The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1880-03-04
EARTEHBOUND;
4 Story Of the Seen and the Unseen.
BY MRS. OLIPHANT.
CHAPTER, TT.

luClludGlOI
cut his visit short; he stayed Oh after
Uncle Reginald had returned to hi:
dear club and his rooms in St. James,
Street, and the attache had gone on
upon his round of visits, and young
Beresford, the cousin, had returned to
his work. The eldest of the sons at
home was over twenty; the other two
were boys at school. And Susan and
Maud and little Edie were the girls.
1t could not be very sad house, after
all, with all that youth in it; and on
the whole Daintry began to turn
round as it were, like the earth when
a new day is breaking, turning itself
to meet the light. Edmund was very
much at home and very comfortable.
and he was pleased to think that he
was doing them good, as Lady Beres-
ford told him with smile of tender
gratitude. 1t had not yet occurred to
him that of all people in the world
Maud was the one who would suit
him most exactly for wife, But he
was In very promising way for making
that discovery, which had already faint
ly cleaned upon the consciousness of
Maud herself as neither unlikely nor
unpleasant. They saw great deal of
each other, though not bit too much.
They were like brother and sister.
Lady Beresford said; which was quite
true: and yet there was always pos
sibility Of something more.
Daintrey was handsome house of
no particular period, built almost due
east and west like a church. The
front entrance was by square court
shut in by a screen-wall built between
the two wings. At the back the
wings were very shallow, projecting
but slightly from the corps de togis. |
On the south side of the house was
a green terrace, as high as the win
dows of the sitting-rooms, ascended |
by handsome marble steps ornamented |
with vases as in an italian garden and
separated by the brilliant paterres of
the fower-garden from the house.
Running along the upper end of the
garden and connecting it with the
west end of the house was the lime
tree walk, noble bit of avenue at
right angles with the terrace. Both
of these were beautiful-but the little
square corner which connected them
was not beautiful. Here, for no ap-
parent reason at all, a wall had been
built, Of the date of some hundred
years back, high brick wall, quite
out OF place, screening in a square and
rather gloomy angle Of grass, in the
midst of which stood high pedestal
by a large stone vase
this was meant to commem-
crate anything, or whether it was
merely supposed to be ornamental, in
the days of George Ill, nobody could
tell; but that it was very funereal and
ugly was certain. In the side of this
wall farthest from the house was a
door which opened into the byway
through the park. Perhaps the wall
had been built to stop some right of
way; perhaps there is little use
IN multiplying peradventures. There
stood the wall built to shut out no one
knew what; there loomed aloft the
funeral urn upon its pedestal raised to
no one knew what.
the door would be locked
by sulky gardener, and the key had
to be hunted for in the house and out
Of it, high and low At such moments
Sir Robert, especially if he had him
self to wait, would vow that he would
throw down the wall and abolish
both urn and door. But Sir Robert
was an absolute Tory in action,
though something of a Liberal in pol
ltics; and threatened walls live long,
when there is reason why
they should live.
Edmund had gone out with the in
tention of walking to the village one of
these wintry afternoons. There had
been talk of skating, but the ice was
not quite solid enough for skating,
and his errands to the village were
manifold. He was going to see about
Maud's skates, which wanted some
thing done to them. He was going
to the rectory to tell the new rector.
who was young and great athlete, to
Join the party at the pond tomorrow
if the frost held" and he had other
little commissions to do. When there
is nothing better to be done it is some
thing for man to have commissions
to do. When there is nothing better
to be done it is something for a man
to have commissions in the village-it
gives him a reason for his walk; it
makes him feel that he is not abso-
lutely without an occupation. The
boys We're all about the pond, helping
it to freeze, as the keeper said
w q tc hinU of 1AaSt will H. ,oc+ ,,,-