St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-17

| y
| intend to show | mean what |. say, and
believe my opinions, by marrying one of the
people-a genuine Autochthon, a child of
the soil, daughter OF the EARTH Now, do
you condemn me?"
81 know BETTER" said AIagnus gravely;
''and promise to stand by you. But what
will society say?"
What" exclaimed Knox, angrily, ''have
| to do with such organized hypocrisy and
falsehood. bloated sham and tyranny?
my business, and that of every true man
and woman, is to reform it--nay, to remove
and abolish it and substitute purer and
better state of things. Society is rotten to
| the core. What is it? Just conspiracy of
idle and ignorant persons, who, to attain q
certain amount of unworthy amusement,
agree to deceive and to be deceived"
Opinions" Sapiently observed the other,
| ''are always ahead of institutions. But at
| lacking the latter is often like knocking
ones head against a stone wall. You can
not hurt or move the stone wall, but will
certainly injure your head"
VERY likely" answered Fraser, ''but
some one must begin. The bridge has to be
made, and some of us, of course, will be
buried i'll its foundations. Never mind, am
ready for the worst if need be. A work
SCll lllltl
in working-man's daughter. Labor, labor,
labor-that is the one glorious, manly,
womanly business of life"
81 admire your courage" said Magnus
Ericsson, ''but 1 tremble for the conse-
quences; though, whatever you do, it will
make no difference between u.s."
Come and see her, and Judge for your
SELF" cried the impulsive Knox. 1.-The
brown FLY is worth looking at and will
bear criticism-no weak points anywhere
sound in wind and limb-a little skittish it
may be, but none the worse for that--will
make the running all the better-nicely
groomed and admirably trained up to a GER
tain point, but that only the first step. Let's
adjourn to the stables"
NOsooner said than done. And off they
went at rapid rate, out of York street and
through Baker street, into little quiet by
road, which lay mOdestly by the side of the
Dig thoroughfare. as a private occupation
moves shyly in the shadow by the side of a
public office, with its great glare and rest
less strife. The houses We're unpretending.
or were inhabited by respectable artisans
and members OF the labOring class. An Oc
caSional brass plate gave an air OF Semi-prO-
fesSional distinction to the street, which
was somewhat Obscured by the absence of
anything approaching to serious competi-
ton. Knox Fraser, who had not opened his
mouth the whole way, stopped abruptly at
a Weather-beaten door, that boosted of no
metal decoration, and knocked sharply four
times. There was Immediately sweet
rustling within, as of a tiuttered dove-cote,
then trippling of lightsome feet, the sound
of soft, low, girlish laughter, and the next
moment Magnus stood face to face with
1.-THE brown tilly."
The look of eXpectant happiness in the
large liquid eyes passed into startled eX
preston as ''Buttercup' confronted the
stranger, while she took Fraser's hand with
the calm assurance of prOprietorship. She
was dressed neatly and simply in dress of
some dark material, which fitted like a glove
the exquisite symmetry of her faultlesS
form. Tall and slight, and yet rather plump
than lean, she seemed an ethereal arrange
ment, in brown. the study of some mighty
painter who had dipped in the tender glories
of the twilight The rich, red lips pouted
now and then, like those Of a pretty, petted
child, and delicate waves of color rippled
over the round and dimpled cheeks. Masses
of dark hair, Lit up here and there with
strange CLEANS of gold, as if the Mexican
tirefiies were tangled and spangled in the
cence of an almost baby beauty. And the
voice was mixture of Edgar POe's silver
bells and Coeridges brook singing quiet
tune, with a delicious purity all its own.
And yet----and yet there was something
wanting. What could it be? OF intelli-
gence and sympathy there appeared to be
liberal measure, but the eye and the ear
seemed to miss something. The pronmcia-
ton was good, the answers ready, and often
amusing, the apprehension quick, the
politeness quite that of lady to the man
ner born, the movements elegant and
unrestrained, but still stitch in
the lovely work was dropped, link
gone, note absent. What was it?
Ericsson thought of Undine and the fawn
and wondered if 'Buttercup' really pos
sessed that very troublesome property.
which is supposed by certain philosophers
to reside in the pineaI gland, generally
called the soul. Or could it be the pres
ence of some foreign element, that dis
turbed and dimned the radiant and rejoic-
ing young life? And yet, in the society of
that enchanting child-woman, that divine
daughter of the earth, the misgivings and
suspicious soon melted away, like snow be-
meath an April sun.
II
THE STEED STOLEN.
''Buttercup," no doubt, was miracle of
girlish loneliness, affectionate clinging,
maidenly, modest and innocent. But her
innocence was the result or accompani-
ment of ignorance, and though tender and
true, she had never been tried, she had
never been tempted by the sweet solicitings
of any pleasant sin. And SO she possessed
no real character. The moral sense re-
manned untested in her little sheltered life,
and it might and might not emerge favor
ably from the first rude ordeal.
Her father, James Thurston, when he
had lived forty years of retired simplicity
in the country, with Indifferent health, be-
lieying himself now to be no fool, and in
tending to be his own physician, had sud-
denly broken all his early ties and migrated
to London. His wife had been head nurse
in nObleman's family for a long time, and
was considerably older than her husband.
Ann, called so after Lady Ann Norward,
once Mrs. ThurstOn's pet child, was the
sole issue Of their union. The refinement
and intellectual culture and aesthetic awak-
ening, which Stella Thurston the mother,
had absorbed and aSsimilated during her
protracted service in Lord Silverdale's FAM
lily, had come out in beautiful blossom Gas
it always does with such nurses offspring)
in ''Buttercup's" face and form and man
ners But both Stella and James Thurs
ton We're deficient in moral ballast, the
mother especially, who had rather ro-
mantle temperament. Was this weakness
inherited by the daughter? Living quiet,
secluded life in the country for sixteen
years, shielded by fond parental care from
all that was coarse and evil, ''Buttercup"
had grown up in utter naturalness, uncon-
scious of the wickedness in the world
around. Devoted to her, and knowing
what dangerous possession beauty was,
her father and mother had wisely or I'M