The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-07-21

| listening, with the dark clnGu OF tanRieu h"''
thrown back from the low ioreneau anu ueeP
| ~ shaded eyebrows. But the looF OF a'ten
lion passed away almost rs rapidly as u mac
come. and in another moment her heau "a'
down AGAIN ON the floor, and the softly Sc
lips. that seemed made only 10 snape io.e
Z. wb,sners murmured stupidity and hungrily
" More -.
IT am going now" said the soft voice
acain. but | will come again aud see you
/ his evening. with the nurse. Do you hear
| DO YOU understands"
There was nothing but an inarlcUlate muir
mur in reply, though she listened IN vain
and the iar-haired girl rose with Il sign iron
her knees and passed from the desolate cor
ridor INTO the more habitablc and cheeriu
part of the house in which the physician an(
his family lived, having learned rom hnOi
to look lightly on the empty human Shrlne'
Of reason that were sheltered beneath Tx
same roof.
"She is so beautiful" said the girl TO her
self. as she went down the staircase. II nope
God does not let her know what she is now
or she would die, as ! should do
My dear Margaret said her mother
looking up as her eldest child entered The
room, do hope You have not been among
the patients again
81 have only been to see poor Leah" sflC
Margaret Fenwick, III the same soft VOICE
which was one of her greatest charms, 9"
must do that, YOU know, if 1t makes her les;
unhappy"
"Lett the child alone" said DR.. Fenwick
" She will do herself no harm, if she does 30
body else any good But you did not work
upon Blooker's feelings to give you the key
hope, Madgc? The door was locked, Oh
course"
IL talked to her through the door, that was
ALL" answered Margaret, simply, Papa, do
YOU think she will be like other people again
II was only last week she was sitting here
with us all, and | was teaching her TO play
The accompaniment to her songs:
81 know all that" said the physician, put
she is suffering from an acute attack OF de-
mentia now. She is very young and may get
completely over it, but then she Will be al
ways Liable to relapse \ sudden trouble
would do it at any time
And she has money, too" sighed Mrs
Fenwlck. half obviously, rs if it was SIN
that 50 rnch good material for happiness
should b, wasted. "Ddnt you say she had
money -,
"TiIrty thousand pounds, believe said
her husband dryly, "but think there are
thirty thousand good reasons why nobody
should envy her
It is five years since Margaret Fenwick
knelt at the corridor door, whispering soft
words of love and sympathy TO the unhappy
girl inside She is living in London with her
mother now, for DR.. Fenwck has been dead
some time, and the establishment at llore.
wood is broken up The gentle charm of her
loveliness IS still in its first flower, and, as
lp,tta ,frllt ph 10 i'm har
hand the clear light of happiness is irradiat-
ing her brow and laughing back from the
soft sweet eyes The words that man writes
to his promised wife could be answered in no
more fitting way:
Ny DEAREST Cnup: | have got all the way
to Wales safely, and the whole family Is collect
ed here under the patcrnal roof, needn't say
that one thing is wanting TO me, and that, hope,
will soon be supplied, for, Of course, you VIII
come down and spend Christmas with us. My
father and mother both want words TO express
their anxiety to see you and receive you as a
daughter Write and say how soon you can
come.
We are very quiet here, but there are one or
two new people in the village. \ Mrs Fourier
has taken the White House, and her daughter is
regular acquisition The old lady Is not much,
but Leah Fourier plays and sings dvinely, and
is unusually good looking into the bargain. The
girls are mad about her.
You can see how hard mp am :or anything
TO tell you when am forced 10 write about
strangers. | suppose YOU would get tired OF ii
If were to keep on telling you that love you.
but | have very few other ideas in my head just
now at any one time. Besides, isn't 1t much
plcasantcr to tell it with your dear hand in mine
Your own ARTHUR ASHTON,
Leah Fourier repeated Margaret to her.
self dreamily 81 hope she won't remember
me, | wonder whether mad people recollect
anything that has passed when they are well
That wOG,d be the most wreichcd part of II
all
Leah Fourier is singing 81 III sacai$,' and
Arthur Ashton is leaning over the piano,
looking into her magical eyes with an ex-
pression-well which would mean a good
deal with some men, but which is merely n
graceful courtesy, Margaret tries TO believe,
with Arthur Ashton. She has been at Llwn-
y.mawr, fortnight now, and has found Leah
Fourier almost rs constant an inmate OF the
house AS herself But then, AS Arthur said,
the girls are mad about her and there Ger.
tainly is an enchanlment somewhere IN her
glowing face before which few are able TO
stand "RicH sur III M diHerdtS N' she sings
and Margaret knows that the words would
sound cold and passonlcss from her own lips
in comparison. Is Il wonderful that there
should be response in Arthur Ashton's
eyes?
The song is ended, and Margaret Fenwick' S
flur.e stro,ls after the singer into the conser'
yatory
"If were you, Margaret, should go after
them, really" said Arthur's eldest sister, halt
laughing. Leah would illri with the foot
man, believe, if there was nobody else in
the way II was just the same when poor
Charlie was at home"
Margaret tries TO smile, and to keep her
wistful eyes turned away from the conserva
tory door, but she cannot help specializing a
little as 10 the difference between poor Char
ien and his brother. As 80 Leah herself, she
can hardly form a calm, rational opinion, so
different in this Leah from the girl with the
wild eyes, whose poor, uncertain fingers she
had helped 10 find their old, familiar places
on the piano al liorewood five years ago
She feels, rather thau knows, that the past is
not all blank in Miss Fouricrs brain, but
no word Of recogaiiIoa has passed between
the girls, and IL is plain, at any rate, that
nothing OF tina, dreadful. episode in Leah's
liC, IL .u.,a,t.f hV Tho AehtnrC