Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1890-08-16

suitor was good, honest, and laborious;
she seemed to read promises of happi-
ness in his tender gray eyes; but ths.
cricket would not agree. Il would per-
aaps be dangerous 20 despise its warning,
and when the tired youth came, with
beating heart and a voice broken by emo
ton, to ask Noeliness mother for her
hand, the mother was grave and the
young miller could hardly keep from
sobbing aloud behind her apron. Jo-
nanin was refused. They did not give
him the true reason, 1t would have
panied him too much to learn that he
would bring misfortune to any house he
entered.
The mother found plausible reasons 20
give him. and Noeline went out TO con-
ceal her sorrow. She sat down near the
mill stone in the dilapidated mill, listen
ing to the drops of water as they fell on
the big iron wheel. and when she heard
Jonanin shut the. door and pass out
among the alders, and along the bank of
the stream mourning to himself, it
seemed to her that her heart had stopped
beating, and she prayed to God aloud, as
The following week Jonanin left the
country. With his clothes tied up in a
little bundle he went away at dusk,
when the last leaves were shivering on
the trees He went through the alder
woods and along the bank of the little
brook of Espitos. The young miller saw
him come and she stood motionless be-
fore her mill.
"Good night, Noeline, " he said slowly.
"Good night, Jonanin, she replied,
dropping her eyes.
Then, as he went on, she yentured to
ask:
@Are you leaving the country?"
He seemed to stagger on the leaf cOv-
cred path.
Eyes, have found place at Orthez.
She said nothing. Her fingers played
with the little silver cross which hung
about her neck, and with troubled eyes
she watched Jonanin until he disappeared
among the deepening shadows of the
silent forest
A small, thin, pale person, with hands
and feet like those of skeleton, looking
rs if nature had begun to make a woman
and failed, but with two big black eyes
much younger than her face, such was
Noeline Farques, the miller of Espitos,
twenty years after the departure of Jo-
nanin Lacaze. Women in the south fade
early The mill, older by twenty years.
and showing it, stood across the stream,
keeping erect by the aid of some addi-
tional crutches, and its tic tao was just
rs Joyous as when it was new.
NOeline had never married. After Jo-
nanin went away no other lover could
touch her heart Aristide Lariensec,
who had loved her with a passionate,
jealous love, had been refused like the
others. The young man. long inconsol-
able, had married at last. he never came
to see Noeline except TO sell his grain.
They had doubtless both forgotten the
fruit they used to eat beside the mill
stone while the flour fell white and silent,
powdering everything around.
Jonanin had never come back. Many
and many a time Noeline had walked
along the border of the stream with the
hope of seeing him reappear. She thought
of him. every day; and every night when
the cricket sang she dreamed melancholy
dreams before her sad hearthstone until
her rushIight died out.
Alasl Orthez was so far off. People
from Espitos never went there. At the
shop in the town they had no news Of
Jonanin. What had become of the
youth with the blonde hair2 Sometimes,
when her old maids soul was sadder
than usual, Noellne prayed for him, but
little by little the beating Of her heart
grew cold and monotonous
One night NoeIine, who was AZ years
old, was waiting for Lariensec, the
former rival of Jonanin. He was coming
to discuss the price of the maize he
wished to sell her. The miller had of
fered 12 francs sous q sack. The farmer
asked 10 sous more. 1t was nearly 0
o'clock. The shadows were warm; the
moon threw its white light on the wind
ing path through the alders. Noeline,
saw some one coming.
1T is not Lariensec, she thought; @h0
would not come by that path.
The man had O wooden box on his
lack, he walked slowly, seemed tired,
and looked at the stream and the trees
and the mill as a stranger might.
Good evening"" he said, stopping.
Would you like to see Notre Dame de
Lpurdes?"
He is a Bearnaise or a Bigourdan col
porteur, thought Noeline. "One OF
those merchants from Pau or Bagnieres
who, under the pretext If showing an
image of the Virgin at the bottom Of
their box, sell chaplets and medals,
thread and needles TO the country peo-
pie
MY friend, it is rather dark to see
your Virgin
But as the merchant had gentle
voice, and as the intercession of the Vir-
gin might induce Lariensec to sell his
corn at - francs sous the sack, Noel
ine said: @Comein; viii look at the Holy