The Penn's Grove record., 1885-10-10

pleIo DuJ MOI ld5JlDg, TOT at Un6 mOLutHt
a sweet voice broke the stiffness.
'Merrily. merrlly shall 1 live now.
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'s
1.-THE nymph of the stream" l muir
INJURED. "Here she comesln
CrfSh, crdcble, stCiSH The brambles on
the other side were parted, and a young
girl stood upon the bank. She seemed
about seventeen, but well formed for
her age. Her feet were concealed by
sabots, and she wore a short cloak, like
that OF a French officer, over her dress
An old hat, which had slipped back
during the stru! gle with the thorns,
framed a quaint little face more quaint
ly still.
"Deliciousl" she exclaimed in En-
glish, peeTing eagerly into the green
shadows. "How cool the water looksl
oh, dearI How tired l am, and how
hot my head and feet arel"
Flinging an armful of ferns on the
ground, she seated herself on the brink
of the fountain, tapping the surface of
the water with the point of her sabot.
She was strangely beautiful, but the
great soft, brown eyes, fixed dreamily
on the surface Of the pool, would have
redeemed the most irregular features
from the charge of uglIness.
~ willl' she suddenly cried. "There
is no n here to see, and no n any
where to care"
| watched her in amused perplexity
The girl pleased me, and tEe wild,
graceful freedom of each motion con-
trasted ~agreeably with the studied ele-
gance of polite society.
"What a goose | amp she soliloquIz-
ed, pausing in the act of throwing off
her little sabots, as a slight change of
my position rustled the leaves of which
my couch was composed. THAT is the
consequence of unorthodox amuse-
ments. Every leaf that stirs must be
construed by my guilty conscience into
some n looking at me. A pretty
sight they would see. tool The idea is
laughableI'
She took off her hat and let loose a
mass of dark, curly hair, which ioated
about her shoulders IN picturesque dis
order. Then, lying down on the edge
of the pool, she stopped over and dip
ped her face in the water, pouring it
with her little hands over the top of
her head, till her curls were dripping
like a water spaniel, then laughing as
she wrung out a shower of diamonds
At that moment an incident occurred
for which 1 have been thankful evel
since. In casting off the sabots, one
had fallen dangerously near the edge of
the bank, and this, now receiving an
impetus from its needless little owner,
quietly slipped into the water, COM
mencing a journey on its own account
by Jogging over the miniature waves
with most prosaic obstlnacy.
A cry of dismay followed the dis
covery. What was to be done? The
shoe was already out of reach and how
could it be %recovered2 I laughed silent
ly. All trace of my dislike to women
had evaporated. l blessed that shoe
and waited heartlessly till the sense of
loss brought tears into the brown eyes,
then softly drawing aside the branches
l stood upand spoke.
"Mademoisellel" wasall I said, though
l saw that she was English.
Such a startl Such a blushl 1t rose
over her eyebrows. flooded the sun.
burned neck, affected, l verify believe,
the tiny feet themselves. Her shyness
conquered mine. l longed to set her
mort at ease,
"'Mademoiselle, pardon me. would
not have presumed to make my pres.
ence known, had not it been for this
misfortune "said L, respectfully, poin-
ting to the self-constituted boat steadi-
ly approaching the centre.
The Nymph hid her face.
"Wll you permit me to attempt the
rescue?" | persisted. determined to
hear her speak.
"Oh, sir, have pity! l thought I was
alone. If you a assist me. pray dc
sol" she answered, striving to conceal
her tears.
Poor little thingi Decidedly that sa-
bot must be obtained.
"If mademoiselle would kindly aid
me by throwing stones from her side,
so as to drive the shoe toward the
shore,"I suggested, ignoring her dis
tress.
Dashing her hand cross her eyes,
the girl Immediately set about collec-
ting missiles, which were then flung by
nv dlrection-at first badly, but, grad.
ually regainlng confidence, her aim I'M
proved, and, to my great joy, forget
ting in the excitement all the disagree
able attendant circumstances, her clear
laugh rang through the fragrant air,
each peal re-echoing within my heart.
Here was a revelation. In all my
life, a perfectly natural girl, at the same
time perfectly well bred, had never
crossed my path. Hundreds of pretty
damsels had walked, danced and posed
before me for the sake of Trevorhurst,
but v one whose grace had not
e cultivated, made to order-whose
smile was not a languid elongation of
the lin. On the other hand. the frank
abruptness of the country lasses was
no better; loud voices from charming
women lar upon my nerves.; SO that be-
tween this Scylla and Charybdis l be-
came a man whose books and horses
represented to him the only pleasure in
life.
Now. to upset these crude ideas. came
a maiden. with bare feet cleaning
through the moss, over whose entire
person sweet modesty had thrown her