The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1870-11-19

II
answer, but had no courage to add
TO it.
They descended the steps that led
to a large, we'll kept parterre and
shrubbery behind the house. walking
side BY side, bat saying nothing. Al
length she ventured remark:
Are you staying in the village fol
any timer"
Only for a week or two. to gather
materials for pictures. Your county
is celebrated for its beauty you know
Yes, and then not knowing what
to talk about, she said, i like the
front of the cottage better than this
do your"
Eyes" and Seymour put on a senti.
mental tone as he went on, 'for there
it was l first saw you. l shall never
forget it"
Ethie tried to look up gratefully
for his words. but instead of it her
eyes sought the ground steadily, with
intense qualification filling her soul
who were you waiting for at the
garden-wall2' he questioned, present
ly. with all the authority Of an incipi-
ent lover; and she never resented the
| freedom. but answered with truth and
/ frankness written on her brow.
For no one. It is my birthday,
and l wished to pass it in my faVorite
place. / am never lonely there. with
| the flowers and the sunbeams making
it so bright"
But you were waiting for some
one" he persisted with a serious look.
Ethie contradicted the fact with a
shake of her little head and puzzled
expression on her features.
yes, the Fates had ordained i'll
You were watching and waiting for
me-"
The girl did not even smiIe-she
only unused over his assertion, and
thought it would be very pleasant to
watch and wait for him always.
PARTu.
A couple of weeks had glided by
since Ethie had first looked on Ern-
est Seymour. The sun shone bright
as ever, and the birds sung quite as
Dlithely, but she was changed. She
had turned from a wild, happy, laugh
ter loving child, into a serious, think
ing, loving woman. Even a casual
observer, with ordinary powers ofper-
ception, could scarcely have failed to
note the depth of shadow that lay in
the ere-While beamiDg eyes. The
rosy lips parted less frequently in a
smile, and there was a something sug-
gestive of her feelings in the very ac-
ton which pushed the hair off her hot
forehead, as she leant her cheek pen
sively on her hand.
She ac0s watching and waiting for
Seymour now; day by day at the same
hour she leant on the old stone wall
and day by day her watching had
been rewarded by presence which
had become dearer to her than life
She never failed to keep the tryst-os-
tensibly to sketch her face, in reality
TO steal away her heart.
The easel was placed under the la.
burnum, the dropping foliage Of which
concealed it from the view of passers-
by. In that little green nook the
happiest hours had passed that Ethie
had ever known. SWeeter phrases
had fallen from SeYmour's lips than
strokes from his skillful brush, Al
the onset the. extreme beauty of his
sitter had absorbed him in his art in
spite of himself, and Ophelia, Evan
geline, Louise de la Valliere, Diane
of Poictiers, and many another beside,
owned Ethics face for theirs,
II cannot surely be like that" she
would say to him, stealing on iiptoe
and peeping in delighted admiration
and astonishment at the glowing inn
age of loneliness depicted on the can
vass.
Yes, only a thousand times more
beautiful" he would murmur in i'm
FASHIONED accents; and then he would
take her gently by the arm, place her
full face, profile, gazing upwards like
q devotee, or bending lowly as Mag
dalene. She was q mine of wealth for
years to come, he said; and then he
would stoop and look into her eyes to
see the rush OF happiness that welled
up into them at his words. There
nothing half so sweet in life as love 8
young dream" Mr.. West, wrapped
up in his books, never dreamt of
breaking the spell that was cast over
his motherless child, and so the two,
undisturbed, drifted unconsciOusly in
to an intimacy, and became "Earnest"
and "Ethie" to each other, After an
hours sketching, he would rest, al
though it was but labor Of love af-
ter all, and not very arduous In It's
nature; but he preferred to sit idly
there, with his fingers toying with her
hair as she knelt on the grass beside
him. He spoke and she listened, and
more than this Ethie never wanted.
There would come long pauses, more
expressive than speech, during which
il pleased him to watch the changing
color of her soft cheek, and to try
and catch the shy, turtive glance that
she dared not indulge In too long.
"Tell me about London" she said,
one day.
Seymour smiled gravely.
About London, child? Be con-
tent with your Arcadia here, and do
not strive to look beyond. It will be
a cruel hand that draws the veil aside
which hides the world from you. The
world is dreadful place, Ethie |" and
he shook his head, and then laughed
outright when he saw her look OF
amazement and horror.
THE world couldn't be dreadful
with yOW there, she replied, limo.
Gently showing how he had become
the Alpha and Omega Of everything.
And yet he sat on, letting her dream
and showing no mercy.
TELL me all about your life"
Seymour started; his life, full Of
folly and dissipation, on which be
could not look back himself una
bashedl To reveal to this fresh
young girl the unworthy pleasures his
soul had been STEPPED in, the senselesE
pursuits in which so many an hour
had been passed-the very notion was
desecration $50 he averted the query
London is exactly like Mayfeld
except that there are more people and
fewer trees, and far less happiness. .
II should like to judge for myself, u
] IL EAh:n. hut ~ .-o..Il L.. -.