News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1882-09-28
MABEL'S LOVER.

Under the shadow of great fig-tree
young girl sat in deep reverie. Such
a tender light was in her eyes, such q
sweet smile of full satisfaction on her
face, that a stranger would certainly
have said, "She is thinking of her lover. ,
But no lover had Mabel Rae. Her
pleasure sprang from far less danger
GUS source-from the handful of tube.
roses in her lap. Their spiritual, dreamy
beauty and rare, rich perfume always
held her as in spell of measureless
content, and the lovely waxen flowers,
pale, pure, and white as moonshine,
haunted her heart and Imagination, and
received from her perpetual love and
worship.
There she sat until the heat and still
ness of the tropic noon drove her to the
house, a grand old home, hid among
giant live-oaks, gray with the solemn
waving Southern moss. She went to
the large dim parlor, intending to put
her favorites among the damp moss Of
the hanging baskets, but the dreamy
languor of the room overcame every de-
sire but that of sleep, and she lay down
on the nearest couch, holding her flowers
in her hands.
Half an hour later Mr.. Rae opened
the door, and ushered in a gentleman
who had accompanied him from New
Orleans.
"Sit down, Allan" he said, 81 will
soon arouse the house. You see it is
the hour for siesta, and 1 believe all
take it at the same time when I am
away"
For few minutes the young man be-
lieved himself alone. A subtle, power
full perfume was his first sensation.
Then, as his eyes became accustomed
to the dim light of the carefully closed
ialousies, he saw picture that he never
more forgot, most lovely girl, in the
first bloom of maidenhood, fast asleep
on the silken cushions piled on low
divan. Her white robes made kind
of glory in the darkened corner, one
hand had fallen down, and the flowers
gemmed the carpet at her side the
other lay across her breast, as if en-
bracing the tuberoses which it had scat
tered there.
Never in all his native mountains,
never in any dream of love or fancy, had
Allan Monteith seen woman half SO
fair. He stood gazing on Mabel as if
he had ''seen a vision" There lay his
destiny asleep; he knew it, and opened
his whole soul to welcome Cloves |
young dream" But when Mr.. Rae,
followed by negro valet, returned,
and Mabel languidly opened her great |
pensive eyes and stretched out her arms |
for her fathers embrace, Allan almost |
thought he should faint from excess of |
and it was with difficulty he
controlled himself to receive the intro
duction and apologies necessary.
Allan Monteith was young Scotch
man, the only son of gentleman with |
whom in early life Mr.. Rae had formed |
a most ardent friendship. He was rich,
and by nature and birth equally noble;
nor was he destitute of the traditional |
business capacity of his house, as some
late transactions in cotton and sugar in |
New Orleans he'd proved to Mr.. Rae. |
And partly because he liked the young
man, and partly as a matter of interest,
he had invited him to his home among |
the woods and lagoons of the ever green |
bayou. Mabel, in this transaction, had |
scarcely been properly considered; but |
to her father she was yet child. True, |
he recognized her beauty, and was very |
proud of it, and she had an exquisite |
voice and great skill in music, and the
passing idea of showing his pearl of
price to the foreigner rather fiattered |
his vanity than alarmed his fears. He |
did not dream that he was introducing
q new claimant for its possession.
Allan fingered as if in an enchanted |
castle, till he had no life, no will, no
hopes, but those which centred in |
Mabel Rae. And she soon returned his
passion with love even more absorb
luR huu laI less bSlLIbn lIlhu u6T lover 3.
Oh, the sweet, warm, love-laden days
in those solemnly shaded woods | Oh,
the blissful hours in the cool evenings,
when the perfume of the tuberoses and
jasmine filed the air when the soft |
calm moonlight glorifed every lovely
and every common thingl It was like
4 dream Of those days when the old
rustic gods reigned, and to live was to
ove, and to love was to be happy.
With the fall, however, there came
letters from Scotland, and Allan could
no longer delay. Mr.. Rae would hear
If no engagement for two years, by
which time he said he hoped to be able
to give Mabel such fortune as would
make her acceptable in the eyes of
Allan's father. But for tho present he
absolutely declined to look upon the
young couples attachment as binding