Fair play., 1876-06-08
at seventeen as to despise crumb of
comfort in any shape.

at seventeen as to despise crumb OF
comfort in any shape.
Pretty soon Nelly forgot her dress al
together. Lima Holdridge brought a
gentleman toward her seat and intro
duced him As Mr.. Fearing. How pleas
ant he was! Wha, nice gray eyes he
had! and how they watched Nelly while
he talked to her in such gentle, re-
spectful, deferential way that Nelly
could not DE shy; and pretty soon her
eyes spark!ed, her color rose softly, her
red lips opened to stream of gentle,
playful talk, and her bright laugh rang
cheerily if softly. How soon they came
to Pine Hill! and then Mr.. Fearing car
ried her lunch-basket, and she threw
her saque across her arm, the sun was
SO hot; and in five minutes they were
at the wood road, while the res, Jagged
behind, heated with their heavy dress
es, and tired with holding up the long
skirts. So Nelly and Mr.. Fearing stood
still and waited, and when the hating
. company arrived, her quick wits and
nimble fingers We're speedily at work to
help them.
~ always carry pins and sal. and
matches to Il picnic," said Nelly, with Il
laugh, for noticed often tha, nobody
ever remembers those things"
| 1t was well she did to-day, and they
all voted thanks to her on the spot, is
with lishtened burdens and smiling
faces they began the walk up The steep
hill road to the bare fields OH the Forth
side Of Pine Hill, where the arbu,uS
grew. The day was lovely. sweet will,
the delicate ine!iablc perfume of early
spring; the sun shone warmly down,
the south wind blew softly, the resinous
odor of pine boughs sighed from the
soft gloom of the woods, and the bri.h,
full brook poured over Il little fall at the
hill foot, Us if it were so glad to he free
once more it must leap and laugh 10
express its delight.
Here, under the brown grass, hidin.
shy faces of baby bloom with its thick
dull leaves, clustering closely to the
shelter of :. great stone, or creeping
among bushes Of swce,-fern, low white
birches, and tangled strings of last
years grass, the arbutus grew in pro-
fusion, and Nelly with glowing face and
def: fingers cOaxed the delicate clusters
of tinted white or rosy pink from their
low beds, and gathered them
in great sheaf. Her cal
leo dress neither impeded her graceful
motions nor vexed her soul with anxi-
ETY.. Mr.. Fearing, who was q young
artist from New York, rapidly rising to
fame, delighted in the pictures she I'M
consciously made AS she lifted her love-
ly face to call some other girl TO = bet
ter place for finding the treasures, or
ran lightly across the steep slope to
rescue one of those fine gowns from
dragging brier or pi;iless bush. For
now the finery came to grief; where the
bushes had been " stubbcd," knife
plcatings, shirred ruflles, folds, all
found abounding enemies; the woolly
seeds Of faded solden-rOds ground their
small spikes into Addy Mason's pea
green gown, and 4 fierce low blackber-
ry vine laid hold of it and ef-
fected three triangular rents: Jane
GLASS; yak lace left shred
on every bush, sin memory Of"
Lima Holdridge said; while Lina's own
pretty de bege was not only torn in the
flounce badly, but was sown all over
with those small black seeds that on
two sharp legs set themselves in any
soft fabric by The thousand. and leave
their traces even when picked out. Be-
fore long they *ere all hot and tired,
and adjourned TO the waterfall to lunch;
and happy was the man or woman who
shared Nely's sandwiches; even Mr..
Fearing, who had tasted delicacies
Beckett never knew even by report, in
Paris cafes and New York clubs, came
more than once for Il supply of this new
found dainty-whether because he real
ly liked them, being hungry with the
keen air, or because he wanted TO see
Nely's face brighten with innocent sat
isfac;ion, we cant tell, or will not. He
was awkward enough to spill Il cup of
hot coffee on her skirt, but it never
elouded the pretty face moment.
"Never mind, it will wash," said she,
and sent a grateful thought home to her
mother to think it was not her precious
black silk.
But Miss Bristow's dainty cashmere
had its own libation of claret from the
hands Of q dreadful boy, who stumbled