The Penn's Grove record., 1884-07-12

10 lON6ly III JuG GUILTY. dO Ghlo oO"SOh'
Isabel shrugged her fair shoulders,
but prudently said nothing, and on the
following day the three ladies were at
the quiet, old-fashioned little farm
house, some twenty miles from the
city.
1t must necessarily be a very brief
visit, for Charlie was expected home
Mrs. Sutton had not said a word except
to her daughter, about expecting Mr..
Warrington-and S % after staying a day
and a night at the old farmhouse, they
were prepared to return to the city.
cit seems a pity to leave the poor old
lady so soon," said Mrs. Sutton. "She
is so infrm, and that housekeeper of
hers is not, L suspect, over attentive to
her comfort. Then she seems so fond
of you, Alice, and enjoyed so much
your reading to her. l wish that n
of you girls could remain longer; l am
sure il would be a comfort to the poor
old lady,"
AtICO hCtuO0 III BNlohoeoAN'hs INV
wa a kind-hearted, amIable girl, and
her sympathies had been enlisted for
this lonely, infirm old lady, her mothers
aunt, who seemed so forgotten and
alone in the world. Her own mother
had been of very delicate health, and
the young girl, accustomed to attend
upon her, had learned many ways of
nursing and comforting the sick,
and making dainty dishes to tempt a
feeble appetite. Then she could read
to aunt Curtis in the sweet, low voice
that had been such a comfort to her
mother, and she felt also what the old
lady had said that ''the very sight of
a bright young face in the silent house
was as cheering as a ray of sunshine on
a cloudy day."
So Alice remained at Copley Farm,
while her aunt and cousin, rejoicing at
the success of their innocent little
scheme, returned to the cityt to welcome
Charlie and his friend.
1t was a disappointment to find that
Charlie had arrived without his friend
Mr.. Warrington. That gentleman, it
appeared, had a previous engagement
to spend a few days with a relative,
whom they found awaiting them upon
the steamers arrival; but he would
make his appearance in a week or so,
meanwhile Mrs. Sutton wrote to Alice
that she could remain at Copiey until
Charlie and Isabel went up for her.
Alice had no objection. She was
greatly enjoying her visit to the farm.
1t was the first of October, when the
country is most beautiful, with a lin
gering of summer glory mingling with
the deepening of autumn.
She was an imprisoned lover of ma
ture, and yet, city-bred, had eve be-
fore seen nature in this glorious revela-
ton of autumnal beauty, and it dawned
upon her like the reading of some new
and beautiful poem.
"Strange that there are people con-
tent to live in the city, when the coun-
try Is so beautiful" she thought, one
evening, as, standing knee-deep III
ferns. beneath a canopy of crimson and
gold foliage, she gazed in dreamy de-
light over the lovely scene before her.
A rustling in a neighboring thicket
startled her. There was a sudden shot,
a whirring past of a brood of partrldges,
and the next moment a dog rushed
forth, deliberately followed by a gen.
tleman in a gray shooting dress.
AS his eye fell upon the young girl,
standing in a graceful half-startled
manner, he lifted his cap courteously.
81 hope that | have not alarmed you,"
he said.
81 should not have fired had l known
that a lady was near"
The dog bounded back with a dead
partridge, which he dropped at his mas
ter's feet.
Alice took it up gently.
"Poor little thingl 1t was cruel to
kill It'll" she said, pltyingly, as she
lifted her brown eyes, softened with
tender compassion, to the face of the
stranger.
He smiled-a curious smile, in which
appeared both interest and amuse-
ment.
''Then l am sorry that L should have
killed it, and in penance will not fire
another shot to-day"
81 have no right to require that sacri-
flee of you," she answered, shyly, as
she turned away.
But he again addressed her:
at appears that our pathways lie in
the same direction. If you are going to
Mrs. Curtis will you permit me to ac-
company you? The lady is an old
friend of mine, and l was on my way to
see her. 1t was for her that I intended
these birds"
81 am staying at my aunt Curtis"
she answered "and in consideration of
the motive, 1 forgive you shooting those
poor birds"
They walked in the lingering sunset