Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-08-06


imnassble monstes it was ever my lot t.
become acquainted with" With buoyan
alacrity she rose next morning, unmindfu
of the cold. which was piercing; slippin!
her feet into a pair of warm slippers, sh'
ran to the window to raise the blind. y
horror; what she had feared from the
feeling" of the cold night before, was
realized. A deep mantle of snow covered
the ground.
Helen came down to breakfast utterly
doleful She had INDUCED in good cry
to begin with; and now was hlicd WIN
dismay at the prospect before her. va
entering the breakfast room. she iounu
Mr.. Hilton had been waiting for her SUM
time. IL beg your pardon i an; se.S
sorry to have kept you so ions "i'nou'
your breakfast.
Attracted by her respondent tones, he
looked mn with the first approach to In
terest be had manifested since her arrival,
and said: II am sorry for you, Miss
Cameron this snow will make you pris-
oner for some time, am afraid" and re-
pret for himself was not unmlngled with
his sorrow for her.
"Yes; / am dreadfully sorry she re-
turned, with a look of blank disappoint-
ment in her face, regardless of the i'll
compliment which had actually penetrated
Mr.. Hilton's pachydermatous sensibility,
and set him thinking. Now, when man
like that begins to think, he generally
does so to some purpose. The latent chiv-
airy of this strange being began to awake,
and the man remembered with self-re-
proach that he had done nothing. as a
host, to merit any other than the candid
avowal he had just heard.
hot I chn1l
do she moaned, as she stood irresolute
by the fire, too genuinely miserable to be
polite.
and then we must see what can be done
to preserve life in you afterwards" he
said, with something very like smile
shining on his face, the first she had ever
seen.
As a CLEAN of sunshine attracts ON a
gloomy day, so did this smile attract
Helen, and cause her to regard him with
surprise.
He caught the look, and asked its mean
ing in such a friendly voice that she said
with simple bluntness; II saw you smile !;
l didn't think you could"
The smile widened into laugh, not
withstanding the unattended sarcasm
which he was conscious he deserved; the
snow was falling outside, while within
the first symptoms of a thaw had begun !!
He, strange to say, was the first TO be
aware of it, as he glanced every now and
then at the woe-begone face sitting near.
ut is true" she faltered, THAT the
snow does not clear away for weeks ?'
''Quite true"
80 dear what shall l do ?" she sighed.
1--WE must try and make the best of it
for you," he answered kindly. II know
this must be a dreadfully dull hole for
young lady to be shut up in, with only
couple of old people, like my mother and
myself, for company but | am afraid there
is no help for it !''
"Are you fond of reading?' he asked,
after pause. II have some good books,
but not in your style, am afraid"
II am afraid not. You are very learned
and clever, are you not ?" she asked, with
amusing simplicity. her eyes opening as
she made the inquiry, as though treading
on unknown and dangerous ground. 1.-The
girls-the Narcots--told me SO, and that
made me rather afraid of you, and fan
cyl
81 couldn't laugh, and had forgotten
how to smile, he interposed. "Well,
don't be frightened any more. for l am
neither learned nor clever, that know of;
and ] believe can smile when provoked
to do SO only living SO much to myself, l
seldom get an opportunity"
.'But that is your own fault, is it not
You hate-us-women, mean don't you?
So the Narcot girls told me. Is it true ?"
Partly" and he pushed his plate away
as he spoke. and resumed his favorite att-
tude. with his elbows on the table; then,
as if rejecting. he added, in lower tone:
"Still believe am capable OF conversion
only no one has ever tried"
perhaps you never gave them
chance" she said, with bright laugh,
which displaced the cloud Of melancholy
for moment, as she went to the window
to see ii she could discern signs Of relent-
ing on the part of her cruel jailer outside.
Mr.. Hilton. meanwhile, was revolving
her last words in his mind, as he played
with the bread-crumbs, saying to himself
that she had spoken rightly; and when a
woman has once had the luck to drive a
truth home into mans mind which he is
willing to acknowledge. she has certainly
gained point.
On other mornings he generally disap-
peared as soon as breakfast was over, and
never showed himself again until sum-
mOneQ 10 anOtnef meal out TINS morning
he sat on and on, even after the cloth was
removed, and the distraction of arranging
the crumbs into mathematical problems
had been taken from him.
His train of thought evidently lay above
ground this morning. "This girl would
be in the house for weeks - and he caught
himself looking at her as she gazed hope
lessly out OF the window; and then this
thought, at one time so repugnant, grew
not altogether distasteful. although, of
course, there would be a vast amount OF
Inconvenience attending it, which he was
forced to admit. 1t was bad business on
the whole, certainly, and he would have
infinitely preferred ii the snow had not
fallen. But here she was; and he must
make the best of it. and be thankful that,
as far as women went. she was endurabe
after her kind, was unobtrusive at least,
and would evidently rather not be staying
under these circumstances, he must make
an effort.
Helen left the window, and took an
easy chair by the fire resgning herself to
the hopelessness OF the situation, wonder
ing when on earth Mr., Hilton meant to