The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-03-26

/, "Well-no," said Miss Emily eau
tiously; "but everything depends OF
the f51UOr. How is the flavor, Nr
. Atberton ."
"Well, the flavor is not bad, buI
then We must have body, Miss Emi.
, ly-what is mutton broth without
J body, Mrs Emily 80
''Surely nothing at all, Mr.. Ather-
ton; but here comes the afterglow on
] Mont BlancI Beautiful Is il not
, and here come our young people
down the street. Dir. Hammond and
and Lily, your daughter with Hora-
tio-rather a mismating, hey, Mr.
T Atherton? A fine woman, yOuT
] daughter-engaged to Mr.. Hammond
suppose ?"
"Well, no, Miss Emily. I should
be sorry il Grace could think of any
thing but me, but am so much OF
an invalid-and this mutton broth
has not body enough. do not think
Grace could leave me. Mr.. Ham
mond is an excellent gentleman, and
has been very attentive to Grace.
Grace Is q good girl, although she
does not take as much interest In
mutton broth as could wish and
after i am gone, Miss EmiE-and
cannot last lOng-I should be glad il
Grace could get as good husband SIS
Paul Hammond. I am going fast,
Miss Emily; she will lose her only
protector-and" finishing the BROTH
"be left alone, Miss Emily, without
me-"
Here Mr.. Atherton shed few tears
over his own approaching end, and
regarded the empty bowl as II it were
the world which he should impovef-
ish by his departure.
The four active members of the par
ty came in in fine spirits. Tney
proposed 6 little expedition of their
own into the mountains, leaving the
elderly people at Geneva. They all
wanted to DO some clambering, and
as Mr.. Hammond urged 1t, Miss EN-
lily Immediately gave her consent
Grace Atherton had wonderfully
Improved in affability since they had
come to Europe. To the astonish.
ment of Miss Melissa she seemed to
take quite q fancy to Horatio. "Les
extremes Sc touchent," said Miss Me-
lissa to herself, having scraped up
some Of her bOarding-school French.
As for Lily, she was radiant. She
and Mr.. Hammond were the enthus-
lasts of the party; always something
occurred for them to do together
some historical fact to be hunted up,
some ruin to go and see, some picture,
some statue, some church, in which
they were particularly interested. at
first Horatio sulked considerably, but
he seemed 10 have found out that Miss
1 Albanian M N inn
and had turned his lustrous orbs in
her direction. Miss Emily noticed
this growing intimacy with pain, Miss
Melissa with delight. "What can
Grace Atherton find in him ?" snin ed
Miss Melissa. As for Miss Melissa she
was always taking romantic excur-
sions to the Maison Diodati, to Fer
ney, and to all the literary and roman
tic purlieus of Geneva; the worship
per of the nine MUSES. was having her
own pleasures here, and in spite of
her Grecian twist, there was a pretty
clear outlook from that head OF Miss
Melissa. So Mr.. Atherton and Miss
Emily talked mutton broth, and Miss
Melissa roamed, while the other four
departed for Chamouni.
Having "done" that historical spot,
they determined to seek some more
unknown place and to accomplish
some walking. Mr.. Hammond pro-
cured local guide, who was delight
ed to serve the beautiful American la
dies, whose small feet called forth his
most animated praise, and they start
ed off on an expedition. The first day
was full of delights-views which on
ly the foot traveller obtains; a night
spent at an obscure chalet, very dIrty
and very picturesque; another day,
which found them y little lame; and
third day, when they all began to
droop, especially Lily-Grace, with
her brown cheeks and more resolute
figure, bearing up bravely. Mr.. Ham
mOnd walked carefully with Lily
leaning heavily on bis arm, yet she
would not hear of stopping, much less
of mules, that rather dreadful alterna-
tive of an Alpine walk.
It had not escaped the eye of Grace
Atherton during this journey that
Paul Hammond and Lily had become
deeply, desperately in love with each
other. She saw that they were total
ly Indifferent to everything else.
With a woman's tenderness and tact,
and what is more, with a wounded
wOman's generosity, and with a
wounded wOman's desire to hide her
own hurt, she had drawn off Horatio,
to be her own attendant and compan-
ion.
Horatio, to whom il seemed one
handsome woman was as good as an
other, and who had never been so
desperately enamored of Lily as to be
more than sulkily jealous when she
had pushed him away, and to whom
the idea of finding a rival in bald
headed poor lawyer of forty years was
as incomprehensiblea as the secret of
the stars, had never taken in the
situation. To him, Miss Atherton's
pleased attention was most agreeable.
He had had long talks with her on
shipboarc, they had inspected the
jewelry at Geneva, and she had de-
Tended him against himself in the
matter Of studs, watch-chains, and
seal rings. In fact, through some i'm
pulse of female coquetry, or some 9TH
er indefinable female caprice, she had
presented him with charm to hang
on his chain, which made the poor
rich fellow very happy, for Grace
AthertOn's politeness always carried
distinction with it.
This mountain walk, the long in
tervals of tete q tete conversations,
which by mutual consent had been
taken, with Grace and Horatio lead
ing the way, and Paul Hammond and
Lily following, had been a dream of
happiness to the two lovers, so
strangely, and, as it sometimes SEEM
ad 70 fhan1 CO, rrrrflff1rr
To Paul Hammond, the feeling had
come late in life; for the first time in
his patient, unselfish and hard-Work-
ing career had come the midsummer
madness, the dear delirium of first
love. The object of it was a child
almost his child, so far as protection
and fidelity was cOncerned-the be-
trothed of another.
To Lily, the young fresh heart, the
vigorous unframed intellect, the glori-
GUS prophecies of her coming woman
hood, all had found O master. What
was it to her that Paul Hammond
was elderly, was bald, was, in the
world in which she was reared, con-
sidered poor? His voice, his smile,
his footstep filled the universe. She
gazed on the splendid distant prospect
of the Bernese Alps with him; it was
his hand that traced the outline for
her the roseate glow that came at
sunset was q faint reflection of his
smile. HOratio, duty, Aunt Emily,
all faded out of Lily's world: Paul
Hammond was first, last, everything.
And yet no word had been spoken,
no word was needed. They floated in
that ether which WAS above all Lam
guage, the serene and silent realm
which needs no words.
The third day of this dangerous
journey found Lily-not accustomed
to the wear and tear of mountain
roads, nor to the greater wear and tear
of absorbing emotion-utterly spent.
Paul found her steps growing feebler,
and made her sit down on q rock,
while he ran to fill his cap with water.
Grace and HoratiO and the guide were
within hailing distance, fortunately;
but when they reached Lily she was
quite gone, in dead faint of fatigue.
The guide felt her pulse and her brow,
and opened his brandy flask. Not
drop! He and Horatio both voIun-
teered for a quick walk to the nearest
chalet, yet an hour off and were gone
in q moment.