The Russellville Democrat., 1881-01-20


 was on my way to take possession.
 An old friend Perley Mossop, who lived in C., enlightened me as tony good luck. 'No! Sharrard had no nearer relative than yourself. But it was not any family instinct which induced him to leave his property to you. It was sheer ill-temper. His intended heir was a younger daughter of John Chester, his lawyer, you know. But Chester offended him somehow, and he made new will, making you his heir"
 Chester should have played his cards better" l said, laughing. q am sorry for him. But it is fitting that the Shar- rard property should stay in the family. 1 will make his little girl present, if he is deserving, and not a sharper
 Mossop turned the conversation ab- ruptly, begging me to remain in C., for day or two, to see something of his new friends and home.
 "Oh, we do not belong to the back woods socially" he said II can show you a woman, who would grace any court in Europe. She has done it. No ble blood, brilliant accomplishments, the purest, most saintly soul, irresistibly fascinating. Really, I'd like to show you Ia Baronne, as the ideal type of perfec- tiOH III WOIlan.
 l laughed. Mossop had never been as enthusiastic before over any thing
 La Baronne, eh?" l said
 "Yes. But she is entitled to a much higher rank. She is a woman of about 30; French; of enormous wealth; has some philanthropic craze about sending letters to our bishop and other leading men, from other ecclesiastics and human itarians. She has bought vast tract of land, just outside of the town. Well, of course, we have dined and feted her, and she scatters her money like princess. There is reception tonight. You will stay, George? She will be there"
 Impossible. Here is the coach I must settle my bill and be off" It was an intensely dark night. The wind blew sharply. Mossop stood at the hotel door.
 Plenty of wraps?" he asked "You will find it nipping cold, when you get up into the mountains. You have but one inside passenger, l seer" nodding toward a untitled figure in the darkness "A woman, I think. l hope she will prove more companionable than my last fellow traveller. I had a madman and his keeper all the way, from the Ohio river to Cumberland We'll, good-by, and good luck, old fellow!o and, wringing my hand, he turned off to his brilliant Baronne and her reception, while the coach plowed its way through the dark ness.
 curled myself cozily up in one corner and slept until sudden jolt jostled me against my neighbor. She laughed, and the apology l had begun froze on my lips. Faust-the music! l could not be mistaken. should have known that laugh the other side of the world. She answered my excuses with civil murmur, and apparently composed her self to sleep. As for me, my burning curiosity, eagerness, surprise, left me dumb. She was herel At lastl Within ny very grasp. But how to approach her to win fer foTs&y friend? The coach rumbled up the hill. An hour passed in unbroken silence. The moon had risen, and, as we reached the top of the mountain, broke through a rampant of cloud. A wide expanse of sharp peaks and low rolling ranges, | white and glittering in the new fallen snow, opened before us. The coach stopped The outside passenger, jaunty young man in naval uniform, came to the door, and opened it, hat in hand. Madam You are ill fairy-land." he said to my companion. "Will you not look out? felt must awaken you. It was selfish to keep all this wonderful world to myself"
 "Oh, thank you!' She leaned out of the window as she spoke, but as she was in the shadow her face was still invis- ible.
 also spoke, pointing out frozen cas- cade here, soft depth of shadow there. The young officer, who was but lad, made some good jokes. Ben, the driver, who stood cracking his whip, declared it pretty fair outlook" Face to face with Nature, we were, for the moment, old friends.
 ventured at last on bold experi- ment. "How much pictures" l said, "are, after all, but poor make-shifts for Nature. And the material of canvas, burnt umber, and effects, are apt to put out of sight, with artists, the real mean ing of sky and sea-the message, for in- stance, which comes to us here"
 She turned her head attentively, and was silent a moment, as if perplexed. q have thought something like that my self" she said, gently.
 Did not know it?
 "All aboard" cried Ben. I jumped in, and he banged the door; the lieutenant, with bow, clambered up to his perch again; and we rolled away down the slippery road.
 CHAPTER III.
 I had always been taciturn, diffident man; but it was easy to talk now. From the scenery of the Alleghanies, we crossed the continent, and touched on Europe. My companion had visited lit tie hooks in Spain and Portugal, which thought my own discovery; she had left Madrid the very day I entered it. What tie was herel Then as to books She preferred Wordsworth to Tennyson; held precisely my opinion of Trollope, George Eliot and other novelists. From novels we diverged to philosophy; and