Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1886-04-01

complexion look any brighter, miss! VIII
yon run a race with me- Mr.. Moody, or will
you oblige me with back at leap frogs I'm
not mad, my dear young lady; Pm only
merry. live. you see, in the London stink
and the smell of the hedges and the wild
flowers is too much for me at first. 1t gets
into nv head, it does. I'm drunk! As live
bv bread. I'm drunk on fresh air! OH what
a jolly day Oh! how young and innocent
do feelI' Here his innocence got the better
of him. and he began to sing: II wish | was
a little fly, i'll my loves bosom for to ler
"Hullo here are on the nice soft grass!
and, oh, my gracious! there's bank running
down into a hollow! ] can't stand that you
know Mr.. Moody, hold my hat, and take
the greatest care of it. Here goes for roll
down the bank"
He handed his horrible hat to the aston
ished Moody, laid himself fiat ON the top Of
the bank, and deliberately rolled down it,
exactly as he might have done when he was
boy The tails of his long gray coat flew
madly in the wind; the dog pursued him,
jumping over him, and barking with delight:
he shouted and screamed in answer to the
dog, as he rolled over and over faster and
faster; and when he got up ON the level
ground and called out cheerfully to his COM
panions standing above him, II say, you
two, feel twenty years younger alreadyw
human gravity could hold out no longer.
The sad and silent Moody smiled, and Isabel
burst into fits of laughter.
There" he said, didn't / tell you you
would get used to me- miss? There's great
deal of life left in the old man yet-isn't
there? Shy me down my hat, Mr.. Moody.
And now we'll get to business" He turned
round to the dog still barking at his heels.
Business, Puggyl" he called out sharply,
and Puggy instantly shut his mouth, and
said no more.
''Well. now Old Sharon resumed when
he had Joined his friends and had got his
breath again, 'let's have a little talk about
yourself, miss Has Mr.. Moody told you
who am and what l want with you! Very
good. May offer you my arm! No! You
like to be Independent, don't you? All right
i don't object | am an amiable old man,
am. About this Lady Lydiard, now? Sup
pose you tell me how you first got acquainted
with here"
In some surprise at this question: Isabel
told her little story. Observing Sharon's
face while she was speaking, Moody saw that
he was not paying the smallest attention to
the narrative. His sharp, shameless black
eyes watched the girls face abSently; his
gross lips curled upward in a sardonic and
self-satisfied smile. He was evidently setting
trap for her of some kind Without word
of warning-while Isabel was in the middle
of a sentence-the trap opened, with the
opening of Old Sharon's lips.
II say!' he burst out, how came you to
seal her ladyship's letter-ehF'
The question bore no sort of relation, di-
rect or indirect, to what Isabel happened to
be saying at the moment. in the sudden sur
prise of hearing it, she started and fixed her
eyes in astonishment on Sharon's face The
old vagabond chuckled to himself "Did
you see that!' he whispered to Moody. Il
beg your pardon, PISS" he went on; 81
won't interrupt you again. Lord, how inter-
esting it saint it, Mr.. Moody! Please to
go on, miss"
But Isabel, though she spoke with perfect
sweetness and temper declined to go on
81 had better tell you, sir, how 1 came to
seal her ladyship's letter." she said. 'If /
may venture on giving my opinion. that
part OF my story seems to be the only part Of
1t which relates to your business with me to
day.
Without further preface she described the
circumstances which had led to her assuming
the perious responsibility of sealing the let
ter. Old Sharon's wandering attention be-
gan to wander again; he was evidently Occu-
pied in setting another trap. For the second
time he interrupted Isabel in the middle of a.
sentence. Suddenly stopping short he
pointed to some sheep at the farther end of
the field through which they happened to be
passing at the moment
There's pretty sightr he said. "There
are the innocent sheep a-feeding-all follow
ing each other as usual; and there's the sly
dog waiting behind the gate till the sheep
Sharon and the public" He chuckled over
his discovery OF the remarkable similarity
between the sheep dog and himself, and the
sheep and the public, and then burst upon
Isabel with a second question: II say!
didn't you look at the letter before you
sealed it,"
Certainly not" Isabel answered.
"Not even at the addressf'
"No"
thinking of something else-eh9'
Very likely" said Isabel.
"Was it your new bonnet, my dear!"
Isabel laughed "WOmen are not al
ways thinking of their new bonnets," she
answered
Old Sharon, to all appearance, dropped the
subject there. He lifted his lean, brown
forefinger and pointed again, this time to a
house at short distance from them. That's
farm house, surely" he said. Pm thirsty,
after my roll down the hill Do you think,
miss, they would give me drink Of milk!"
II am sure they would said Isabel. 81
know the people. Shall go and ask them9"
''Thank you, my dear. One word more
before you go. About the sealing of that
letter; what could you have been thinking Of
while you were doing itF' He looked hard
at her, and took her suddenly by the arm.
WAS it your sweetheartp he asked, In
whisper.