The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-03-05

escape all observation for time, and to
study for an hour her position, with the
airs of heaven blowing about her. SO
she went nearer the belvedere, and when
she sIw Its dark balustrade stand out
against the blue sky, began to walk
slowly to and fro in its shadow.
, Here was her position. She was a
/ Young, beautiful and accomplished New
England girl, rich for her native city, but
not rich for one of the grand cities either
! of the old or of the new world. 4 wealthy
and ambitious aunt, who had spent the
greater part of her life in Europe, had
brought her here, intending to find Il
grand match for her. Margaret had
! gladly come abroad, but had not commit
al herself to the matrimonial scheme
had, indeed, been very cool about the
candidate who Immediately presented
himself. The marquis WAS agreeable,
I elegant, rich and of very high lineage,
and he was not very old. She had no
serious objection to make, but she had
not vet been able to consent, tho daily
urged by her aunt and by the marquis
himself. She could say neither yes nor
no. She was too Indifferent to accept,
and the position was too brilliant to re-
! fuse She had seen enough Of society i'll
! London, Paris and Rome to he weary of
I taking subordinate place. With a
coronet in her golden-brown hair she
could become II social power. Her
bright, distiainful eyes had searched out
all the wheels and cranks of the social
machine, and with time and familiarity
disdain was rapidly losing itself an ambi-
I 4 La 4
exciting one ii seemed to her. She was
! beginning to find that her beauty was II
weapon to use, not merely II pretty
flower. 1t might procure her other
advantages besides coronct.
! But just as her imagination was about
taking fire and she thought, II will
carry in n half-open rose and give il to
him before them all, and give him Il
smile with il which he shall understand"
, some other second thought set aside her
half-formed decision.
Tn image of the beautiful professor
, for whom she was supposed to be pining,
never crossed her mind. She was per-
fectly indifferent to him.
Walking thus preoccupied, almost tor
nIt'ut't, abe became conscious presently
Of some sensible touch that reached her
heart, vet SO delicately that she was not
aware 10y what sense it entered. 1t per-
.ustcd softly, withdrawing for uu instant
{" make Its presence more clearly felt on
resN,ning, and ut every return the emo
ton II caused became more perceptible.
Her attention at length arrested by
this soft importantly, Margaret Willis
paused and looked around to see what it
WAS that had set her heart murmnring in
articuIateiy like mother over the cradle
Of her sleeping child. 1t was no sight
or sound, though the scene was of rare
beauty and the birds were singing their
noon lullabies.
1t was perfume, strong, penetrating
and iuniiliar-how far more familiar than
anything else there even while unrecog-
nized, She stood and brcathed it mo-
n"ut, then bent and looked searchiugly
i'll III" grass. 1t WIS gay with flowers of
every hue, and, set thickly among them
and looking over their heads, were stalks
Of pemyroyal, the dear old New England
herb, studded all along the branching
stems with tiny blue blossoms.
Picture after picture started up. The
large, old-fashioned mansion house, with
/
dens and woods, appeared, all its twit-
tering swallows circliug round; the boil
ing spring bubbling up under birch
tree in the field; the well, with its curb,
pole and bucket, messy and dank; in the
midst of the chip-strewn back yard; shin
ing TN milk pans drying on II sunny
bench outside the back door; lace eur
tains waving in the drawing room win
dows, and transparent muslin curtains
iiuttering and putting ont. from the cham
beers above. 4 blue smoke curled up
from the chimney of the kitchen, where
the floor was so white, and the bird's-eye
maple ironing table turned back on
hinges aud left II great chair for all but
ironing days. The town, but mile dis
taut, looked over an intervening hill, and
the prImeyal forest hung dark AZ thln-
dercloud close ut the other hand. II was
tie best Of the city with the best of the
country.
She had gone into the woods with her
brother Jamie. She had coaxed him to
tax" her, and Jamie never refused her
anything. How good he was to her that
ing her all the little yellow violets he
found, holding her up TO look into
bird'sneat while the mother bird chirped
di'tressfully from u near tree, and tell
ing her such wo,n 'rful things Of birds
and trees and flowers that he had learned
from books!
And how beautiful was the walk home
ward through the solemn green shadows,
where only few tiny spots of the west
ern sunshine could penetrate Then the
tall trees gave place to slender, sweet
smelling alders, which lay between them
and the open field and home. And here,
in the black rich mold, they found penny
royal growing thick and rank. With what
eager Joy she had gathered it, giving
Jamie her flowers To hold For the
herb was priced mt home almost more
than flowers. Many an ugly cold it had
cured, many Il threatening fever warded
off. And she knew that now in the long,
low garret only one little bunch of it
hung to it's nail on the beam. How glad
mother would be The setting SUI shone
through the slender trees in bars of gold
SO solid that she individually turned out
for them. The birds were fastening to
their nests, twittering as they went. Soft
shadows rose from the earth.
Il
others mOurnful, many Of them interwO-
ven with the simple herb which she held
clasped to her breast with unconscious
hands.
There was John. With dreamy smile
on her lips and her unseeing eyes fixed,
her fancy saw him grow up thro' all her
rcmembrances of him; first, Jamie's dear
est friend and playfellow; later, her
friend too, and forever her friend. An
earnest, good boy, and an earnest, good
man-as firm as rock in principles and
character, and with something that might
remind one of the rock in his form and
face, in the square broad shoulders, the
wide forehead, and the firm mouth that
was never too ready too smile and never
had too much too say. He was gentle
too. From the time when, in her sew
enth year. he lifted her, all wet and
trembling out of the brook into which
she had fallen and carried her home in
his arms, to their last interview, when
she had laughingly turned aside the
declaration Of love that for the hundredth
time he had attempted to make, and left
him with that hurt yet patient look which
she had so often caused his face to a.
sume-in all that time not n hasty or
unkind word had he spoken to her, and
never once had he neglected wish of
hers or seemed TO resent, even in his own
heart, her careless coguetry. This love
had begun on the day when, half drowned
and wholly terrified, she had chung round
his neck and sobbed out her gratitude to
him; "Oh, John! how do love You for
.nn,iuo nm inst noui The Nyotar uou