The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-04-22

was straight and his hands we'll shapen.
IWenty-elght. / should have guessed
has age. Altogether, a very creditable
young man.
Fate had been kind in selecting this
companion Tor me. If only | could ind
something To talk about-Something so
gifted a creature as he was reported to
be would not be bored with Alas for
me, the conversation field seemed to
nave become suddenly barreuof flowers
OF speecn-n0t even a bud was left,
ct among people with whom | am al
home, had never Vet been accused OF
taciturnity.
For some short time the lady on the
other side OF him saved me- She ap-
peared to know him. and complimented
nm ON the success of an article in one
or the reviews. which She attributed to
+ hum. He thanked her for her praise:
/ spoke few words on general subjects:
then as l suppose. III duty bound. turn
/ ed 10 me and recommended converse
ton.
/ In five minutes | positively hated nv
+ SELF and Mr.. Vincent Hope Ii NAV be
1 kindness TO bring ones intellect down
TO the level of the listener; | call it con-
/ eelt. II, II spite Of my elaborate new
/ dress, he could not help seeing | was
I but schoolgirl. was there anY reason
/ why he should 80 plainly show me he
( saw II? Was there any reason why he
! should quite change the manner of his
J discourse as he changed bis listener
I should talk &c Re III q way he evidently
| thought suited 10 my calbert II he
meant II kindly. what right had he 10
/ think | should esteem ii kindness? |
/ dare say | deserved nothing more: but
/ who was he To judge of my deserts? 1t
! rutlied my vanity. and destroyed any
| sef-cOnhdence | was beginning to feel
| The worst of Ii was. he meant no rude
/ ness.
/ He did not even pretend to patronize
/ me, he simply chose to talk upon sub
| JectS which he was pleased to think
/ We're well within my limited range. 1t
| was mortifyingl | twisted up my dim
| ner-napkin under the table, as sort of
! vent to my veXatlon. Soon / grew deS-
/ perate. / would show this man | was
/ not the lnane. empty-headed schoolgirl
/ he fancied me. or | would perish in the
/ attempt.
/ My fluency of speech came back as
/ suddenly as it left me. On my own ac-
| count | began to talk-Of topics about
which | knew nOthing-of places | had
never yislted-of people | had never
| seen-and OF books | had never read.
He seemed amused at my new depart
ure, and | BATTERED myself. tried to lead
me on to talk. So talk | did. and
| thought no evil. 1t was not until had
| once or twice gone completely out of
my depth. right over head and shoul-
/ derS. and was compelled to founder
/ back as best | could. that | fancied the
wretched man was laughing at me-not
/ openly, of course; his manner was po-
| likeness itself. Yet | had an unpleasant
suspicion that more than once | had
made myself an idiot in his eyes.
| positively detest people who have
| the misfortune to see me at a disadvan-
| tage; SO, when | rose with the rest of
| the women and left the table. | felt that
! it would have been great satisfaction
to have given Mr.. Vincent Hopes broad
| shoulders Parthian stab with a des-
| Sert-tork. had not beena success; and,
/ what was worse, | knew it,
| 1t was dull work in the drawing-rOom.
| The women We're strangers to me. and
/ talked about their own and their friends
/ affairs, III none of which had the slight
/ est interest. 1t was very hot too.
! peeped out of the window, and saw the
| garden looking most tempting in the
/ light of a lovely autumnal moon. How
I delightful it would be if / could have
one walk round it,
! | doubted whether it would be quite
/ right for a young lady to walk about the
/ garden alone and by moonlight: but the
/ temptation was very great. After all.
! | have always found it much easier and
/ often pleasanter to yield to little temp
/ tations of this kind than to resist them;
| so | soon gave IL. Even at the risk of
| a cold or a scolding. | would have one,
/ just one turn in the soft September
| night.
| slipped from the room, covered my
| head and shoulders with Il shawl, and
/ stole through the library window which
! opened to the ground.
! The change from the close atmosphere
! of Mr.. Ramsay's drawing-room was. as
/ | predicted ii would be simply delicious.
! The clear sky. the full moon, and the
! bright stars which had tempted meout,
made me feel quite pOetical. | forgot
| alFmy little annoyance in the beauty OF
! the night; l became quite cheerful and
/ happy. The one turn round the garden,
which | had pledged myself not to eX-
! ceed, grew to a great many: yet | was
lOath to leave the enchanting scene. But
/ duty must not be altogether neglected.
/ With a sigh. [ turned for the last time,
and began to retrace my steps to the
| house. To my horror. as | neared it, |
saw the French easements of the din
/ ing-rOOm open. saw the flood of brilliant
| light which poured out partially eclipsed
as one dark body after another passed
through the aperture. | realized in a
| moment the frightful position in which
/ | was placed The men We're coming
out to get breath OF fresh air and to
smoke cigarette before entering the
drawing-room. What could | do? |
was certain to be seen. BY the light of
| the wonderful moon. everything was as
clearly visible as by broad daylight l
shrunk from the polite ridicule with
which my nocturnal Wanderings were
! sure TO be greeted; in truth | was now
| rather ashamed of the freak which had
led me into such an awkward situation.
| | wished to eXtricate myself without
/ having to make excuses and eXplana-
/ tionS and as / shUddeTed at the thought
of walking boldly past the knot of gen
tlemen. | was compelled to adopt the
alternative-cOncealm
On the lawn near to me grew one of
/ those cOnlcal treeS-a species of laurel
the foliage of which touches the
ground. and leaves the center nearly
hollow. This particular tree was so
large that it formed a natural summer
house, and to enable it to fulfill its mis-
sion. an entrance had been cut through
the boughs on the side furthest from
the house. 1t was the very thing-aper-
feet harbOr of refuge!
Careless of insects. needless of the
twigs which caught and tugged at my
hair. but groaning. nevertheless. as
thought of my new frock, | rushed in
side, unseen and. hoped, unheard, re-
solved to wait behind the friendly
boughs until the voices which l heard
in the distance died into silence.
Feeling quite sure that no one would be
likely to explore the leafy recesses of
my hiding-place, | began to grow easy
in my mind, and even yentured to COM
pliment myself upon the cleverness /
had displayed Ny triumph was short
lived. In few moments | became
1
me-so alarmingly near. that very soon
| was able to recognize them and distin-
guish what they were saying. i was
Mr.. Vincent Hope and his host. who
had strolled away from their friends.
You have a fine specimen of the
Portuguese laurel here said the form
er.
Yes" replied Mr.. Ramsay. Its a
fine tree of that kind They seldom
grow larger. Indeed. this one is begin
; ming to die down. There is an entrance
. cut ON the other side: so it makes a
shady, but uncomfortable, warm wealth
er retreat"
Then L knew that the two gentlemen
were coming round TO the entrance. |
was in despair. | covered down in the
darkness, and prayed that Mr.. Hopes
curiosity might pot induce him TO pnr-
sue his botanical researches into the in
, terror. / saw his head and shoulders
fill up the entrance and hide the moon
light falling there. For the moment !
: was undecided whether to shrek with
horror. TO endeayor TO scare him away
, by growing like wild beast. or to lie
: still and trust to chance. On the whole.
7 the last seemed the wisest course to
) adopt | breathed more freely when !
: found he had no intention of entering
: the recesses were rot tempting at
r night. | hoped the two men would now
! remove themselves. But. alasi my i'm