Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-10-14


mitted me TO enjoy the peaceful beauty
of the scene. My happiness was CON-
plete but not lasting, for at the moment
a sweet voice broke the stiffness.
..Me'rily. merrily shall live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough
''The nymph of the stream" muir
INJURED. "Here she comesl''
CriSh. crdckle, ,stciSt! The brambles on
the other side were parted, and a young
girl stood upon the bank. She seemed
about seventeen, but wet formed for
ner age. Her feet were concealed by
sabots, and she wore short cloak, like
that OF French officer, over her dress
An old hat, VIII ch had slipped back
during the stru gle with the thorns.
framed quaint little face more quaint
ly still.
''DeliciOusr' she exclaimed in En-
I glish. peering eagerly into the green
shadows. "How cool the water looks!
Oh, dearl How tired | 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.
Il willir she suddenly cried. ''There
Is no one here to see, and no one any,
where to care. =
| watched her in amused perplexity
The girl pleased me, and the wild.
graceful freedom of each motion con-
| traSted agreeably with the studied ele-
gdnce of polite society.
What a goose | ami" she solilOQulz-
Ell, 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 umorthodox amuse-
mentS. Every leaf that stirs must be
construed by my guilty conscience into
some one looking at me. A pretty
/ sight they would see, too The idea is
/ laughabler'
She took off her hat and let loose a
mass of dark, curly hair, which floated
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
I for which l have been thankful eve,
| 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 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 recovered? | laughed silent
/ ly. All trace of my dislike to women
/ had evaporated. | blessed that shoe
and waited heartlessly till the sense of
loss brought tears into the brown eyes,
then softly drawing aside the branches
/ stood up and spoke.
"MademoiselleIr was all said though
I saw that she was English.
Such startl Such q blushi 1t rose
over her eyebrows, flooded the sun
burned neck, affected, verify believe,
| the tiny feet themselves. Her shyneSs
conquered mine. lOnged to set her
more at ease.
"MademoiSelle, pardon me. Iwould
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.
"WIll you permit me to attempt the
rescue?" / persisted, determined to
hear her speak.
"Oh, sir, have pityl thought | WAS
alone. If you can assist me. pray do
sop 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" L suggested, ignoring her dis
| treSs.
Dashing her hand across her eyes,
/ the girl Immediately set about collec-
/ ting missiles, which were then flung by
nv dlrection-at first badly, but, grad
ually regainIng confidence, her aim I'M
proved, and, to my great joy, forget
/ ting in the excitement all the disagree
able attendant circumstances, her clear
I 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
/ danisels had walked, danced and posed
I before me for the sake of Trevorhurst,
| but never one whose grace had net
been cultivated, made to order-whose
/ smile was not a languid elOngatlon OF
| the lip. On the other hand, the frank
abruptness of the country lasses was
/ no better; loud voices from charming
women jar upon my nerves; so that be-
/ tween this Scylla and Charybdis L be-
came man whose books and horses
represented to him the only pleasure in
I life.
Now. to upset these crude ideas, came
a maiden, with bare feet cleaning
/ through tne moss, over MuOsS Cheho
person sweet modesty had thrown her
| vail. IL but the mind equaled the al-
pearance IN simplicity. my uncle's wish
would not seem so hard to crafty.
Meanwhile, the would-be boat drifted
nearer to the, Land and having By means
of a long stick obtained posses sion OF
/ it. I dried it ia my handkerchief before
surrenderlng it to the owner, who dared
not raise her eyes to aid her faltering
/ thanks
Feigning not to observe how the sa-
bots were resumed, l occupied myself
in gathering up the ferns strewn upon
the bank, talking inceSsantly. told
her how the Autumn tints had charm
ed me. so that town life faded into in
significance before the freedom OF the
uplands, and as 1 praised, bond 0,
sympathy sprang up between US, and
we chartered like two old familiar
/ friends.
Are you an artistP" she asked at
| toorth ssI am nrlite sure that YOU are