St. Landry democrat., 1885-07-04


steps, that lady, by some sudden, mex
plicable notion of mind, answered his
kindly greeting with an abrupt ques-
ton:
when do you expect these city chill
dren?''
Mr.. Dale's benevolent face beamed.
He had hardly dared to expect so much
interest on the part of his grand lady
parishioner.
son Tuesday, four p. m. train"
II will send my carriage to the station
at train time, and you can give any
needful directions to the driver. "
Thank you, thank you!" said Mr..
Dale as heartily as for personal favor.
This is kind, indeed, Miss Wlnches-
teri
..How often we misjudge persons, )"
he said to CHEEKY little Mrs. Dale, as
they walked home. Il barely hoped
that Miss Henrietta might perhaps give
little pecuniary aid, and here she Oh
fers to take one of these little strangers
to her house"
"ReaIly! Now, Mr.. Dale, are you
sure she said SOP" queried his wife
II can not be mistaken. She in
quired when the children were to ar
rive and said her carriage would be IN
waiting" :,
..Yes, heard her tell papa So" said
little Bessie.
"Well, | am very much surprised
| that she should take one Of the chill
dren,' said Mrs. Dale. But, poor
little thing! how dreadfully lonely it
will be out there.
Meanwhile, Miss. Winchester was
driving towards Evergreens, blissfully
unconscious of the part assigned her by
the pastor in the entertainment OF the
coming little visitors. Her feeling OF
annoyance had somewhat subsidized dur
ing her pleasant ride home, and her
countenance assumed its usual serenity
as she changed her outdoor dress for a
cool, crisp lawn, and ate her elegant
little dinner in the great shady dining
room. Then she repaired to the library
/ to look over the mornings text and
references and read her religious papers,
her invariable custom of spending Sab
bath afternoons.
But Mr.. Dale's sermon and his appeal
for the children would mingle in her
mind, else why should her memory
] seem SO full of troublesome texts this
afternoon; texts which apparently had
no bearing on the sermon, but rather on
the appendix?
Miss Winchester prided herself, and
with reason, upon her familiarity with
the Bible. But just now she did not
care to recall, II was an hungered, and
We gave Me no meat; 81 was a
stranger and We took Me not in; SIN
asmuch as We did it not to one of the
least of these, We did it not to Me.
Some way, the offer of the carriage,
made entirely without the meaning the
| good pastor attached to it, began to
| lose the satisfaction it had given earlier
in the day. The brown thrushes and
| tinted orioles fitted here and
there, and sang their clear carols
among the lindens. The sweet summer
air lifted the leaves and stole through
the open windows of the library; the
afternoon shadows crept longer and
longer over the smoothly cat grass and
gay flower borders, but Miss Win
chester, with her Bible on her lap, lean
ing back in her easy chair and looking
out upon her beautiful grounds with
the calm and settled stiffness brooding
over all, felt unsettled and i'll at ease.
''You will take the carriage TO the
station, john" said Miss Winchester
to her coachman, on Tuesday after
noon. .sAnd take any Of the children
where Mr.. Dale tells you.''
Eyes m, answered John, turning
toward the stables, and not at all re-
GREETING an errand which would take
| him from wedding the beds within sight
/ of Miss Winchester seat near the win
dow.
An hour or two later there was a
sound of returning wheels, and Miss
Winchester, walking among her flowers,
picking off a dry leaf or faded blossom
here and there, was confronted by John,
hat in hand, and beside him a small
boy.
'.Please m, this yer's the one Mr.. Dale
told me to bring.
Told you to bring!'' exclaimed Miss
| Winchester, startled out of her usual
staid composure. Il did not mean to
have any Of them brought here. =
you didn't say nothin' to me,
ma am, = said John, shifting uneasily
from one foot to the other ''cept TO do
as the parson told me, an he SEE: 'Ah,
John, here you are, and here's little
fellow to go out to Miss Winchester,
SEE he, an so I took the little chap
along
..Mr. Dale is very inconsiderate, very
inconsiderate, indeed, said Miss Win
chester, severely sitting down upon q
rustic bench.
sam to take him back, ma am. the
evePn asked John, as stolidly as If an
exchange of corn or potatoes was under
4 consideration