Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-18

to the ceiling. She rightly coniectured
MIR. Church to be sitting behind it. She
moved softly across the floor and took
her seat IN a chair near a table heaped
with books, magazines and newspapers.
She was trembling with excitement and
nervousness, and vas very glad of the
interval of several minutes which
elapsed before a weary and rather
%querulous voice said:
"Will you be good enough to read
something aloud. that 1 may Judge of
your voice and manner?'"
She went to the table and hastily
made a selection from the stock before
her. The perfect freshness of the bind
ing proclaimed ''That Lass O. Lowrie's"
to be still unread; the talkative man.
servant had betrayed his masters taste
for novels.
In spite of her agitation, her voice
sounded sweet and clear, ands she gained
confidence as she went on. She had
the natural gift for reading which comes
from an intuitive sympathy with the
author. Even the rough Lancashire
dialect did not discomfort her, and as
she read Joan's strong, forcible utter
ances her listener felt the thrill which
must have subducd the ''pit-girls'' who
were prosecuting "Liz."
She finished the first chapter and
paused; there was nc comment, so she
read the second. At the end of this
she waited until he said: go on,
please in a voice which betokened q
languid interest. So she went on until
the light failed, and she was obliged to
close the book. The clock struck four,
the heavens were obscurcd with dense,
gray clouds, and q fine, dull rain was
falling. She was hungry and tired.
81 can not see to read more" she
said. with a slight sense of irritation.
II am sorry said the voice behind
the curtain. "You will come again to-
morrow"
eff it is to be a permanent engage
ment,' said Mrs. Rosamond, who had
learned in the last two years to take
care of herself.
4. Certainly. You will find the weeks
salary in advance between the leaves of
a blotting-book in the second drawer of
the table. Be good enough to write a
receipt. and leave it in the place of it."
Mrs. Rosamond's face flushed as she
obeyed these directions. The naughty
manne Of her employer annoyed her.
She would gladly have declined the
money until it was due, but she was
hungry, and this slender bill repre-
sented supper and fire and the right to
remain in her dingy lodging.
She took her place in the library
every morning punctually at half-past
ten and went away as punctually at
four, but she made no progress in ac-
workmanship with Mr.. Church. She
learned accidentally that he went to
drive in a close carriage every morning
before her arrival. She found him in
the same place day after day, or sup
posed him to be there, for she never
saw him. The only visitors she ever
encountered were the physicians, a
prominent lawyer of the city, and oc-
casionally the clergyman of the parish.
The readings gradually embraced a
wide range of topics. Sometimes the
book was laid aside while she made
! notes and referred to other authors for
| confederation or refutation of fact or
theory.
At Don when the talkative man-ser-
want, whose name was Michael, brought
her some luncheon, of which Mr.. Church
never partook, she observed in his man
ner to his master an unrebuked famil-
iarity, whichfwas all the more puzzling
in its contrast to the excessive formal
lty Of her own relations with him.
The reserve in which he shrouded
himself almost amounted to mystery.
Never was the curtain lifted or did the
remotest personal allusion give her a
claw fn hiS 0jrsrl1 m ST u ron. ~. hs<o~,,
This popularity enhanced her interest
in him; gradually the thought of him
began to haunt her. She dreamed of
him at night, and more than once awoke
cold and trembling with the idea that
the motive Of his ~seclusion was some
hideous deformity.
Meantime, her new studies had quick
ened her intelligence and reused In her
a power of thought of which she had
never before been conscious. The clever
gentleman who received his intellectual
diet at her hands did not disdain to con-
verse with her, and the book would
often be neglected for an hour during
an animated discussion Of its contents.
Still, to the average woman a purely
intellectual intercourse is a barren thing.
There are %sprouting sympathies and
tender %yearnings toward confidence
which need cultivation and support.
Mrs. Rosamond, looking into her glass,
observed that the color had come back
to her cheeks, and that her figure, in the
neat walking-dress which she could now
afford to wear, had resumed it's rounded
contour. She sighed and wondered if
inflammation Of the eyes was quite in
durable. Not that she would ever have
sighed if she had known that l would
write it down; for she was a proud wo-
man. and kept a street watch over those
sensibilities of which WI We're about to
speak. Still, to the sympathetic COM
%panionship of her mirror every woman
will lay aside that reticence which is at
once her ornament and her safeguard.
All the same, she might never have
broken the ice and this story might
never have come to a crisis but for the
spring which was making insidious adj
vances-and every one knows what
subtle Influences are stirring with the
quickening of young leaves and the
housekeeping songs Of the little birds.
Mrs. Rosamond was not impervious to
these sweet influences. One morning
Il. k.~.l J,,- ,,o,,l. Gu