Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-10-27

out. but contrived to do my duty and t
speak my harsh words with sufficien
grace to ward off all ILL feeling.
At the hour of my arrival at Mid IL
Bass, a flat, low-lying island, Thurman
was out walking. l gained Il hint of tn
direction he had taken, and | fullowe,
him. came, after half an hour. to tn,
gateway of the Reinhart farm. and as
was one of those in which my principal
had an interest, it occurred to me to sto
for Il moment to find out how matters wer
going there. walked down II long Ian,
between two fields of ripening fruit. think
ing far more, | admit, of the beauty of tn
day and the delicious warmth of the al
than did OF the profit anil loss. All wa
rs quiet and sunny rs the heart could wish
and Il sweet fragrance filled the air almos
to repletiOn. At the distance of quarte
ola mile lay the sparkling waters of the
placid lake. and at the edge of the Ian,
there stood thin line of tall old oaks, the
gint branches Of which, half naked an,
half dressed in gloomy vendure. reached
upward toward the sky like human arms
Reinllart's house was Old. and it wls paint
ed red. It was surrounded bv low willows
and its yard and its high pitched roof wer,
in shade.
As turned out of the grape field | saw
sitting side by side. upon bench beneatl
the rugged bole of one of these trees, Thur
man and i, sweet faced girl of IS. Sh,
WAS bareheaded. and her golden hair wa,
plated and bound up in Il tight knot be
hind. Her dress was of a dark brown
stuff and from beneath her skirts there
projected two pretty feet. crossed and com
posed. She was knitting 4 blue sock. and
she was listening at the same time. will
her head cast down. and inclined slightly
upon one sid. to what my friend WAS say
inc. and he was saying it most earnestly
though by n" means secretly.
l recognized II, once the d,ughtcr OF
Rtinhart. for hld seen her three years
before, and she WAS then Il most loviblc
child. She WIS now Il woman, and have
never seen 4 more inn ,crnt face than tha,
which she raised when first made nv
presence hnown. Ih rman showed ne
signs Of discontinue. but he welcomed me
" rrmly. Sribel that WIS tue girl 5 name
led us about The place. showing us al
he sights These are Il e old country
wooden ptnnicrs that We gather grape, in
These are the pipes that the wine runs in.
10. This is the e-press-ih, do SO
long 10 see it run again. | press the
grapes myself sometimes. Did you evel
hear the stream of red wine flow into the
empty pipes? 1t makes such !; little roar'
she laughed and showed her white teeth
When we were about to 60. Thurman
PIT out his hand Se!bel put hers into i
with that ;ibominable sham frankncss thai
/ L., l,,,t
thoughilcssne>s,
The season was most charming. and
!i! not hesitate to make up my mind tt
| spend a month on the Island. The greater
number of the summer visitors had lon
since departed, and the long walks and the
shady groves We're almost entirely desert
ed. Now and then in a long walk. on,
caught Il glimpse of n city dress, or he;,rt
the ring OLA city laugh. but it WAS not oIt.
en-; the glorious sunlight. now doublv vel
low. poured down upon the silent field:
and the white roads. and everything paus
ed for the gr,pes to ripen. Thurman wen,
every day to kcinhart's house. and fire
que tlv went with him. Finally Reinhar
himself urged by tn" good wife who's,
anxious face | had more than once seer
peering cautiously through her vine
covered windows upon the group upon til,
bench. came and put the question in {;
good-ntured, roundabout way
Isn't Your friend a lonely sort Of a fel
low to be- hanging round our Sebel SC
much? What do Won Think"
"I,l speak to him. said |.
I did 80. Thurman replied quietly: :"
am = 'ing to marry her
WHAT
Z 1t is truc?"
/ But Your heart. yours spirit. Your en-
ire nature. mus be antagoniStic to love
/ You are fresh from one of those defeats
that drive men mad. OF out of the world.
1t is impossible for you to stimulate 4 new
passion
/ That is very true"
Then explain"
! Listen: admit that there is ruin
somewhere. | observed myself from with
nut myself, and | see that l am i'll. that
am purposc!ess, that am full of sorrow
and regret % through slight cilcul,
ton. and perceive that l must recover
myself iii order to be of any further use il
the world You admit that Very wei!
Then. instead of taking usual measures =
by usual measures | mean the slow pro-
crssts of time and travti-I lake Il heroic
measure. force upon my attention IN
object whose nature is such that nv dis
tratted spirit and outraged sensibilitie.
must soon aS>imilate with it. | find il
Seibcl Il creature of absolute purity. eleva-
tel moral sense. ardent disposition. and
un1uestioning trust. | am rs certain that
nv heart will entertain her ut some tim.
| in the future as | am that we now talk
together. | do not say that the memory
of my real position does not agitlte me 1T
times even before her face. but l am re
solved tn hold her to my breast until hel
nature does its healing. purifying work
and then | shall hold her forever.
This was his idea. and faithfully did Ii,
labor to carry on; its execution. lttouched
me to the quick to see him 90 up pale and
| lanruid, from some new realization of his
pain. and seek in the grape fields this fair
haired, simple-hearted child, AMI walk be
side her hour after hour. bending his intel
ligence with an iron will upon tn thing
that gave her interest and qualification
Reinflart and his wife took my worI fol
! il that they need have no fear, and so Thur
man found Il welcome from both at their
house He tined with them often, ac OF
their rough dishes, and looked pleased n
their simple surroundings. On these occ,
sions Se.bel was gay and unaffected. anC
she would sit beside him happy at his con
tentment.
Meanwhile, the grapes ripeneI poorly
and the buyers who We're abroad shool
their heads. | sent intelligence TO the
Wallings through the Office. and propose
to wait until the gathering season came
for it would then be easier to Judge of the
financial prospects of the farmers. Weel
after week in October went by, and still
the sony Of love was sung without let o.
hindrance. | saw the two sitting besid,
the shore in the long. sweet afternoons, ,idl,
| listening to the waves, or devOutlv listen
ing to each other. Thurman was succeed
iny. | noted 81 gns of returning strengtl
in his manner, and an increased viyor il
his method of talking These proofs wer
slight, to be sure, but they We're positive Il
far rs they went
On the 23d of October, at late hour il
the afternoon, | received note bv a mes
senger who came from 4 club-hOtel at tn
lower part of the island. 1t invited me t
call at once on Il matter Of pressing i'm
portance. and it was signed by Mario