St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-09-30

ILLS ulu not disturb Eupnemla. She
fell in love with him az simply as if
Arcadia was her birthplace and be-
fore her signal of recall came, both
were plunged fathoms deep in honest,
old fashioned passion, with which socie-
ty and money have no more to do than
they have with heaven.
Aunt Allen did not interfere, for she
saw no reason to. 1t was all right in
her unwOrldly eyes. She knew Ste
phen Mather was good enough for any
body, as she had often declared, and
both she and Phema thought John
Bayard's daughter would have enough
for both. Phema, however, made aunt
Allen vow to keep her secret it pleas
ed her nightly to hear her lover spin
his webs for the future, calculate his
income, discuss ways and means, and
praise the neat and simple style of her
wardrobe
''The delightful goose !" she Mortified
aunt Allen by saying one day, when
Stephen was scarce out of the gate.
ale thinks Pm paragon of economy.
He doesn't dream that DObsOn charged
me S25 apiece for making these lawn
gowns and that every scrap of lace on
them is real thread
"Fm sure he DON'T" sighed aunt AL
len, shocked herself at the revelation
but Phema only laughed, clapped her
little hands together, and waltzed out
into the kitchen, where she at once
teased and pleased Hannah, the facto-
tum of the house, by trying to learn all
sorts of cooking. And she succeeded
astonishingly. Common sense, IA clear
head and deft fingers are as successful
in the kitchen as everywhere else. Her
mother shifted much (mentally of
course,) at this new freak when Phema
bOasted of it in her letters.
"She is very peculiar" she said with
thin sigh, to her special friend, Mrs.
Sluyter. "To think of her learning to
cook as amusement. But that is Just
Phema's way-tO do something nobody
else would think Of"
MademOiselle did not find it needful
yet to report her love affair to her
mother. She knew very well what
that astute lady would think of it, and
she wanted to enjoy the strange sweet
ness as long as she might before she
aroused to the battle which was inevi-
table. AT last, however, her call came.
Mrs. Bayard was ready to go to New
port, for it was the middle of August,
and a fortnight's sea air might be per-
mitted even to mOurner. Euphe-
mia's elaborate preparations were all
made in the city, under her mothers
eye, while she was drinking in bliss
and pure air ut DesbOrOugh and her
wardrobe was a curious exposition of
the delicate shade into which grief can
be carried as an element of costume
1t would have suited her present dis
position better had it been bridal.
But, with the vein of cool sense that
endowed her, although neither she nor
Stephen had any more doubt of their
mutual passion than Romeo and Juliet,
she would not consent to an open en-
gagement till some months of absence
had tested their sincerity and cOnstan-
cy. For three months no letters were
to pass between them. At the end of
that time he was TO write to her, if still
he held to his purpose if she too were
constant, then she would tell her moth
er and the thing should be declared.
So she went to Newport and made
her expected sensation there. For can
there be lovelier thing than beauti-
full young girl, with glancing eyes and
shadOwy curls, and smiling mischiev-
Gus lips, all illustrated by complexion
of softest rOse-blush and pearl, arrayed
in films of whitest lace, or cleaning
gauzes, her only ,jewelry strings of
pure pearls, garlands of spOtless roses
her only flower, and the dark, delicate
head unadorned save by it's heavy
rings and coils. People went fairly
| al about har ha,. nd
her exquisite dresses, and the very best
match of the season grOveled at her
feet, in the ugly person of Pierre
Sluyter, the millionaire of the country.
How she hated him ! How she shrank
from the clammy, trembling hand, the
leeriug prOtuberant eye, the weak
mouth, and lank, shambling figure that
stood as digit before so many ciphers
How glad she was to be able to refuse
the honor of his hand, with calm dis
tinctness and how furious was hel
mother! "That is just Phema's way y
she declared again to her aggrieved
friend, who should have been the
maiden's mOther-in-law. 81 told you
her caprices were never to be relied
on"
every well 7" answered the outraged
Mrs. Sluyter. "She is the only young
woman in America who would have
refused Pierre. He will easily console
himself.n
No doubt Phema enjoyed the season
She was a natural and healthy girl
spoiled good deal, to be sure, but fOul
months with aunt Allen and real love
affair had done much to improve her
She heartily enjoyed the gayety ol
Newport, and still more the rides, the
walks, the sails of that enchanting so
iOurn. She was not above girlisl
pleasure in her beautiful costumes, anC
the great admiration she excited. She
knew her own brilliant beauty was fal
better illustrated by the absence o
color in her dress than it would have
been by the prevailing tints of the day
and she liked to be liked, as most wO
men do. To be loved was anOthe
matter This seemed to enrage her
and from that a wiser eye than he
mothers might have discovered tina
her heart was preoccupied.
But when at the end of three months
love letter, as ardent and as faithful
as the most eXacting heart could ask
arrived at her city home and awOke a
fervent response, in the fresh hop'
and courage of the hours, she laid al
the facts before her mother. Imagine
the scene the rage, the tears, til,
threats, the despair Through it al
Phema stood calmly waiting for thi
t tempest to subside.
1'This is just your way ~ were th,
! first coherent words that burst iron
Mrs. Bayard's lips words Phema ha'
heard so often from her mother ant
her nurses that now they gave an al