The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1884-05-30

case being an ass, who had no idea Of
| any higher destiny than To carry the
| gardeners wife once a week to market,
where she disposed independently of
! her husband) OF such green-stuffs rs
she had herself flched during the
week from his Grace's kitchen garden.
B1lng III II certain sense contraband.
like the wares, he occupied an ut-house,
into which, by mere chance, Madcap
happened to look; and being struck by
a wakefulness in his glance that limited
at an older acquaintance with the dawn
than her own, she approached him with
carrot that Providence had placed just
beyond his reach, and so established "a
bond OF sympathy between herself and
him.
She regarded him affectionately while
he ate it; thinking of those long-distant
jauntS in which she and Frank had been
used to indulge. Somehow she seemed
TO be always looking back now, not for
ward, and many of her staid ways were
vanishing in. the delightfully."- youthful
influence that Frank had brought into
her life.
CHANGING round, her eyes fell on an
old side-saddle, with bit and bride be-
side il; and almost before any definite
idea had formed itself in her mind, she
had picked the saddle up, and laid it
across the ass.
lie took the proceeding quite natural
ly, and when she had saddled and bri-
died him, walked of his own accord to a
block of wood at little distance, upon
which she might mount, and so reach
his back. This she did, and rode out of
the doorway. with pleasant sense of
going no-Whither. vet with q chance of
adventure that warmed her young blood,
and made her think with fine pity of
the souls she had left sunk deep in
slumber behind the suffered windows
of the house yonder.
Now the ass was accustomed to fol-
los 0ne invar:able path, which led by
crosa cuts anu unexpected lanes to the
market town Of Marmiton, so that
presently Madcap, who had abandoned
herself 10 his will. found herself jog
ging along in a direction that seemed
familiar 10 her: and all at once, with
thrill OF delight. perceived that she was
on her slow way to Lowell.
Ii had been the longing to see Dody
and Daune that had kept her wake
half the night, and brought her out so
early. nova look Of inspiration flash
ed into her eyes-why should she not 60
to them? The ass plodded determined
ly on; relieved OF that dread Of being
expected to trot, which is the distin-
gushing characteristic of his race, he
was honestly bent on reaching Marmi-
ton in good time, and if he had known
OF Providence, would have thanked it
for the unusual lightness of the burden
OH his back.
So Madcap, not without some back
ward thought of Mr.. Eyre, but with
vague feeling that the ass was more to
blame than herself, ambled along be-
tween the fresh hedgerows, realizing
that Nature in undress far Out-matches
IN charms Nature equipped at all points
for conquest-felt that the first wan
cloud in the sky, the first sharp scent
in the air, the first sound almost harsh
in the intense. pure air) of life in the
hedge, struck chords in her soul that
more closely touched pain than pleas
ure. 1t is when the breath of God has
faded from the morning, when we only
see it III its dimmed purity and silence
that we are able to regard it as mere
accidental arrangement Of form and
color, only made beautiful by our own
perceptions.
For the first two miles, Madcap
scarcely thought Of her children, and
not at all Of herself-she was tasting
one OF those new experiences to which
yOutu iCllNto ltScll ~ SIdClOuSly, DuO III
the third mile something set her off
laughing, and after that she was just
herself though rather tired, for the sad
die was hard, and the too-willing jog,
jog OF the ass set up running accom-
panlment OF bumps that made her long
to descend, though doubts as to how she
was to get up again, kept her in her
seat. She was growing hungry, too,
and had not passed single farmhouse,
or met so much as cowherd, and when
her attitude in the saddle was becom-
ing somewhat bowed one, perhaps she
was not sorry to hear in the distance a
sound as OF human approach. But sud-
Gently the pangs of hunger recedcd, and
sense OF fun and frolic seated her
firmly, while with one hand she drew
over her head and face the white hood
that hung on her shoulders; for she felt
that this swift, nervous tread was no
yokel's. but that of man as bent on
enterprise as herself, and she drew her
hood closer, smiling in her sleeve at the
thought of how Mr.. Eyre, Weakening,
had set out in hot pursuit intending to
bring her back.
She felt the footsteps approach, then
slacken beside her, but keeping her
face to the hedgerow consoled herself
by thinking that one woman's white
gown is SO like another; and there was
not an inch of comtenance visible to
which even husband might swear.
But pair of feet may sometimes
have distinct physiognomy of their
own, and those slender ones Of Madcap,
high and dry on the ass's side, struck
the beholder with sense OF familiarity
that arrested his steps, and ent his keen
glance over the lines of her shape, and
the little ungloved hand that held the
reins.
Can you tell me the way to Lovel?"
he said, respecting her evident wish not
to be observed, yet convinced that this
was Madcap, and Madcap bent on seri-
Gus mischief, since she would not take
even him into her confidence.
/, She gave slight start, for the voice
was different to what she had expected;
but this was no more than natural in
young woman who found herself adj
dressed by a stranger; and the slight
trembling in her body afterward might
well have been indignation, and not
laughter at his expense.
But she did not reply, and Lord
Lovel waited.
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