The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-07-05

there began to be a talk of Colonel and Mrs Merryveather returning 10 England. The latest arrangements had been that Mrs. MerIyweafher should come back in the following summer, and be accom- panied, if possible, by her husband. So fancy stayed on with Miss McLachlan. much to her ewn and to that lady's satis- faction
 Her restlessness dated from the day on which Squire Brock had done her the honor to call at the cottage. and |, in- creased rather than diminished as the next few days went by.
 Miss Merryweather was young. and was, perhaps, learning for the first time the wide difference which distinguishes piece of impulsive self-denial rom the unexci,ing, everyday, inch-by-inch en- durance of like piece of renunciation
 And yet. dreary as the experience was, she did nothing to alter her decision.
 1t was only after a rather sleepless night that she began to think iha, her promise to the squire would be easier 10 keep if she were out of the reach of his son's appeals. How would i, be-. she lkkGo uCtSGA&, u uCl AOSC SlO1lQ IH some weak mement, prove stronger than her pride?' She teared lest, in listen ing 10 the son, she might forge, the scuire's galling words, and be tempted to present herself at the doors of this in- negotiable family, only to be sighted. lane Merryweather knew nothing of the disposition of the Swallows Hill pro- perty, and had she been in full posses sion of all the facts, it is only fair to say that it would have made no difference in her conduct indeed, is would only have made her fiKmer in her decision 10 have ro;hing to do with fascinating or en- trapping any one so "ipjudicious as the squire had called the young heir.
 She had mentioned going abroad to her aunt that day more in joke than any thing else, but as she wandered over the downs the Idea began to fix itself in her mind. She felt confined and cramped in this small place, with its narrow, placid existence, its little round of pleasures, and, above all, with this intolerable self imposed duty of being hard 70 the man she loved.
 Somewhere-anywhere away t would De easier to bear, she fei,. Go where she would his words seemed to be ringing in her ears, and walk as far as she might, at some part of the road, she would be sure 10 see the gables of Callows farm, his home, to bring back this strange new pain. Only the day before she had told him that it would be grief to her to go away from Swallows Hill, now i, struck her that 1t would be far mere in,o,erable 10 stay.
 In great mental distress we shift our minds as in a physical one we do our bodies, both in a perfectly natural effort 10 rid ourselves of what seems unbear- able pain. So, through the long after noon of the lengthe,iing March day, one weary fancy chased another through her brain, as looking from hea Hand to head land she set herself the task of fwaiking to ,he furthest point she could see. Below her lay the sea savagely flashing the rocky shore with it's fringe of surf, while above her the great clouds moved in sol emn procession, until they were los; in one another in the vast horizon.
 Here a. least she could breathe she 20 longer felt the uncomfortable confne- I.ent of the narrow cottage walls, the ticking of the hall clock, or the regularity of the meals which she could no longer eat. Yet how wide and cheerless those rugged, wind-blown downs appeared :. There was no earnest in them of any joy to come. Here was neither the promise of spring nor summer, bu, the look of hard endurance which even the changing seasons would not change.
 She sat down at last to rest, and began >plucking the little golden sea-this,les which nestle in the coarse brown grass. Far of, on the narrow path skirting the cliff by which she had come, she could now discern a solitary mans figure com ing in her direction. Her heart began 10 beat in excitement as the fear took hold of her that perhaps the figure might be that of her lover {; but when, after some quarter of an hour, 1t turned ou; to be a stranger, she experienced one of those natural but in consistent bangs of dis appointment which the cessation of any excitement, whether pleasan; or other wise, invariably brings
 ] That evening, as Jane Merrywea,her sat in a low chair opposite her aunt in the small drawing room, on the same large white mat, before the aame fire with its needlewoTk hre-board, impossible lustre candlesticks, she again experienced the strange, unreal feeling oi the morning. It was as if she were some stranger, re- garding her familiar surrounding. Had they not sas just so, her aunt with her feet slightly raised on a stool, and a small table with lights by her side, as she embroidered the same piece of elabor- ate altaY-cloth. while she discoursed zf- fably of any exciting horror she had culled from the penny papers: This they had done every evening for the space of two years, without finding the time either tiresome or monotonous. Yet, tired as she was, Jane Meryweasher felt restless in her chair, and told herself that such evenings were no longer possi- ble. The very click of Miss McLach- lan's needle vas irritating.
 Squire Brock has gone up to town