Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-02-10

over met ynu catch the spirit Of this
sacred music perfectly. Tomorrow, /
night shall prove whether you are so |
accomplished reader of secular mu-
sic. Goodnight, my dear child"
And he bent down to kiss ME. But |
lie vaded him, trying at the same time
scious; and, with smiling 'Good- |
night left the room.
AS soon as l had done so my heart |
sunk within me. What had I doneP |
Probably offended Mr.. Rayner beyond
recall by what must seem to him an |
absurdly strained piece of prudery. 1t
looked as if thought myself a person
of such attraction that he wanted to
kiss me to please himself, instead of
an insignificant little girl whom he was
going to kiss good-naturedly, as he
might have done if he had been her IA
ther. But then he was not my father,
and not nearly old enough to be so,
however paternal and kind his manner
might be. So comforted myself as well
as l could with the thought that, after
all, 1 had done only what was right
and prudent; and, if he was offended,
well, there was help for it.
The next morning, to my great re-
lief, his manner was just the same as
usual. I wondered whether should
be summoned to the drawing-room to
accompany him on the violin, as he had
spoken on the previous night of wish
ing me to do. But at tea he was much
preoccupied, and told Sarah that a gen.
tleman would be coming to see him
presently, who was to be shown into
the study.
AS he turned to say this, noticed
%J1,I 80
Rayner's pale features, and disappear
in moment before her husband could
see her face again; and thought saw
on Sarah's dark face a look of intelli-
gence when the order was given her,
as if she too knew something about the
| expected visitor. l tried not to think
| any more about it. was very anxious
| to improve myself, so l might be able
| to take an engagement as finishing
| governess. had a chapter to read in
Guizot's French History; but that was
| pleasant, easy work, and might be en-
joyed in the garden. l had seen the
stranger as I was crossing the hall after
tea. He was small, slight man, with
a fair mustaclse, who might be old or
young, and, although he wore only
gray traveling-su1t, he gave one the
impression Of beng very we'll dressed
| L
long before l made my way,
with a heavy volume of history
in my arms, to the pond, near the pref
test, reeGiest corner of which l had
made myself nice little nest. There
was here willow-tree which had been
forced by an aggressive oak to grow in
a slauting position, and one of its low
est branches hung parallel to the
ground. This made my seat, and a
| piece of cord fastened from branch to
branch foot and half above made q
rest for my back. l read my Guizot,
conscientiously hunting out in the die
tionary all the words l did not know,
until the light began to fade, and Twas
heard voices that seemed to be coming
toward me from the house. The
speakers, a man and woman, were
passing along path near where l sat.
Iconcluded to w ait until they had gone
by before l went in. l could not see
them, nor could they see me, l knew.
When they came little nearer, rec
ognized Sarah's voice; the other was
that of a man of a class much higher
than her own. Could it be the stranger?
He was talking familiarly and seriously
with her. Sarah was speaking in a
tone of bitter complaint, and the first
words l heard were hers.
81 won't stand it much longer-and
so tell YOU"
Tell him my dear Sally-if you dare.
And now oblige me by speaking little
lower;'
She began again in a lower voice,
but in the same tone, and, from the oc-
casional words heard-for 1 could not
help listening-I gathered that she was
angry because some unknown She
paid to much attention to some un-
known cher" But 1 could guess who
they were. Sarah had an admirer, g
man some years younger than herself
who lived a long way off-and who
paid her visits at irregular intervals.
Mr. Rayner took great interest in this
lcve-aifair, and derived much amuse-
ment from it; he had somehow discov.
: cred that the admirer, whose name was
Tom Parkes, was inclined to pay more
} attention than was meet to the kitchen
maid, Jane; and it was Mr.. Rayner''
opinion that there would be very little
) left of Jane if she encouraged the tickle
} SWANS attention.
So Sarah was giving vent to her teal
ousy in an earnest and intimate CONVEX
sation with her masters guest. L
seemed a very strange proceeding.
''Look what I've done for him; think
how I've worked for him!' she said
; 'He would never be where he is now i
it wasn't for me. Does he think hi:
new fancy will plan for him and plo
for him, and risk"
"Hush, hush-don't speak so loud
. Where's your old discretion, Sally?'
''Let him look for discretion in Mis-
3 Baby, with her round face and he
child's eyes. Does he think he ca,
make use of her? Nonsense! 1t want
a woman that's strong i'll her head ant
strong in her limbs to do the work h.
wants done, and not soft little Chi
like thatr'
depend upon it, he is only amusin
: himself with the little simpleton," tn
man said, soothingly.
But she interrupted him in a tone Q
;. | half-SunnreSSed Sava rel.u tn at m ade m