Litchfield enquirer., 1874-12-17

led Il simple and solitary life. He had little taste for society, and no symputhles in common with the average young men of his mgs -Bnt he had his own harmless
 pleasures aud ;occupations; and past sor- row and suffering had tang ht him not tu expect too much from life. 4An this was said modestiy. with winning charm of look and voice which lndescribablv at- tractad me. His personal appearance aids cd the favorable imprtssion which his
 nannpr and conversation produced. He
 was of the middle height, lightly and firmly build; his complexion pale: his
 hands and feet small aud finely shaped; his brown hair curling ilatufaliy his eyes large and dark, with an occasional inae- cision Ill their expression, which was far from being an objection to them--tb my taste it seemed to harmonize with an ec- casional indecision in his talk--proceed- Ing. as I was inclined to think, from some passing confusion in his thoughts, which it always cost him little effort to disci- pline and overcome. Does it surpr1se you to find how closely observed man who WAS only chance acquaintance, at my first interview with him? Or do your suspicious enlighten you, and do you say to yourself, she has fallen. in love with Mir. Roland Cameron at first sighta I may plead in my own defense that I was not quite romantic enough to 90 that length. But own waited for his next visit with an impatience which was new to me in my experience of my sober self And, worse still, when the day came, I changed my dress three times, before my newly developed vanity was satisfied with the picture which the looking glass pre- sented to me of myselfi
 In fortnight more my father and brother began to look on the companion ship of our new friend as one of the set tied institutions ofthef; ;iveag In fort night more Mir. Roland Cameron and F.: though we neither of us ventured to ac- knowledge it-were as devotedly in love with each other as two young people could we'll be. An, what delightful time 1t was, and how cruelty soon our hap piness came to an end! I ga s
 During the brief interval whiell , have described, l observed certain peculiarities in Roland Cameron's conduct which per plexed and troubled me, when my mind was busy with him in my lonely moments.
 For instance, he was. subject the, strangest lapses into siienes when he And l were talking tegethet Ak these Aines his eyes assumed a weary, absent look, and his mind seemed to wander away far from the conversation and far from. me. He was perfectly unaware of his in- i firmity; he fell into it unconsciously, and came out of it unconsciously. If I notlc- ed that he had not been attending to me, or If asked why he had heen silent, he was completely as loss te comprehend what meant. It puzzled and distressed him. What he was thinking of in these panses of silence it Eas mpossib bleS to guess His face, at other times singular ly mobile and expressive; became a per feet blank. Had he suffered some terrible shock at some past period of his life. and had his mind never quite recovered it? I longed to ask him the question, and yet shrank from doing it. I was SO sadly ; afraid of distressing him; or, to put it in palmer words, was so truly and tender ly fond of him >i@r rFII Then, again, though he was origanilly, sincerely believe, the most gentle and most lovable of men, there were occasions Hheu he Houla ssaKprise ae bg violent. Toutbreakx of temper, excited bg the inerast trifes. A dog barking suddenly af his heels, or boy throwing stones in the : road, or an importunate shopkeeper try ing to make him purchase something that he did not want, wo,ld throw him into a frenzy of rage which was, without exag geration, really frightfnl to see He al- ways apologized for these outbreaks, in terms which showed that he was sincerely ; ashamed of his own yiolences But he could never succeed in controlling him. self. The lapses into passion, like the lapses, into silence. took him into their own possession. and did with him, for the time being, just as they pleased q
 One more example of Roland peculiar ities, and have done The strangeness of his conduct, in this case, was noticed by my father and my brother, ss well as by me.
 When Roland was with us in the even ing, whether he came to dinner or to tea. he invariably left us at nine o'clock. Try as we might to persuade him to stay long l CT he always politely but positively re- fused. Even had no influence over him in this matter. When I pressed him to Temain-though it cost him an effect-he still retired exactly as the clock struck nine. He gave no reason for this strange proceeding; he only said that, it was 8 habit of his, and begged us to indulge him in 1t, without asking for an explana- tion. My father and my brother (being mem succeeded in controlling their curl osity. For my part (being q woman) every day that passed only made melmore and more eager to penetrate the mystery. privately resolved to choose my time, when Roland was in particularly acees- sible humor, and then to appeal to him for the explanation, which he had hither- to refused, as a special favor to myself. <! In two days more found my opportun- l ity i Some friends of ours who had joined us at Eastbourne, proposed a picnic party to the famous nelghbering cliff called Beach ey Head. We accepted the invitation. The day was lovely, and the gypsy dinner was, as usual, ininitely prefsrableI flor once m a way) to formal dinner indoors. Towards evening our little party separat- ed in twos and three, to explore the neigh borhood. Roland and Ifound ourselges together, as a matter of course. We were happy, and We were alone. Was. Tikr the right or the wrong time Ete ask the fatal question? am not able to decide; I only know that asked it suiW
 CHAPTER ILL
 "Mr. Cameron" said, twill you make allowances for a weak woman?-and will you tell me something that am dying to ! know?" l GI I II ''F17oJ
 He walked straight into the trap-with that entire absence of readywit or small suspicion q leave you to choose the right phrase) which is so much like men. and so little like women. 1a5 C. -s
 'Of course will, he ansyered.z
 ''Then tell ne" asked, aMhyyou al- ways insist on leaving us at nine O 'ciock?'
 He started, and looked at me, so sadly, so reproachfully, that would have given everything I possessed to recall the rash words that had just passed my lips.
 'H consent to tell You," he replied after 2 momentary struggle with himself twill you let me put question to you first? and will you promise to answer it?''
 gave him my promise, and waited ca gerly for what was coming next. T~T1I,
 Miss Brading," he said, ''tell me hon lestiy-do you think am mad?"
 1t was impossible to laugh at him; he spoke those strange words seriouslv-