The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-09-25

into the dark, she looked TO him, as
cending, like the spirit of the. flowers
and of the music behind her. She held
spray of white roses in her hand. She
never knew what made her-she thought
of it afterward, shocked and Mortified at
herself, at her want of maidenliness and
modesty, and her face reddened, and her
tears started in the lonely night-but
she held out the spray of white roses,
and gave it to him with an enchanting
smile, and went down as he went up.
4, And he-he also never knew what
brazen boldness, what wild daring, pos
sessed him when he stepped to her side
as she walked home from church next
day, and said May l give you my
name in exchange for your rosep" And
although he had but introduced. himself,
he somehow took to heart the literal in
depreciation of her words, and in a wild,
eager, silent way, considering himself
engaged to her from that moment,
whether she were engaged to him or
not; and grown bold thenceforth, he al
ways called her in his thoughts his
Rose. One day, speaking with her-for
after that they often met-he called her
so aloud, and she was in no wise
startled; it came so naturally. as if she
had known, of course, that the sun was
going to rise, and this was the first rosy
CLEAN of dawn. Yet following it came
little alterations of joy and terror
Perhaps he would not have dared to
call me so" she thought, in her shame
faced humiliation, A" if had not been SO
forward. Perhaps he does not respect
me, after all" And then, in spite of
the trouble, her heart would bound with
| gladness TO think that she had given
| ho fn tpG hn IpH
her his Rose. .. -...rs .. .....
1t was winter as they came to that,
and the skaters were making merry. She
had come down to the lake with her un-
| Gle, who was a famous skater; had
bound on her skates, and slid away with
him; had left him TO tighten a strap,
had lost him, and had beer found by
Adrian, and together they had glided
away; and then the late afternoon red
dened into sunset and purpled into twi-
| light, and they were skating up the
stream, and leaving all the cries and fires
and flashing forms behind them. How
soft and fresh was the vigorous air! how
rich the violet of the gathering night!
how great the glow of the wind-shaken
stars! Now it was no longer hand in
hand that they went, but his arm was
about her; they swept out on long curves
|
one heart impelled them; and now they
turned the corner of bluff; now. far
out of sight of all the world, they
paused, and there, in the wintry dark,
| they were folded heart to heart and
mouth to mouth. If the SHOWS had
| fallen around them there and clothed
them with garment of death, if the ice
had parted under their feet and plunged
them into the drowning waters, they
would hardly have asked any more
Their passion wrapped them, SO like De-
Janira's robe of flame, from all the frosti-
ness of death, that the coming of eter-
nifty upon them in each others arms
would have seemed but its sacramental
seal. And suddenly rude, hoarse cry
broke in upon the sphere where they
Professor Redmond, and Ella was
snatched from Adrian's grasp, and II
dozen singing words were whirled at
him, and the uncle had carried her off us
the wind carries off feather.
| Adrian skated back alone. He scorned
to move till the professors heels cutting
the ice could be heard no more. Where
had all that splendor of the night gone?
1t was the darkness and GOODNESS of des-
olation now. He took terrible grind
at mathematics that night, and the next
day presented himself before the profess
sor and asked of him the promise of his
niece in marriage, only to receive in re-
turn the fiattest and curtest and most
insulting of orders never to darken those
doors again.
"For all that" said Adrian, stoutly,
81 shall marry my wife"
The professor looked at him and burst
into a furious, roaring laugh. "Tooral-
looral!" sang the professor. "Begoner'
he thundered.
The winter wore away at last, and if
the professor kept the Rose from her
lover, he could not keep the color from
the velvet check if he were near, the
glow FROM the darkling eyes if she were
there, the smile, forgetful of all the rest
began to hate Adrian. He would have
been glad to mark him out of existence,
if marks could have done tout OF his
college existence at any rate; but the
boy gave him no chance. He deserved
no reprimand, and none could be tor
tured into shape for him. He studied as
n machine works. He covered himsel!
with laurels-all the more he would
rather they had been roses.
"Who is the beggar?" the professor
growled, one spring day, when they met
him in the square again, and, the bare
headed silent reverence ended. he had
passed on without greeting. "Who is
the beggar?" growled the uncle Red
mond, ITO whom you choose to give a
glance when forbid it-I, who stand
IN your dead fathers shoesP A fishing
merchants son, indeed! One might
suppose that, reared as you have been,
the very thought of such connection
| Ill Al
He never touches fish," said Ella,
feeling obliged to answer, although il
he had been fisherman on the Bradol
coast, it would have made no difference
with her. "He never sees them. He
sits at a desk in a counting-room, miles
away from the warehouses, and his
clerks write in books all day. And
Adrian will do so too"
"He is rich, then, / supposeP"