The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-02-07

and netss spread out to dry, which stretched
before the little village of Alnmouth, re-
mote cluster of gray stone houses and red
tiled roofs midway, between Warkworth
and Durstanborcugh on the NORTHUMBERLAND
coast To be lectured by Mrs. Garth, and
told las the widow had told her very plainly
that she was a vain, Silly, spoiled chnd,
when she had been SO good-more good than
she had ever been before to John on the
previous evening, and had only looked in at
his mothers that morning that she might
help the old woman with her Mondays
wash before walking all the way to Wark-
worth to take some work home to lady-it
YVES too bad! And if John had set his
mother on to do it, as of course he had,
she would never speak to him again-never,
that she wouldn't! $50 father an fare
wurrse, indeedr' Did John think he was
the only man in the world, or the only one
who would h we her? Why, there was viii
Robson, the young blacksmith, who would
be only too pleased; and hadn't she refused
Michael Mcbride, the hostler at the Dukes
Arms, only q fortnight back? But it was
like John and his mother, and she wished
she had never had anything to do with him.
Poor little Apnice! After all she was but
II and a spoiled child, as Mrs. Garth had so
unwisely said; and just now her indignation
was flaming SO high that it almost made her
little feet fly over the hatd yellow sands and
she was fairly out of breath by the time she
reached Mrs. Plaistaw's house with her lit
tie basket of nicely finished work. She was
hoping to be paid for it, and was disap-
pointed when she found that the lady was
out driving, and that she had nothing to do
but to leave her parcel and wend her way
home again.
1t was afternoon now, and The sun was Oh
her back, and she began to feel tired. She
bad risen early that morning to finish the
piece of work, and had dressed her grand
mother, and got the breakfast and scrubbed
the kitchen, and tidied up everything in her
own home before she ran up to Mrs. Garth's.
looking as fresll as rose. and quite ready to
rinse and ring out shirts or sheets for her;
as, indeed, Annice always was ready to help
anyone, being as busy and alert as bee ::
but now she was feeling disappointed and
hot and tired--not to say cross; and so, after
she had gone two-thirds of the way, she sat
herself down to rest among the tufts of
bracken covering the steep grassy slopes
which rise above the beach, and are called
the ''links" in north-country parlance, and
leaning her head back against the bank be-
hind her, shut her eyes, and in three min
utes was sound asleep in the sunshine. Above
her head was the vast dome OF sky, blue as
any turquoise, and scattered over with long,
wind-torn clouds, like wreaths of white
flowers blown across an azure field. Below
her feet lay the German ocean, blue too, but
with deeper blue of sapphire, dimpling
in the breeze, scintillating in the sunbeams,
dotted with the white and brown sails of
scores of Fishing boats, scored with faint black
lines of smoke from passing steamers, and
stretching away to the pale, limitless horizon.
Around her was the bracken, just beginning
to turn brown and yellow in the glowing
September sunshine Now and then the
crack of gun sounded fromh distant stub
BILE fields; now and then couple of white
butterflies rose above the nodding harebells
on tn bank, and fluttered about in the sum
mer air, tossing and jostling, dipping and
curling, to and from one another in a mad
aerial dance; or long flight of gulls passed
seward with shrill, screaming cry; but
still the little figure lay there nestled into a
sheltered hollow, the crisp. curly, brown
gold head thrown back among the long grass
and fern-stalks, the round cheeks flushed
with slumber, the pretty mouth pouting still.
as if in dreams she rehearsed her past will
fulness, the white kerchief ON her bosom
rising and falling with every regular, deep
drawn breath-as fair a picture in her UNI
conscious youth and loneliness as any painter
could have wished to copy-certainly as fair
as any that ever met the eyes of man who
presently came treading along the links with
light elastic step, and just saved himself
by sudden start from stumbling over the
sleeping maiden.
''The deuel." he said then. under his breath
and stood still to look at her, the first sur
prise merging into an expression Of blended
admiration and comicality.
The newcomer was no Alnmouth fisher
man; that much was evident mile off. An
acute observer might have told almost as
I, ,oft Of Inn, \,
its neighborhood but simply a bird of pas
sage-one of those unmistakable London
men" who, clad in serge and knickerbockers,
and incumbered with either gun or fishing
rod or alpenstock, are to be met with in every
imaginable and unimaginable corner of the
mother country, except London, during the
months of August and September. A good
looking young fellow, too; tall and upright,
with waving hair, and more than a spice of
''diablerie" about the dark laughing eyes.
1t rushed into them now with full force as,
after few seconds wondering contempla-
ton of the delicate rounded lines and glow
ing, chidlike face of the rustic sleeper, he
glanced Quickly round him, and mutteriDg
to himself:
"a new edition Of the Sleeping Beauty.
Let's hope the breaking of the srell mayn't
be quite as noisy as Tennyson's version p
bent down and deliberately touched with his
lips those rosy parted ones below, for whose
smiles John Garth would have given all his
worldly possessions. And, of course, An
nice woke on the instant.
1t was the lightest feather-touch OF kiss
ever laid on pretty girls mouth, but it was
enough to rouse young woman from the
light slumber of summers afternoon, and
Annice sat up, opening pair of wide, blue
eyes, with an innocent, half-awakened be-
Observation-Disclosures made her more lovely
than ever in those of the audacious onlooker
and faint, dreamy idea that John was
near and had spoken to her, till becoming
suddenly conscious that John was nowhere
near, only strange gentleman who was sur
veying her from q little distance, with an
air of great gravity and propriety, she sprang
to her feet with swift accession Of roses,
which even spread to the little bit of round
fair throat left visible by the kerchief so
discreetly pinned across the shoulders of
her short blue linen gown. Even Hardness
dotted his cap and came step nearer,
smiling a little, albeit in perfectly subdued
and deferential manner.
81 hope l didn't disturb you, trampling
past your resting place." he said, gently,
treasured by seeing in the naive, untroubled
innocence of her face that she was quite I'M
conscious what it was that had reused her.
please don't jump up. You've found a
cudTultiS HOOK LOT summer uayQfGdln.
"Indeed, an will have no beesness to be
asleep" said Annice, woefully ashamed and
blushing. She had not the least idea what
his fine words meant, but there was some
thing in the studious gentleness of his tone
which touched her ear pleasantly, and made
the little coquette glance up from under her
long lashes to see what the face might be
like to which that voice belonged; ''bu. the
sun was sac warm; an I'd been a. the road
to Warkworth an back langside the sans, 1
think twill be that made me dot; but I'm
glad We woke me-"
''And am sorry" said Evan; ''but if you
have come from Warkworth you can tell me
how far off it is. | only came to Alnmouth
last night, and am on my way to see the
wonderful hermitage. Is ii long walk?'
''Eh, no, sir; twill be ABBOTT three miles
from Alnmouth. I've walked farther an
no tired meseP; an the castle is grand
place, though it'll be no like Alnwick; an,
indeed, for the matter o. that, there Gamma
be any place like the dukes own palace;
but yen ha' seen Alnwick a'ready?" and
Annice looked up with such simple conf
dence in the belief that the first pilgrimage
of any stranger must be to the dukes town
and castle, that Evan Hardness felt more
than willing to repeat his former expert
lnent He did not dare howeypr