The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1873-02-27
s.Is that why you are here9" she

'That?" he repeated, looking Lit
tie puzzled. ''The destruction of m.
mills, do you mean? No, 1 cam'
here to be within reach of the suffer
ers from the food, and to be able tx
relieve them somewhat It is LITTLE
enough that one can do" he added
with short sigh.
He seemed so utterly unconsciou'
of having done anything himself-ht
seemed to consider it SO entirely nat
ural that he should have forsaken hi'
comfortable and pleasant associations
to come and live in an operatives cot
tage, and to devote his days to the
aid of those who had worked for hin
that Margaret really had nothing tc
say. One cannot well praise mar
who does not know that he has done
anything for which to be praised
After while, however, she looked al
him again, and suggested that he was
very wet.
@I an used to that" he said, smil,
ing alittle-
Still he drew nearer the fire, and,
when she insisted that be should take
his slippers-her own shoes being
dry by this time-he could not refuse
to exchange his wet boots for them.
This, Of course, made him more com
Portable, and, observing. that the top
of the kettle was being merrily lifted
off by the steam, he asked Margaret
if she had had any supper.
When she replied in the negative,
he went to his cupboard and brought
forth a teapot and paper of tea.
'I hope you don't prefer coffee" he
said, little anMously,. ''for [ never
drink it myself, and I have no means
to make if, nor, indeed, any to make.
Margaret hastened to assure him
of her preference for tea, thinking the
while little blankly of the pound or
two of the best Oolong which she had
lost in the struggle to retain her UNI
brella, and watched the process of
sleeping with the appreciation of a
good house-keeper. But she could
not remain quiet when he next pro-
duced loaf of bread and proceeded
to cut it into slices for toast.
"I can do that" she said, eagerly.
"Please let me" as he demurred, and
declined to resign the toasting-fork.
'You have no idea how very nice my
toast is. Hugh will never let serv-
ant make any for him. Pray give it
to mel q
She pleaded SO earnestly that he
had no alternative but to let her have
her own way; SO she sat down to
toast the bread and scorch her face in
peace. She made very pretty pic
ture on the hearth in the Pickering
freight, with her bright-brown hair
loose about her shoulders; and Tyr
rel, who had meanwhile brought forth
halfeat ham from his inexhausti-
BILE cupboard, could not but pause
now and then, in the business of cut
ting it, to look, and wonder if he was
awake OF dreaming.
It-was very sociable little supper
to which they sat down after a while,
and by this time they had become
quite sociable themselves; so that,
when Margaret began plating her
hair to get out of the way Qor she
had lost all such necessary appenda-
ges as comb and hair-pins), she gave
Tyrren a recapitulation of the losses
which the storm had entailed upon
her.
81 have paid almost as dearly as
Eve for my curiosity" she said 81
have lost an umbrella-Hugh's um-
brella, hat and a veil which 1 bought
only the other day, and two braids,
which are incomparably the greatest
of all"
"1 should not think you needed
such things as braids," Tyrrel re-
marked. ''Your own hair is very
abundant"
$50 it is" she answered, threading
the soft locks through her. fingers
''but, all the same, one needs braids
when fashion dictates that every wo-
man shall wear exactly three times as
much hair as could possibly grow on
her head"
"You did not use to wear them,
he said.
She looked up at him quickly, and
he saw the bright blood come like g
flash to her face.
''How do you know?" she asked, in
low voice.
'Do you think I have forgotten?'
he said, with something which seemed
like sudden passion. "INy memory
is not so short, Margaret Then, af
ter pause which she did not break
Sometimes I wish to Heaven it were!
These five years have been little else
than one long torture and hunger to
me-such hunger for one sight Of
your face that I would often have Civ
en- the best years of my life to see ii
for one half-hour as 1 see it now"
"Is this kind?" she asked, looking
not at him, but at the leaping blaze
before them. 'FYou know that I am
here in your power-is it generous to
talk to me like this ?"
"No-it is not" he answered,
quickly. ''Forgive me for having
done so. But how can I see you and
not think of that happy fortnight
when I saw you frst-fve long years
ago! 1t seems to me-" he added, lit