hollow tree was, indeed proving OF
of knowledge to Agnes, and its fruit swSetel
! ed many stolen hour.
"You finished milking late tonight, sal
Mrs Hatfield, glancing approvingly toward
J the yellow harvest moon. "But never minC
: you can wash up the milk-things by mool
light just as WE'LL come, come, fly about;
: spryp m
. Aggie obeyed. briskly rinsing and clatte
q ing the pals and pans standing on lor
. bench in the door-yard, back Of the kitche
= where the 'milk-things' were generally was