The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1876-02-17

out accepteQ ner apple as she hau acT
cepted 1her cbeesd, !likelaan ola. friend {;
and when she attacked it she Bit it
1bodily Will hearty good Will and
made Light Of the PEEL: AL these
*ets Titles, il one viii, b1at they v |eFe
sufficient to show that = vide Ssotial
gulf separated this beautiful young
creature thtonf her company; md THAT
the chance which had thrown her Is q
guest sandsan equal into tl1re+''lhlands of
the proadest and>>most fastidipus
women in the district must indeed
have been an odd one, as she said.
Tkesame kind Of thing was mani
! fest;in her conversation She did not
speak like q peasant, but certainly
not'like alsdy 7, rather as ashop girl
or an upper maid would have spok-
| zen: :
Have you eyer been in Warwick
shire before, Miss lancaster" asked
Sir James Aitken during soup-poor
Lois, and that unaccommodating
vermicelli!- by way .ofsopeningj the
ball. T.. : :. ;.~3
Lois raised her starry eyes.
~"No.". she said with q, a,certain hesi-
fancy ;'thep add&, ''You have the
advantage Of ,me;t i don't know
your name." Z: =; -
"Aitken, said; Sir james smiling.
'*sir JamesrAitken:"
:"Oh Y saids Iois relieved. NO.; I
have not been here before. Sir: James
Aitkeen,s I shet then answered; . content
now that, she. .cduld catalogue her
..x,S6, ! So = 81 :
1T is too soon yet to ask how you
like it ?" he continued. ..
~ thonghtthe scsusry very roman:
mantle ~ 1 rode along" said Lois;
"but I was not over much taken up
with it. I like the mountains better.
Do you live here, Sir James Aitken ?"
Eyes not far from here, at Aitken
Park, !" he answered. **You: must
come over and zee my place. I have
some curious old Roman remains that
will interest you"
"Thank you, Sir James Aitken,
I'm sure. I shall be most agreeable"
said Lois simply. "When shall I
Gomez"
II will arrange the party to night"
he answered kindly.
He was man, hence more tender
to the social shortcomings of a girl
SO lovely as Lois Lancaster than any
woman would have been, and her odd
MIXTURE Of propriety and unconven-
tionality, stiffness and simplicity;
amused him.
AT this mement the salmi came
round. Lois refused.
mo salmi1 p asked Sir James, just
as silence had settled on the table.
e'No, thank you, Sir James Aitken"
answered Lois. 1--WE had as much
as I We q mind for, and done very
we'll, thank you"
At which Edith Grattan raised
her bright, mischievous eyes, and
looked demurely into Bernard's
face.
"There is nothing so charming as
idiomatic English!' cried Bernard
boldly. ut is such pity that we
have refined it away into the tame
and colorless language Of convention
al use: Had my own way we would
60 back to the language Of Shakes
peare and Chaucer."
The step was wide, but Bernard's
blood was up.
'sDo you mean to say you would
like Us all to speak like the common
people :" asked Edith; surprise DASH
ed with indignation. Really Bernard
Haynes; though very handsome and
fascinating. and the owner Of Mid
wood into the bargain, wasalmost too
odd!
"A few racy idioms and pictorial
expressions would be an advantage to
us-they would lift up our daily tongue
and give it life and force" argued
Bernard. "What you call the speech
of the common people is only old
English, .pure and undedled-the
English, as I said, Of Chaucer. IF
We went back to. our forefathers' time
we should speak as-asAthe north
country people do for instance.
"But I do not want to 60. back to
our forefathers' time, if the result
would be that I should speak like a
CANNON person. 1t would be very
! frightful to hear ladies and gentle
men speaking broad Cumberland, for
instance, because that was the &C.
cent used in Chaucer's time," said
Edith disdainfully-Lois, catching
the words "broad Cumberland and
turning her head to look at the young
lady treadine on her borders, fixing
on her those calm, sweet, ravishing
eyes, which however did not excuse
| in Edith's mind such solecism as
that Of which she had been guilty.
So the dinner passed : Mrs. Haynes
betraying nothing; Maud and Cora
disturbed and uncomfortable and
showing that they were; Lois uncom-
Portable too, but a> .!'.'c' III her own
| way as Mrs. Haynes WAS in hers !;
and Bernard wondering what subtle
change it was that had come oyer
her, making her less supremely de-
liehtful than he had found her at the
foot Of Helvellyn.