The Portland daily press., 1883-08-04
T FL E p r e 8 s.
SATURDAY MORNING. AUG. 4.
[Harper's Bazar.l
A Coincidence.
BY HARRIET PRESCOTT sPoFFoRp.

~ wv Va ohJ oAAi~eAOil, OO IL ever 50 ollSub
and gossamer. Yet narrow as the world is,
1t is crowded with those strange things com
ing under no law, affecting us as bordering
upon the supernatural, and called coinci-
dences.
Perhaps it was no coincidence at all, how
ever; but 1t called up old scenes in such a
manner as TO suggest new ones, and it
causes me to be sure that l shall now feel
no surprise if, on recognition of the SER
vice according to advancing ideas, l shoald
see Miss Burne weigher and gauger yet,
and very strict in the performance of her
duty.
was orly child, TO be sure, but Miss
Burne took my little fancy amazingly; and
yet she had plainly endeavored TO take no
body's fancy But if her black hair was
combed straightly from her face and closely
coied and braided away, it did not hinder
me from conjecturiue what its length and
luxurience would be if it were loose, and
seen without the little capote which she in
variably wore, And if she kept her white
lids downcast, that you might not see too
wildly the great black eyes beneath, 1t only
betrayed the long black lashes resting on
that cheek whose soft velvet was the velvet
of the rose, in my reco lection, let the cap.
tain's wife say what she would about the
work of an artist. There was nothing she
could do however, to hide her mouth, and
that you would hardly fail to remember,
somewhat sunken as it was, with!the scarlet
lines of its thin lips, aud with the corner of
one of the pearly front teeth broken away,
and all a little accentei by suspicion of
downy shadow above. Still, if she had
worn a mask, she could hardly have yelled
to more purpose than she did already this
singular face of hers, neither beautiful nor
plain, and yet strangely fascinating one al
ways to look upon.
When you had looked again it may be
said you discovered, or fancied that you
did, singular mark on the face. Some fall,
some accident, cur of knife or clip of bullet,
something, at any rate, had struck off tiny
atom of the right nostril, and that without
injuring the face at all, and simply giving a
certain more naughty and highb-ed air to
that side of the face than the other had.
For the rest, she was tall, but rather muscu-
lar than graceful; her dress was a black stuff
of some sort, but its exceedingly simple cut,
half hidden under the sacque to which the
capote belonged, allowed you only to see the
rather high and square outline that was one
not so popular then as it has since become.
There was nothing, in fact, about her to
catch the eye except quaint ring on the
little finger, made of five fine wires of red
gold, on each IF which a inyzdiamonds was
strung, till it looked like measure of some
strange music, remember thinking The
ring was too small for the finger, which had
grown since it was put on, and | have no
doubt that if it could easily have been taken
off without file, it would not have been
worn. 1t was rather discordant, certainly,
with the large brown nervous hand, accus-
toned to climbing andiboating, as all those
coast girls were.
Child as | was, saw that Miss Burne
shrank from observation, joining id no con-
versation. scarcely appearing except at table,
till after dark, and then, if not wallsing the
deck with Mr.. Brossier, absorbed apparently
In her book and the more she shrank, why
the more it fastened my wondering atten-
ton.
There was not much else to fasten the
attention, on that tiresome voyage in a
packet-ship running between Boston and
points along the easterly coast of Maine. l
sat on the deck with my toys, and saw the
placid sea rising round me in ring of blue,
as though were the centre of great sap
phiie; or let my eye run up the length of
the white sail into the sky till / seemed to
be part of the clouds; once in while a
whale spouted in the distance, once in a
while school of porpoise gambolled in our
way, sometimes we spoke a passing sail.
The captain had his family on board, and
was in no hurry to reach his destination.
of some of the coast towns of a good haven,
and such passengers as had friends in these
towns went ashore in the yawl, and made
brief visits, now and then even delaying TO
take tea there. My gay young guardians,
tired of the sea monotony, were ready wher-
ever there was an acquaintance tor the bit
of change. and of course ! could not be left
on board. But how | dreaded the proceed
urel 1t was pleas ant enough rowing ashore
in bright sunlight, waking up the quiet
streets, and receiving cordial cheer from
welcoming people. But not all that pleas
antness, not the parcel of candies and the
particularly selected olood-orange, given to
assuage;my feelings, could preventmy haun.-
ing the windows as dusk came on, and por-
traying to myself the dreadful scene when
should presently be carried in some rude
sailors ar ms down the longf dark wharyes,
the lanterns swinging in advance, be handed
into the boat waiting in those wet shadows
from which the unseen voices came, and
then he rowed over the black tide and lifted
at last over the awful side of the vessel that
was magnifed to something monstrous in
the gloom. 1t made me shudder, hours be-
forehand, to anticipate it. and if | chanced
to fall asleep before the time, and awake to
find the transfer all made in a dream, and
myself lying quietly in my berth, that seem
ed more horrible yet, as showing the fearful
accidents that might befall in slumber, and
pinned my eyelids back for many night
lest | really should go to sleep in spite of
myself.
Miss Burne never left the vessel in any of
these trips; but she was always leaning over
the side on our return, with such strange
intent look ON her face, as if she was count
ing us, that once, glad to touch the deck
myself and meaning in a childish way to re-
assure her, / piped out, ''We are all here,
Miss Burne." But whether it seemed to
her an impertinenee, or she thought it was
best to keep away from any one who OBJ
served her so carefully, she had little to say
to me, as ran about the deck or cabin,
after that.
She had come on board herself in the be
ginning in quite as queer way as our par
ties came out from their little entertain
ments alongshore. On the day we sailed the
last passengers had been shown to their
state-rooms and had established themselves,
all adieux had been made, the anchor
weighed, tears shed, the sails filled, and we
had been for couple of hours threading the
rocky channels, and not yet losing sight of
the blue upland dipping and rising before
the gentle gale, when we were hailed by a
sail-boat, which, in reply to our answering
halloo, claimed to have run out from point
of the mainland to put passenger on board.
L uluCIbbOOu LDc1 blt uOHUl
the captain express, under everybody's heels
as l was, as they came alongside when we
brought too, as if he thought it were easier
for them to have run out from behind some
one of the craggy let's lifting their red sides
on our lee. ''Wait till we show you our
heels" said the young fellow at the tiller,
with laugh, "aLd you won't fret about be-
ing overhauled by boat with the wings of
the wind.''
The captain gave him a rough answer
but he helped the passenger aboard all the
same, the handsome girl with such color
on her cheek and such a sparkle in her eye
as she lifted it a moment TO speak her
thanks. Then couple of portmanteaus
were lightly tossed up after her, there were
some good-by cries and waves of a hand,
and the boat was shaking out her canvas
again and flying back with the wings of the
wind indeed. Watching her for moment,
the captain calculated some wish that a
packet-ship could run such a rig as that,
and quite forgot his handsome passenger.
When he looked at her she was wiping her
eyes and gazing after the flying boat, and |
in wide-mouthed wonder, cheek distended
on either side with the sweet and salty
morsel, was offering her one of my store of
butter-scotches. She took the candy absent
ly, held it a moment on the tip of her finger,
and fliliped it into the sea.
"Innpressi01lS du 0OyGgeW cried one of
the Young girls, with the sea-born familiari-