Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-09-01


so much interest in the work"
Indeed Does he sew, too?"
Theo asked the question in her most in
lashes so demurely over her brown eye
that Miss Russell failed to see the CLEAN o
mischief that shone there.
''Of course not Don't be so absurd. Ht
comes in occasionally, always while W,
are having tea, and talks to us, and it i
so delightful
81 dare say" Theo shrugged hel
shoulders. "We are indeed highly favored
in our spiritual guides just now. Three
unmarried men, all young and passably
good-looking Is there another parish il
the diocese so blessed, wonder ~
''You needn't scof, Theo And as fol
being unmarried, We all know that Mr.
Chetwynd does not intend to marry. HI
does not approve of married clergymen.
'Of course he does not. He is a pro
tege of the Bishops, and we all know
what his opinions are on that subject, and
| what Mr.. Chetwynd's must be, brought W
at the feat of such Gamaliel," Theo an.
swered demurely. "Still, while there's life
| there's hope, you know, and he may
change his mind some day"
81 am afraid there is not much chance
of that" Amy said sadly, "but [ wish you
would come, Theo. Do; just for oncew
Theo. shook her head, and pointed to
basket filled up with stockings and un
mended garments.
81 have far too much work of my own tC
do, Amy. | have no time to spare fol
such frivolities as you describe. Besides
| don't believe" she went on, audaciously,
''that half of you do any work worth men
tioning. You, my dear, in common with
a good many people, suffer from lack OF
occupation, and you gladly hail Dorcas
meetings and weekday services as a slight
distraction from the ennui inseparable
from such state of things. Now, if you
had a house and an invalid mother to look
after, and four boys TO make and mend for,
you would not find a sewing party so much
of treat as you appear to do. | have too
many home duties to take any part in
parish work, and SO [ told Mr.. Chetwynd' y
"You know Mr.. Chetwyrd, then, Theo ?
| never heard you mention that before, y
Amy said in a surprised voice.
"Oh, yes. know him"-the pretty pink
color deepened in Theo's cheeks as she
spoke-"he come here sometimes to see
mother; and give him the benefit of my
advice and opinion occasionally. Dollie
and he are great friends; aren't you
Dollie?"
Dollie was sitting on the low window
seat, half in and half out of the window
that is to say, her head and body were
within the room, but her long, black legs
dangled outside the window. She was a
| 1a ,I, e lsr-t,t -
dreamy, gray eyes, and pretty, sensitive
mouth. An odd child, wise beyond her
years, fonder of books than of playthings,
and with quaint, old-fashioned ways and
sayings which often startled Theo, and
made her feel half afraid of and half anxi-
Gus for the child.
Very pretty and pleasant the doctors
garden looked that April afternoon. The
sun was shining on the red-brick house, on
the beds of bright spring flowers, on the
tender greens and browns of the beeches
and elms which shaded the tennis ground,
and which were now just breaking into
leaf. 1t shone on the twins who were
playing with a big dog on the grass, and
fell on the long name OF feecy golden hair
which huug down Dollie's back. She
looked up dreamily as her sister spoke.
'He likes Theo better than me-" she
said in her quiet voice. "He talks to me,
but he looks all the time at Theo sup
pose that is, Dollie went on meditatively,
because he thinks she is pretty"
Amy Russell stared and laughed. Theo's
cheeks famed up suddenly and her busy
fingers trembled. She gave forced
laugh.
"You silly child! How do you know
what Mr.. Chetwynd thinks ?" she said.
''He didn't tell you, l suppose?
Eyes he did, and Dollie nodded her
yellow head quantity. Il asked him Why
he stared so hard at you when you were
not looking at him, and he laughed and
got red-oh, as red as you are now, Theo-
and he said-oh, in such a queer voice
that it was because your face was so sweet
and tranquil that it rested him to look at
you; that he thought the damsel in the
| House Beautiful who led Christian to the
chamber called "Peace,' must have been
something like you, and that when once
he entered here all his troubles and wor-
ries slipped away from him, Just as Christ
ian's burden slipped from his back when
he reached the cross"
Theo's bushes grew still more intense
she pulled her needle so sharply through
the stocking she was mending that the
worsted snapped suddenly.
1t was very rude of you to ask him
such question" she added, with a crush
ing air of dignity which was quite thrown
away on Dollie "The idea of asking any
gentleman whether he thought l was
pretty / thought you haa more sense
Dolliem
But Dollie declined to be snubbed.
q But / didn't ask him that Theo
What | wanted to know was why he was
always staring at you; there was nothing
rude in that" she retorted placidly
Theo deemed it best net to pursue the
subject. She laughed and changed the
conversation; but her cheeks were still
burning painfully, and her heart was
beating with a strange sensation of sur
prise and pleasure.
Could it be true? Was she really a
comfort to him? she wondered. Was it
really rest to him, after his hard days
work, to come in and spend quiet half.
hour in the pleasant drawing-room, to chat
with her mother and herself, or-as hap
pened quite often-to sit in silence and
lean back in his chair while she PLAYED
his fayorite nocturnes and symphonies tc
him? Was it this that his constant visits
to the Red House-as DIR. Farquhar's
house was called-and which took place
always once and sometimes two or three
times week, meant? There was very
little formality or ceremony at the Rec
House and during the last few
weeks they had all grown so accus
toned to the Wears visits that they had
almost ceased to consider him visitor
Mrs. Farquhar would look up and smile
when he entered the room, and hold out a
white hand to him with pleasant word
of welcome. Dollie-who was not very
strong Just then, and was having long
holiday would lift her dreamy eyes from
her book and give him a nod and smile
and Theo would bring him cup of tea
and then go back to her work, or her mu-
sic, or whatever she was doing when he
entered the room, and leave him to talk or
be silent, as he liked best
No one but Chetwynd himself knew
how he had grown to look forward to those
quiet half-hours, or how sweet and strange
this glimpse of home life and domestic
happiness was to him. He had never
known it before; his father and mother
had died when he was quite child; all
his life up to the time of his ordination
had been spent at school, or col
lege, or with his godfather the