Sharp County record., 1878-07-12
"Scarcely, I think" said the Rector,

lalUnlnO. DuJ uO uOb lOl 9SN S-~
tasted at this morning"
"What nice fellow your cousin
must be, Maggie! fancy his taking the
trouble to gather these lovely roses! L
wish | could see them," she added with
a sigh. "But, Maggie dear, what do
YOU think? one doctor in London told
papa that perhaps might some day re-
cover my sight, do so hope he is right.
He wanted to galvanize me, or some
thing!"
"0f course he is right, dear; he never
would have been so cruel. lie could
not have held out hopes if he were not
quite sure!"
"Oh, Maggie, fancy! Just fancy be-
inc able to see the sea, the ky, the How
ers and you, you darling, once again.
But it is too good to be true. 1t is quite
impossible!" A weary sigh closed the
sentence.
"Not impossible, dear. So let us
hope for the best. Hope and pray, and
trust in Gods mercy"
Jessie bent down and kissed her kind
friend, and then the two girls had a
"good cry" together.
Nearly two months passed away and
still the party at Wittaesleigh Rectory
remained the same. To those of my
readers who have stayed in sweet South
Devon, l need not explain the pleasant
life which young people can, and | be-
lieve do, lead in that land of picnics.
Love in these lattitudes ripenS with the
strawberries, and comes as naturally as
cream; so the young couples at the
Rectory paired off unScOnSciously. Such
an arrangement in the case of Algy
Vernon and Maggie Denne was not sur
prising, for they had been acquainted
from childhood. Mrs. Vernon and the
late Mrs. Denne had been schoolfellows.
They had never severed the friendship
thus initiated, and what was more nat
ural than that the affection entertained
by the parents should descend to the
children? At any rate, Algy was deeply
in love with the pretty Maggie; and
she, though not so preoccupied respect
inc him, thought her old friend very
nice indeed, and, if the truth were told,
preferred him to all her numerous ad-
mirers.
But Frank Carson and Jessie Hamblyn
had no such excuse. Yet the influence
of the Devonshire air was such as to
kindle spark, which showed symp-
toms of bursting out into very decid-
ed flame indeed. The train of sympa-
thy was laid, it required but that spark
to be applied to it, and then the barriers
of prudence would give way before the
explosion. If Algernon and Maggie
understood each other, so did Frank
and Jessie, and the numerous excursions
and picnics in which they passed the af-
tern0ons only served to rivet their bonds
closer. e.,
One sultry afternoon, a last exdrs. ion
was planned to the airy Glen ~ he
2s,,t,E- bad hoAn iney II " p>-s shissayj yjas-,
sion by three couples from neighbOr
ing parish, and despite the threatening
appearance of certain huge masses Of
cloud, the expedition started. The ro-
mantle spot which Maggie-no mean
Judge in these matters-had selected for
the afternoon meal was one of those
lovely bits of landscape so familiar to
many of us. A brawling stream makes
its sparkling way amidst moss-covered
powders, over pebbly shadows and
swirls beneath the wild flowers beneath
its banks. Then gliding calmly into an
unruffled pool, it lazily creeps beneath
picturesque bridge, through the single
arch of which ancient structure the
moor is seen extending its wild and un-
dulating curves. And then the water,
secure in its pride of high birth in yon-
der hills, takes no heed of the narrow
passage till, ere it is aware, it is caught
in rapid, and hurried over the cascade
to the sea, where it is lost forever.
Such were the features of the wood
land dining-room on that eventful day
"a day never to be forgotten by any
member of that merry party.
The cloth was soon laid beside the
stream, and when all was ready full
Justice was done to the al tTeSe0 meal.
More than once a muttered grOwl or
subdued roll was heard over the hills,
but the suggestion of thunder was met
by the reply that the sound was merely
the echoes of the blasting operations at
the quarries, or the rafting of the
trucks on the neighboring tramway.
The air got more and more sultry,
and even the insects seemed to sleep.
The trees whispered to each other, and
their topmost branches whispered a
gentle welcome to the scarcely felt
breeze that stirred the leaves. The
picnic party broke into groups after
dinner; the groups into pairs, each eau
tioning the other not to 60 too far, as
there was storm brewing. Frank and
Jessie did not wander away. Escorted
by Algernon and Maggie to rustic seat