The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1876-02-24

ou make things better =! he cried
With the illogical insistenoe of
mans disappointment.
mo, Mr.. Bernard. that I cannot"
he e1swered weeping; "and-I'l
'ot tell you any lie about tive
aiken the rue for coming, and I want
'ro back home"
Iois," he cried, "you do not mean
h~t, 1 am sure!"
Eyes l do" she said; "I'm best at
home. This isn't the place for me,
MIR. Bernard. and 1 was just a silly
gowk tor coming You're all over
grand for me, and I'm sight too
silly for you. I'm best at home"
she repeated.
"You are at.home," said Bernard,
taking her hand 1t was a we'll.
shaped hand in essentials, but it was
not the hand Of an aristocrat.
She shook her head. "No," she
said; "no, Mr.. Bernard. This is no
home to me and never could be-"
At that moment the servant enter.
ed the room with two letters on q
tray for Lois, and "Mrs. Haynes de-
sires to see you, SIR as his mes
sage to Bernard.
Il will be back directly, dear,''
said the young lover tenderly as he
turned away, Lois answered unself
ishly as her. manner was: "Don't put
yourself about Mr.. Bernard. Don't
trouble about me. I've got fathers
letter to read,'' again dissolving into
tears as she rose from her place, and
went over to the window, carrying
not only her fatl4cr's letter, but one
from John Musgrave as will-to soothe
or sting the smartiug sore of her
wounded spirit.
She read her letters, still standing
by the window and then her hands
dropped ty her side, and her soul
went back to thepast and the beloved.
The fresh free life of the felIs came
like a burst Of sunshine in the gloom
of winters day across the memory
of the poor, fevered, uncomfortable
girl. She saw visibly before her the
lovely little Thirlmere Lake, with
Dale Head, its mansion, grander to
her than ever the palatial stateliness
of Wildwood. The crags and tells
rose up to her inward sight, clothed
in their russet of autumn, their pur-
pie and gold of summer, their green
cry of spring. beautiful always her
friends and companions always;
things that were like living creatures
loving her and sympathising with
her, Knowing her and understanding
her. She knew that she was out of
place here, and she felt that she
must take her courage in both hands
and break her bands before they had
cut more deeply into her soul. She
knew where her best wisdom Law,
and she must conform to its demands.
John Musgrave, who was her friend,
would counsel her to do as her own
heart was counseling her now; and
John Musgrave would not have led
her into circumstances which were in
real fact no better than so many
snares-circumstances wherein he
knew, as Bernard must have known,
that she would be panied. John
Musgrave was at her feet, and would
be translated into heaven upon earth
if she would but return home and
smile on him. And now that she
had seen him nearer, Bernard did
not seem so fine a fellow after all.
He was under his mothers thumb
too much for Lois, whom that thumb
oppressed and crushed; she preferr-
ed more vigorous independence like
Johns for instance, and man who
would be proud of her, and not
ashamed.
The old passion Of home that pos.
sesses the heart of the mountaineer
came upon Lois with its loving sick
ness, its infinite yearning. She felt
as if she could not breathe in these
cold, spacious, unhomelike rooms;
she must 60 back to her simpler
mode of life, to her mountains, her
crags, her mere, ,,r home. Bernard
Haynes and all n.s grandeur were as
nothing to her compared to the love-
illness Of her own. The daughter of
the tells, born and reared in the
shadow of Helvellyn, she must 20
back to her cradle, else she would
pine away and die; she must shake
herself clear OF the false dream that
had bewitched her if she meant to
see happiness or fulfil her allotted
length of days.
Mrs. Haynes found her standing
thus by the window in the drawing
room, those two dirty, crumpled, un-
grammatical, and ill-spelt letters,
which had been the awakening magi.
clans, still in her hands; her lovely
face softened by its yearning dream,
her mind lost, her thoughts away
but, through the dream her resolve
slowly consolidating and fashioning
itself to an ineligible course of &C
ton.
| The lady walked up to her with
her noisless, stately step; and Lois
starting, make a little courtesy and
said with perfect respect but no as
sumption of equality, "Mrs. Haynes
ma'am, if you please, I leave here to.
day.