Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-11-15

aquline, but not prominently SO; he had
wide open hazel eyes and a very pleasan.
smile; har beard and mustachc were Of
a reddish brown HIS dress suit might
almost be termed a work of art. so adj
mrably did it fit him. There were evil
dent traces of shyness for the first few
minutes in his manner towards the
ladies, although it was far from being
the shyness of rustitity; but it quickly
wore away, and before long he seemed
as much at his ease as if he had been in
the habit of visiting at the rectory for
years. 1t was then found that he could
talk sensibly and well on a variety of
topics. He had evidently an intimate
acquaintance with London and Paris,
while no handled certain questions of the
day after the fashion of one who is in the
habit of speaking with some degree of
authority, OF himself personally he
made little mention. Having few idle
weeks on his hands, he sought out a
quiet nook where he could sketch, or
fish, or lie on his back in the sun and do
nothing, without being called to account
by anybody,
Later they had music. Here again
Mr.. Gascoigne was at home He had a
pleasant light tenor voice, which had
evidently been carefully cultivated, and
he sang with taste and feeling several
morceaux both English and Italian.
Music was Margerys one special accom-
plishment, and when Mr.. Gascoigne
praised her playing it was clear that he
er,l,a Fran, c,n-iation onI not From, o,,v
desire to hatter her. After that they had
a stroll by the light Of the young moon
in the sweet smelling garden, iii which
the fragrance of hundred bycono sum
mers seemed still to linger. The rector
and Mrs. Jenrick, who were cronies of
long standing paired naturally, leaving
tho younger couple to themselves. it is
possible that MIR. Gascoigne felicitated
himself on his skill in drawing Margery
out, when the petite white ROBBED figure,
pacing so denurely by his side, began to
talk of herself-of her dreams, her as
pir2tions. her ignorance of the great
world outside the village boundaries and
of her lonely but far from unhappy life
at the old rectory. Simple minded Mr..
Gascoigne!
In any case, he seemed to derive great
satisfaction from listening to the comics
sions of this tender little soul--so fresh,
so virginia., so isolated, with an ignor-
ance Of life and all its burning questions
which was at once amusing and pathetic
in the naivete Of its expression. The rec
tor and the widow, to whom the garden
by moonlight conjured up visions Of
rheumatism rather than of romance, had
been deep in a game Of bezique for some
time before Margcry-decming perhaps
that she had "confossed' enough for one
evening-and her companion went in
doors. a little later came Mr. Gas
coignc'5 fly. The rector wruns an easily
extorted promise from his guest that this
first visit should not be his last, besides
which an arrangement was come to for
certain fishing excursions to be taken
in company. TO the Rev. Dyke, in tho
loneliness and isolation Of Whiteapple,
Nh Ga3coignc, fresh from the world of
men and things, and brimful Of infor-
nation, came like a veritablc go1send,
and he resolved to sccIre as much of
his society as possible while he had the
chance of it. Besides, might not certain
other possibilities loom in the future?
When Mr.. Gascoigne was gone the
rector escorted Mrs. Jcnrick as far as the
gate Of Jonquil cottage, a ceremony he
uel er pretormitted whenever the charm
ing widow honored his roof with her
presence. Indeed, there were not want,
ing Cos FPS in the village to whisper that
Whenever it should please Providence to
remove Mrs. termor number two from
this vale of tears, people would not have
fart lock for Mrs. Fcrmor number three.
Here it may be mentioned that, such
d nonen;ity had Mrs. Fermor by this
time become, and so mach did her
maladi real and imaginary, keep
her to the rooms set apart for
her, it had not been deemed neces
sary, as fax rs Mr.. GascOgne was con
cerned, even to allude to the existence
of such a person.
u would give something to know who
and what our new friend really is" said
the Rev. Dy }c to his daughter on his re-
turn from escorung Mrs. Jenrick nome.
You have formed some opinion about
him, papa, I've no doubt. What would
you guess him TO be?'
Il take him to be a man of independ-
enr means, not necessarily rich, but suf-
ticiently vel to do to be able to live
without working-a condition of affairs
l would gladly initiate were in posi-
ton to do SO. He is man who has
Travelled, who has read, and who has
tuuught--thrce things which do not al
ways 90 together Ile is evidently worth
cultivatiaG, and we must endcavur TO as
certain more about him. It's a pity
Dame Nature has played him such z
scuvy trick, But for that there might
have boen-who knows?,-a chance fol
Margery Daw." He pointed the tips OF
his fingers together and smiled mean
ingly at his daughter
Papa, answered Mcrgery, who was
not smiling at al, - am nearly sure
that l have found out who Mr.. Gas.
coisnc really is"
THE dickens you have! But how did
you make the discoveryi'