Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-11-03
HOW THE SHIP CANE m.

aAh IN Aea- - AANh AWNNeA1ao+
aThey will retain their odor a long
while he said; have had them sent in
q letter from the South. and the flower and
letter too were full OF fragrance for weeks
After.n
She did not speak, and then a moment
more and she broke quite down.
Il have been very rude to YOU" she said;
81 am sorry-and you have been so kind;
but you can not know how hard il is to be
made TO feel as you make Inc feel without
knowing It 1 must tell you how II is"
she went on, as she met his look of sur
prise and remOnstrance. at is not your
fault, know that, for only TO look at you
makes me bitter and miserable; and how
should you be to blame? You see it is
somehow this way: I'm not clever or beau.
tiful, but I've got something in me that
keeps me from taking kindly to the folks
about here; and when sec gentleman or
lady coming from the world you live in,
have sort of feeling come over me that
could have been like them If had been
bred to it. / hate ii all so here, and yet
shall never make different life for myself.
I'm not one of those that can bend things
and make q path for themselves. | can
only grow where I've been planted; and
yet know, oh, know that | would have
blossomed and bloomed into a different
creature if had breathed different air.
l think the ocean is the only thing |
love, the only thing have to turn to. You
see how life is here, how hard and mean
and bare 1t is; and when you came you
made me feel as if had stood always
without high WALL that suddenly door
had opened and l saw a paradise within,
II Il ,oka I. 4
me realize what the world might be-is to
some people-and il has made me bitter
and UNJUST but l will not be so any
longer. Twill ask your forgiveness for my
rude ways, and you will grant it?"
"Surely, surely, if you wish it.; but
what you have said only makes me sorry
and fills me with desire to give you pleas
ure-to put more things like this into your
life" touching the flowers in her lap. "Do
you understands.
more perfume'" she said, smiling sad
ly through her tears
"Yes, perfume and color. You don't un-
derstand French, do you ?" murmuring to
himself, Tout &c qui embaunae, c1tante ct
rayonne."
"No, but I like the sound of those
words"
"Well, the sound and meaning are in
harmony. But, putting French aside, |
wish you would let me teach you little bit
of drawing, and l have some books
here"
"Do you think I could learn to draw"
Certainly, why not? You have such
good eyv, am almost sure you could.
You were quite right about the fault in my
sketch the other day; and then you shall
repay me for my instructions by letting me
make study of the color OF your hair"
"My hair?" she said, coloring with sur.
prise and pleasure.
ayes, it is such peculiar and exquisite
shade Did no one ever tell you so betore?"
"No one," she said, almost to herself. 1t
was the first grain of incense any man had
ever burned before her; the orange BIOS
SONS had intoxicated her senses with their
odor, but the perfume of homage rose in a
cloud and rolled over her soul. How de-
licious it was to her!
They talked on till the last rays of the
sun had disappeared and nothing was left
but a lingering glow; then came supper,
and Meg set about her work with buoy
ancy Of heart and lightness of step most
unwonted. The days were changed from
that hour, and seemed all sunshine. In
every way Arthur contributed pleasure and
Joy to Meg's life; he was astridc his pet
hobby and was riding it at a gallop. He
taught her little drawing and showed her
the contents of his portfolios; he lent her
books, books that one did not have to be
wise to enjoy, but which opened up vistas
Of thought and feeling to her hitherto fast
closed; he brought, by his daily courtesy
and graclousness, a world of beauty into
her life; she learned to look at herself as
woman as we'll as female, as u creature
with sensations and ideas as we'll as hands
and feet. The orange blossom, without his
intending it, was type of what he did for
her. She looked at nature through his
eyes, through the media Of cultivation and
taste, and so it became transfigured to her
Dear as the rocks and the sea had always
been they were dearer now than ever. To
gether they explored the rugged coast
sometimes on foot, sometimes in small
sail boat which she managed to perfection,
thereby winning many compliments from
Middleton. He enjoyed it all immensely;
it was just the distraction which he had
desired, and he embraced it eagerly. He
was full of plans for Meg's future improve
inent and pleasure, plans at which he
vaguely limited, but Of which he did not
speak definitely. He was proud of his sue
cess; he was pleased with himself and in
terested in her, and for him the days glided
rapidly by until the end of his third and
last month loomed up before him. And
what was the summers work on her? Far
other and different What to him was an
episode was TO her the beginning of life
what was but ripple on his surface haa
stirred 'ner depths profoundly. He was
clothed with a glory and power not his
own individual possession, but, the heir
of all the ages" he seemed to her the en-
bodiment of all her dreams and longings.
She never stopped to think or struggle
again after he had brought her the flowers;
she simply lived as she had never lived be-
fore, enjoying every moment, alive at every
pore, drinking greedily from the cup he
held to her lips and growing thirstier at
tvery draught, content with the present
more than content, unmindful of the future
and forgetful of the past
The late August days had come, with
their gorgeous hues of sea and sky, and on
the afternoon of one of them Arthur Mid
dleton was leaning against the doorpost of
the cottage watching the sun sink over the
ocean. The line of light across the tossing
water seemed to lead his thoughts along it.
and he strained his eyes till it was lost in
the distance and he himself lost in q
reverie.
"What are you thinking of, Mr. Middle
TOM" said Meg timidly She had been
watching him for several minutes, and he
had not been conscious of her scrutiny.
Her voice broke the spell. He started and
said dTeamily, IL was thinking of my ship,
wondering when it would come in"
Meg had but one idea connected with
the phrase, the usual one. She had often
heard it, and always with but one meaning