The Lamoille news. (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1877-1881, 1880-09-01

known 1.-THE very picture of home
comfort, the center of all those modest
luxuries that q well-to-do farmer, of al
other men, may most easily command.
But. although the dear old house was
unchanged, its inmates were new and
strange to her. A stout, middle-aged
man, in white summer suit, with q
broad-brimmed hat and a cigar, sat on
the steps of the piazza reading a news
paper. A acknowledgement lady,
some years his junior, swung in a ham,
mock upon the lawn, lost in a novel.
Several children, in broad. .brimmed
hats and brown Holland blouses, were
making the lives of two nurses burden
to them, further down the lawn, among
the elm trees. wher' Tscg had hung
from time immem orial.
"City" was stamped upon every face
and figure that she saw.
Had Maurice sold the place to some
retired merchant, who would over-or-
nament and disfigure it in the modern
! Win
eff one could but live their lives over
after they grow older, and are taught by
experience what is best for them ~
thought Hester in her sadness, once
more.
She would have gone up to the house
and asked leave to rest and look arouno
if it had remained in the care of OLD
Farmer Williams and his wife, t he ten
ants of the upper farm.
But she could not face these prosper
Gus, happy "city people, who would
look at her with their coldly curious
eyes, and wonder, almost audibly,
"what she could want" even ifthey did
not absolutely mistake her for a
tramp"
81 wish l could have gone through
the strawberry pasture once more" she
thought, as she turned back toward the
railway station, tired, hungry and un-
refreshed.
| At the foot of the lane q gentleman,
in "a summer suit of silver-gray, stood
leaning against the bars, with his straw
hat drawn down over his eyes so far
that he failed to see the strangers silent
approach.
Will you let me pass, it, you please "
said Hester, at last, after waiting some
moments.
He wheeled round, as if she had
struck him, and stared doubtfully in
her face.
She uttered great cry.
Maurice! Maurice! heard that you
had sold the farm, and gone to Color
adom
Hester, can this be you," he an
swered.
His eyes seemed to devour her. Words
rose to his lips, and were forced back
again. At last he asked:
"Is Jour husband here with you,
HesterP"
My husbandP"
Why, yes! heard that you wei
married very soon after you went to the
CITY,"
"You heard wrong, Maurice! have
not been married. l have never even
thought of such thing"
But why did you go, then, Hester
Why did you leave DeepdeneP Why
did you refuse to marry me, if if there
was no one else in the wayP"
Poor Hester!
She thought of the hot city garret, ol
the dream flame that never had been
realized, of the unlucky book that was
lying in the black trunk, of the little
burial hoard so hardly earned anG
saved.
The tears came quickly to her eyes
obscuring the honest, handsome face OF
which she gazed.
Don't cry, Hester" said Mauric'
Blessing, taking her hand. "And tel
me why you would not marry me
dearp"
because was q fool!" sobbed Hes
ter.
SIS the folly endedp" asked Maurice
hiding smile as he bent over her
Cannot you give me different an
swer now, HesterP If you can, we wi
be just the happiest pair on earth, her
on the dear old farm"
"But you sold it and went to Colo
RADIO" said Hester, wonderingly. "a
least l heard so.'
81 was fool, too, Hester; for wer
o. Colorado, and l was quite ready t
sell. But my brother-in-law, from til
city, persuaded me to rent it
him for one year, till l ha
time to think the matter over. Whe
I came to my senses although l ha
not forgotten you, darling-I was vel
: glad that the poor old place was mil
{ still, and came back some six weel
ago to see it. My sister and her hu
band and family 60 back to the eli
4 next week, stopping at the mountain
: on their way. Ishall be left alone, wit
good Mrs. Williams for my housekeepe
: and her husband as head hired man
d just as was before. Hester, won't yt
v take pity on me, and come and share n
b homer have never cared for any O
j. but you."
n do not know in what words Hest
answered him. But see her daily
d the cream -colored farmhouse, the We
a model of an active, bustling, good-tel
u pered farmers wife.
i; AS for the book she has utterly ft
Of gotten it. She needs its recompense
s, longer, and she is far too happy to cs
IN or wish for fame.
ID