The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-07-12
we'll remember this day, when she

|. ] Still us tttlIl IL lidElAAlI''lAb pAifA'A' ~
too magnificent it was for a little bod
like me, but it became Zillah splendid
". She tucked me under her arm as i
had been little girl and walked M
up and down the room; for she was Of
cheerful, gay temper noW-just the on
to make IN old heart young again, I,
flash upon a worn spirit with In,
brightness Of its own lOng-past morn
ing.
recullrct thinking thus at the tim,
i wish had thought so Oitcner, Bu'
it matters little; | only chronicle thu
day, as being the first when XIliah nm
consciously put herself on a level will
me- becoming thenceiOrward woman
and my equal-no longer mere pei
and child.
About this time-l may as well just
state the fact to comfort other maidenr
of thirty years standing--I received an
offer of marriage, the first had ever
had He who asked me was gentle
| man of my own age, an old aCqualnt-
anCc, though never a very intimate
/ friend. examined myself well. with
/ great humility and regret, for he was
an excellent man; but | found | could
! not marry him. II was very strange
that he should ask me, thought. My
mother, proud and pleased first, be-
cause had the honor of a proposal;
| secondly, that it was refused, and she
| kept her child still--would have it that
| the circumstance was not strange at all.
! She said many women were handSOmer
and more attractive at thirty than they
| had ever been in their lives. My poor,
fond, deluded and deludng mother. in
whose sight even was fair That
night was foolish enough to look long
into the glass, at my quiet little face,
and my pale, gray-blue eyes--not dark
like Xillah 's--fOoliSh enough to count
narrowly the white threads that were
coming one by one into my hair. This
trOuble--I mean the offer of marriage
i did not quite get over for many
weeks, even months.
The following year of my life there
befell me great pang. OF this, a grief
never to be forgotten, a loss never to
be restOred-I cannot even now say
more than is implied in three words
my mother died. After that Zillah and
| lived together alone for twelve
months ormOre.
There are some scenes in our life
landscape scenes | mean-that we re-
member very clearly; one strikes me
now. \ quiet, soft May day; the hedg-
es Just in their first green, the horse
chPStnuts white with flowers; the long,
silent country lanes swept through by
travelling carriage, in which two wOm-
en- equally silent, sat-Zillah lie Poer
and |.
1t was the month before her coming
Of age, and she was going to meet her
guardian, who had just returned from
India.
Mrs. Sutherland had received letter
from Southampton, and Immediately
sent for us into the country to meet her
son. her beloved Andrew | merely
repeat the words as remember Zillah's
doing, while she laughed at the ugly
name. | never thought it ugly.
When we had really started, however,
Xillah ceased laughing, and became
grave, probably at the recollection of
that humliating circumstance which
first brought her acquainted with her
guardian. But despite this ill-Omened
beginning, her youth had blossomed in
to great perfection. AS she sat there
before me, fair in person, well cultured
i'll mind, and pure and virgin in heart
for had so kept her out of harms way
that, though nearly twenty-One, knew
she had never been in love- with any
man--as she sat thus, felt proud and
glad in her, feeling sure that Mr.. Suth-
erland would say had well fulfilled the
charge he gave.
We drove to the lodge gates. An
English cOuntry-house is always fair to
see; this was very beautiful remem-
bered it seven years ago, only that it
was autumn, and nov spring. Zillah
remembered 1t likewise; she drew back,
and | heard her whisper uneasily:
Now we shall soon see Mr.. Suther
land"
did not answer her word.
We rolled up the avenue under the
large chestuut-trees. | saw some one
standing at the porticO; then think
the motion OF the carriage must have
made me dizzy, for all grew indistinct,
except a firm, kind hand holding me as
| stepped down, and the words. Take
care, my dear CaSsia" 1t was Mr..
Sutherland
He scarcely observed Il llah, till in the
hall | Introduced her to him. He
seemed surprised startled, pleased.
of her to me that evening. he
said, he had not thought she would
have grown up thus; and | noticed him
look at her at times with a penSlve
kindness, Mrs. Sutherland whispered
to me that the lady he had been engaged
to was a half-caste like Zillah, which !
accounted for it. His mothers prophe- |
cy had been right; he had come back as
he went Out--lnmarried.
When Zillah went to bed she was full !
of admiration for her guardian. He |
was so tail, 80 stately. Then his thick, |
curling fair hair-iust like a young |
mans, with scarcely shadow Of gray. |
She would not believe that he was over |
forty-tcn years older than myselt-un- |
til by some peTtinacity had impressed |
this fact upon her. And then she said |
it did not signify, as she liked such |
dear old sou,Sn aS him and me much !
better than any young people Her |
fervOr Of admiration made me smile, /
but after this night observed that the |
expression of it gradually ceased.
Though was not SO demOnstrative |
as Hillah, it will not be supposed but /
that was truly glad to see my old /
friend, Mr.. Sutherland. He was very
kind, talked to me long Of past things, I.
and as he cast "A glance on my black |
dress, saw his lips culver; he took my
hand and pressed it like brother. God |