Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-13
CHAPTER II.

II was the evening of the day on which
POstletOn had welcomed the new corners.
Rain was falling, streets were emptied,
silence and responsibility, wet through.
and in fOrlOrn state Of dampness and
limpness, had the place to themselves.
Gas fiared wastefully in shops where for
the last hour never customer had en-
tered; where shutters We're at last being
put up over windows into which nobody
looked. Eight O'Clock had struck from
tower and steeple. A church-bell was
going ding-dOng: from the barracks on
the hill, where the stranger Ted-cOats had
settled down, the familiar tattoo came
family sounding. In the cathedral yard
the gray minister towers doomed i'm misty
silence. In the long, soft evenings Of
summer the Close was a tempting spot
enough to those for whom rest and silence
Did not necessarily mean dullness and de-
spaIr. Through all the long procession Of
years on which the old gray pile had looked
50 calmly down, how many a one had
loved the quiet spot, how many not and
restless heart had sought rest and peace
within its shadOws-quiet hooks and cor
2crS where glare Of sun and turmoil of
the world never seemed to penetrate, and
where only the chirp of birds and the cool
rustic Of the trees came. mingled, il might
be, with the tones Of the great organ to
break tie stiffness! There was stiffness
enough tonight, no sound even of passing
footsteps in the place, only the dreary
drip, drip OF the fast falling rain. Through
the mist, here and there, stray lights
.blln6ed from the old red-gabled, ivy-cOv-
cred houses where the cathedral dignita-
Fies found shelter. At the corner, the one
spot of real brightness, the deauery looked
cheerily out through its red-cuTtained
windows, for Mr.. Dean was entertaining
q party, principally composed Of clergy
f4ld 81 I'll
was a tall, thin man, with white, scanty
locks and great drOOp in his shoulders,
gained. 10 was said, by much STOPPING
over his beloved cello.
The Very Rev. Arthur Wharton. D. D..
mad been a wid0Wer for more than ten
years past, and was known for many
mile beyond the Precincts for his kindly
heart, strange, Shy ways, and mis- devotion
70 his children and his YiOlOncellO. 1t was
his daughter Agatha, his first-bOrn and
Feritable right hand, who, such a mere
child when the poor mother died, had ever
since, with strangely old-fashiOned ways
iust at first, done the housekeeping and
Cooked after papa And she 1t was
alas, that possible faithful heart.-who
mad looked with wistful eyes Though,
truth TO tell, II was but in thought she
Ea1 trusted herself to follow them after
the departing heroes of the day before.
Poor Agatha. 1t was but an old story,
but her experience Of the world was not
very great, or she might have taken COM
fort to herself in the knowledge that men
love and ride away every day, and if wOm-
ems hearts are broken now and then,
WOmen's hearts should not be won so east
ly. Had her love been so easily-tOO
easily wOn:" Agatha had asked herself
the question, how many times already!
She could not say, she could not tell. just
now she only knew that she had let her
heart 90 from her, and she could not call
il back. 1t had been won from her by
what falseness, what treacheryl and now
Ii was cast back to her, and she could not
take il up. How the red famed into her
cheeks as she remembered it all How
she rallied against herself for the past!
What impossible vows she made for the
futurel Poor Agatha. Her experience
Of life, as | have said, was not very great,
and as she sat, sick and ashamed, hiding
ker aching heart as best she might in the
deanery schOOl-rOOm this evening, she kept
asking herself if any one before her had
ever been so foolish, so unhappy? In the
cosy, Old-fashiOned room quiet was sup
posed TO reign and lessons for the morrow
TO be in progress. But it was a SUPPOSE
tiOn merely. The other occupants OF the
r0Om were but three, but one Of them
alone cOntrived to make noise enough for
double the number. In vain Agatha
cried;
flush! they Will hear you in the dining
room"
And a good thing, too-wake 'em up,
sleepy old Rip Van Wrinkles" shouted the
culprit, Jack, aged fourteen, and a gram
mar school boy.
ooh, Arthur, do make him be quiet"
implOred Agatha.
.'Quiet, you. sir" cried Arthur, thus
appealed to, looking up from his study of
the new army list.
s'Oh, ! say" cried the irrepressible
Jack, as his eyes fell on the little pink
cover, ''let's see who these new fellows
are. i saw you. Miss Frank, hiding over
IN old TOwnsend's shop this morning when
they came In, and yesterday, too. for the
matter of that. when the others went
out.''
Il was with Miss Thorne," Frank be-
gan.
F'Oh, yes, I knOw-all right; but where
was Agatha? Too proud to go, sup
pose"
Frances, otherwise Frank, Jacks twin
and boon companion, shook her frizzy
head.
Agatha does not care about military
men-nOt as rule; do you, Agatha! l
do, though Mrs. Tyerman does not think
they are satisfactory acquaintance"
The boys laughed outright, and even
Agatha smiled.
Most of the others were nice enough"
said Arthur. 81 don't see why some Of
these shouldn't be.'
''Oh, 1 dare say they are all very NICE"
said Frank pleas antly, making place for
herself on Jacks chair, ''if only Agatha