Litchfield enquirer., 1877-05-24

that moment he reached the top of the landing where stood my wealthy customer Of course he lifted his hat. from off his splendid ruddy hair, and bow sd his handsome head, and waved his pinmp white hand for her to pass .on be- fore him. A lady was always honored. wnh all this gesticnlatory distinction by fife professor whoever she might be. Miss Van C0ot, with one eager, deyouring look upon him, went on to her carriage, from which she looked again; but as for the professor, he went on his way unmindful, humming roundelay under his breath, and holding his head high in the air. But when he came back again, luncheon was not quite ready, Miss Winthrop had not come, and nothing would do but he must know why he had found those fool. ish tears in my eyes that morning. Ut was Mss Winthrop" he said. "You need not try to sheild her. I know her, to my cost. She is arrogant. she Is without heart; she has said that which has cut thee tn tha snill- 7 fyUnsense, professor" said, quite of i my guard. 'sIt was only that made a stupid mistake in Miss Van Coot's basque. She has to be padded all the way up the left shoulder.
 1 ssGott in Himmelr' cried the professor; and then saw my imprudence. ''It is nothing, I said. "when one can afford to have skillful dress-maker." But the professor leaned back in his chair and raised his hands to heaven. It l was only natural that he should consider 1 it terrible misfortune-he whose phisi- que was like that of Apollo Belvedere. ''She has lots of money" said. "A silver mine will not buy her a new spine" said the professor.
 E. s'It will serve to make her own very pre- sentable, rejoined; s'and, besides, she I is so good and kind. "Ah," he said, heaving sigh from the bottom of his lungs; ''that is better than all. She is honest, perhaps. and truth l ful. 1t least she.will not, perhaps, lie, as lyon Americans say, as fast as. the horse | will trot. She will not prom1se to sit at l your table at certain hour, and then go away and give no further thought to the matter. There are some people whose l spines may be all that Is desirable, but
 their hearts, my gracious Fraulein, they are black to the core"
 | It was too bad that Helen did not come as she had promised, The professor did
 not fully get over his disappointment till
 he came to the pudding which was for
 tunately as near perfection as pudding
 can be-
 His eyes grew less ferocious as he dal-
 lied with the fiaky puffs, the fierce lines
 about his mouth gave way, generous,
 benignant expression gradually beamed l upon his face.
 l "And then," at last he said to me,
 ''thou hast not. only the spine without
 blemish, but the heart and the soul ! Whatever thou undertakest to do. is
 done wisely and we'll. Gesegnete Mahl l zeit. may the meal be blessed to thee! II
 thou wouldst be saint in heaven, contin.
 ue to be good Hausfrau upon the
 earth"
 l Thanks to the pudding, he went upon
 his way rejoicing. When Helen came,
 it was soggy and ruined; but Helen was
 not very hard to please. A bit of toast, a
 poached egg morsel of any sort, par.
 ticularly in the Lenten season, was all she would ask.
 When I told her of the professors dis | pleasure, she laughed in that mocking,
 musical way of hers: but l. thought there
 was latent tenderness, in it's ring, and
 there was a melting look in her great
 black eyes, tremulous sweetness about
 her mouth, that made me look her aga1n, | NuO COuAA WC0A O LOAAdu It'll AAOIO SLdCc
 than any one I ever saw; and just the lit.
 tie ruff1e of cashmere laceabout her neck, 1 and the two creamy roses well down upon her hat, made her like some beautiful pic. l ture.
 It was fully fortnight before the pro- l lessor came again to stay any time. He
 was very busy. Miss Van Coot had not 1 only prevailed upon him to take her as
 pupil, but he had consented to manage l a musicale for her at her house on the 1 Avenue.
 | Miss Aan Coot and the professor seem.
 ed to get on very we'll together. One l morning that l went there to fit some
 trimmings upon the white corded silk I
 was making for her musicale, found the professor reading to her his translation oi
 a tragedy from the German. Once in a
 while he would appeal to her judgement
 in the formation of sentence, and al
 though she would pause to criticise, she
 invariably agreed with his version in the
 end. So that he began to talk to me ot Miss Van Coot as he had formerly of Rel- en-. ss *5:
 And the night of the musicale, to which I did not go-Miss Van Coot, in her kind
 way, invited me, but it was not expected
 that would accept the invitation-that
 night Miss Van Coot looked very we'll in-
 deed, went to arrange her dress before
 the entertainment, and really Miss Van l Coot looked almost handsome. The ex.
 citement had lighted up her heavy face,
 and although it was risk, never had
 better luck with anything than had with
 that corded silk polonaise. Miss Van
 Coot was so pleased with it that she was
 kind enough to send me home in her car
 iiage, and the professor whispered, as he l bade me good-by, ''Thou hast done mar
 velously we'll: nobody would know but
 that her two sides were cast in the same
 mould" So that the professor seemed
 very we'll pleased with Miss Van Coot
 and I feared more and more for my poor
 Helen's happiness. As the days went by,
 there seemed almost spell upon ner, and I would only have been too glad to have
 her make fun in her old way of some oi
 the people about us, or hear her laugh,
 began vaguely to feel that she was chang l ed, and watched her at times with fret I ful curiosity, and again with touching
 tenderness. She began to be to him like
 a well-behayed child; she bore his sneers ] and revilings so meekly; she played to his order and sang for him without complaint
 the classical music which she professed to
 al omina'e; nor did she finish by galloping
 of into some extravaganza of her own
 The professor became more and more un-
 easy and perplexed. He ceased to talk of
 Miss Van Coot. He tramped to and fro ihs length of the rooms, muttering to him. self. sometimes turning impatiently upon
 his heel and walking out of the house. One night they sat together, Helen and f the professor in my Dleasank DarlOr
 The fiat which I rented was next door to
 1 big asylum up town, so that the grounds by which it was surrounded gave us the
 advantage of side windows. from which
 we could look over across the river. The
 full moon was climbing up into the sky;
 2 few timid stars were faintly glowing
 there; the air had already the delicious
 languor of early summer; and Helen was
 beautiful. Her simple white robe of In
 dia muslin with only some narrow Valen- ciennes on the founces, had a better ef- feet somehow than Miss Van Coot's new corded silk