, 1889-01-24

s*1A-Nt ~ t-As'!'t tItsIS tiltiF Cl DlTuS which
Kept rising and falling and going round and
round in the H!uc air lie rcpea. Il Nlarjo-y's
name aloud, and the sound Of it gratilieI lis,
car He hut his eyes, and her image sprang.
up before him, quietly luminous and attend
ed J7I,L good thoughts. The river might run
forever; the birds fly higher and higher till
they touched the stars lie saw i: was empty,
hustle after all; for here. without stirring a.
foot, waiting Patiently il his own narrow
light
The next day VIII made sort of declara-
ton across the dinner table, while the parson
w@s filling his pipe.
Miss MarjOry," he said, Il never knew
any one I liked 50 well as you. am mostly
cold unkindiy sort Of man, not from want
OF heart, buc out Of stranGeness in my way
Of thinking; and people seem far away from
me. 'Tis as if there We're Il circle round me,
which kept every one out but you. can
hear the others talking and laughing, but
You come quite close. Maybe this is disa-
grccable to yOu.1 he asked
DlurjoTy made no answer.
Speak up, girl, said the parson
Nay, now" returned VIII, Il wouldn't
press her, parson. L feel tongue tied myself,
who am not used to it, and she's n woman,
unL little more than u child, when all is said
But for my part as far as | can understand
what people mean by it, l fancy must be
what they call in love. l do not wish to be
held as committing myself, for | may he
wrong, but that is how believe things are
with ne. And if Miss Marjory should feel
any otherwise on her part, mayhcp she would
lie so kind as shake her head"
Mallory was silent, and gave no sign that
she had heard.
"How is that, parson!n asked Will
''Thc girl must speak, replied the parson,
laying down his pipe. "Here's our neighbor
who says he loves you, Madge. Do you love
HIM, ay or no:'
Il think do" said Marjory, family.
"Wcll, then, that's all that could be
wished.7 cried VIII, heartily. And he took
her hand across tho table and held it =
nomcnt in both of his with great satisfaction
You must marry" observed the parson,
replacing his pipe in his mouth.
rs that the right thing to do, think you."
demanded VIII.
80 is Indispensable" said the parson.
She seemed to recover herself at that,
turned without n word, walked rapidly
through the garden and disappeared into the
house, leaving VIII in some confusion as to
the result lie walked up and down the
garden, whistling softly to himself. Some
times he stopped and contemplated the SKY
md hilltops; sometimes he went down TO the
tail of the weir and sat there, looking foolishly
IN the water. All this dubicty and perturha-
*i,-u was SO foreign to his nature and the life
which he had rcsolutoly chosen for himself
Chat lie began TO regret Marjory's arrival.
r fter all, J" hc thought, II was rs happy Us
Tan need be. could come down here and
va ch my fishes all day long if l wanted; l
w. as settled and coHtentCd as my old mill.
jlarjOry came down to dinner looking very
trim and quiet; and 10 sooner We're all three
ut table than she made her father a speech,
with her eyes fixed upon her plate, but
showing no other sign of embarrassment or
distress.
Father she began, "Mr VIII and l have
been talking things over. We see that We
have each made q mistake about our feelings,
and nc has agreed, at my request, to give up
nil idea of marriage, and bc no more than my
very good friend, ;ls in the past You see
there j. no shadow of IA quarrel and indeed l
hope we shall aoc great deal of him i'll the
future, for his visits viii always be welcome
in our house. OF course, father, you will
know best but lalrhaIs wo should do better
TO leave Mr.. Wits huu.e for the present. |
believe, after what has passed, we should
hardly be agreeable inmates for some days"
VIII, who had commanded himself with
difficulty from he first, broke out upon this
into an inarticul2tc noise, and raised one
hand with an appearance of real disIEay, as
if he Wero about TO interfere and contradict.
But she checked him 1T once, looking up ct
him with a swift glance and an angry flush
upon her chc'lz.
You will perhaps have the good grace
she said, 'to ltt ne cNr!j;in these matters for
myself"
VIII wa5 puG entirely out of countenance
by her expression and the ring Of her voice.
He held his pca"c conciaGng that there We're
some thi8eS II out his girl beyond his COM
prchcnsiou in w;is-,l l,c WAS exactly right
The poor Irgl7,o1 v-as quite crcstfallen He
tried to prove stGt this no more than
true lovers tiT, which would pass of before
night; and when he y,.,i dIslodgcd from that
POSITION. hr went on to argue that where
there was no quarrel there could be 10 call
fur n separation: for the good man liked
both his entertainment and his host. It wa.
curious to see how the girl managed them.
saving little all the time, and that very
quietly, and vet twisting them round irs'
FINGER aud iIsensiLIy. leading them whcrcv'r
she yvoalI by feminine tact and gencralshii
II s,.lrt,.l.- .scIla,l to have been her doiu.r-
it seemed "a If Things had merely SO fan
out-that she and her father took their ':''
parturc that same afternoon i'll Il tal-
cart and went farther down the val
tn wait until their OWN house was ready
tbcm in another hamlet But VIII l.
been Observing closely, and was we'll Nv.
of her dcxtcritv and resolution. WIZ;
found himself alone hc had great IN.
curious matter; to turn over II his mind.
was very sad ard solitary, to begin with.
the interest had gone out of his life, an
might look n;D Mt the stars as long Il
pleased. heson!chow failed to find suppoT;
consolation. Md then lac was in such a
MOL of spirit about Marjory. He had
puzzled and irritatcd mt her behavior,
vet he could not keep himself from admir-
it He thought he recognized u fine, pcrN '
angel in that still soul which he had IL
hitherto suspected, and though he saw Ii
m influence that would fit but i'll with
own life of artificial calm, he could not l.
himself from ardently desiring TO posses
Like a man who has lived among shadows a
r,uyy meets the sun, he WAS both panied oii-
delighted.
As the clays went forward he passed frota
one extreme to another; now pluming him
self on the strength of his determination,
row tleSpi5ing his timid and silly caution
The former was, perhaps, the true Thought
of his heart, and represented the regular
tenor of the mans reflections; but the latter
burst forth from time 10 time with an unriily
violence, and thcn he would forget all con-
garden or walk among the fir woods like olc
who Is beside himself with remorSc. i"
eauable, steady minded VIII this state q.
matters was inrolerable; and he determine,
- whatever cost 10 bring 1t TO an end =
or,. warm summer afternoon he put on IL
I;art CLOTHES. took Il thorn switch IN his haI :
aud Sc out down the valley by the river. ~
soon rs he hal taken his determination h
bad rc,ained al hound his customary peace
of heart, and lac enjoyed the bright weather
and the variety of the scene without any
adruixt,ll,e of alarm or unpleasant eagerness.
IT was nearly the same 10 him how the matter
turned out If she accepted him he would
have TO marry her this time, which perhaps
yvas all for tho best. Ii she refused him he
would have done his utmost, and might fol
I,r-- his own way in the future with an un-
troubled conscience lie hoped, on the whole,
she would refuse him; and then, again, as he
saw the brown roof which sheltered her,
peeping through some willows ut an angle of
Z l., 4r,