, 1880-04-29
Nathaniel Hollis Idol.
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q " DAf-t T. Vt. ?. '.t'.'..
81 am so tired" "r-.r,.sy-7~
The fute.like voice that uttered this
pettish exclamation broke through the
fragrant stiffness of the Autumnal even
ing like Earring chord in some ex-
quisite melody, and Nathaniel Holt
looked up from BIS paper with "a
slight frown on his bronzsd, handsome
face.
q r He was tired, very tired, after day
oof . hafd labor on his mountain land,
and had thrown himself into great
sasy.chair, of his mothers, on the south
poroli, for q moments rest; and he could
not understand how the speaker, tall,
supple. girl, with. hands as white as milk,
who passed her time in comparative idle
ness, could be tired.
'For Elsie Marian was not one given
to UNUSUAL exsrtion, and generally man.
ag& to secure the good things of this
world with as much ease as was possible
or consistent with her position as de-
pendent niece in the home, of her
mothers sister, Nathaniel Holts aged
mother, who simply radored the bright
Young girl who had brought sunshine
into her, old house, and whose help
lessl otpaapage covered many serious
faults. Ys5 !.
At this moment Elsie was seated on a
garden stool, hall hidden by the droop-
ing boughs OF q willow, laboriously at
tempting to twist tiny punches Of dog
wood berries and Autumn leaves into a
vreath, her dead-gold hair falling about
face as fair as any lily that lifted its
spotless brow to the opal sky, and no
violet that over blossomedI in the cool
tufts Of meadow grass beyond the viii
low copse was as blue as the modest
eyes she, lifted to Nathaniel 2 Holt'ss
troubled face. EAks y "a
He stood over her, his hands folded
"zon his back, and his broad, bronzed
brow flushed with some sudden inward
emotion. XVII n &lW $Aa
GaS AEisie, ,hhe began, tbe brown eyes that
she. dare not meet, the searching glance
thatidrodpea beneath lhis gaze" what
has tired youg sW ettso0cO
Nothing"
"You were once happy, contented
girl Elsais yy,has What hsssllares has changed youp
aNothing." .
2She1 spoke listlessly, yet "a faint, sea-.
shell pink crept into the round, soft
cheeks and up to the roots Of the golden
hair: y EC,t FST ~ ~ ~ "
eyes, Elsie, something has changed
you; you are the same,r and yet not The
same. You have lost your blitheness !;
you do not come to me with kind words,
-. as you once did, and charm all my cares
away. Tell me why? So
Iiii Nathaniel Holt sat down on the grass
at his cousins feet, and watched the
N.cSlOr ,eome and go in the face above
s3Ahim.s He was tafrihyhin earnest, this
sober, self,contained man of thirty, and
this young girl had been his idol for
4 .yeassqCf hn9s ri w OF .5Yo9
,I,am mot changed Elsie tried to
ensteady her voice. sl"I ,aml the same to-
day that have been every day for years.
You know I am twenty, and I must try
: and he womahly.D .DG7ej"1 II3i 7
drsHas Lewis Walton anything to Do
with the change, ElsieP Pday. 'ot y
Elsie's face blushed crimson, yet she
laughed merrily.
Mo Yop surely are not. jealous,
Nathaniel n ~. .-.- H.
ge 1t was Nathaniel's turn to blush now,
Z which he did to perfection, For answer
he drew the dog-wood berries out of the
little hands, and held the slender fingers
In his own.
81 am not jealous, Elsie. You do not
seem contented of late; you are always
tired; you never run up the mountain
path to inject me, or take long rambles
~ in the woodland, so as to be near me, as
you once did. You see, have grown
so used to your, tender, watchful love,
!, Elsie, it would be hard to give it up.
And / have though that you had grown
tired of me, and had given your love te
Lewis Walton, who seems a mare fitting
mate - th.h' ttt = ar3T
"a. "a divorced man, Nathaniel r Elsie
cried, lifting her eyebrows slightly, al
though her cheeks were dyed with burn
ing bushes, and her lips trembled ner-
\ Ivously. "a % foaAS y Hi&Ie
"a divorced man. repeated Nathan.
iel, looking her full in the face. "Yes,