The Portland daily press., 1891-05-16
sne rose at last and -n,esrvoaislv nacad

thesfioor. Why should she thinksof Jacb
Renshaw? Why could she not shut him
out of mind? She-Eleanor Armstrong
who always had sailed on the crest Of
the wave, to find herself now choppine
dismally in the trough. 1t was too ex
asperating.
Yet again and again the same vision
haunted her memory, and ever and ever
against her will, the same questions
forced an answer. Why could she moi
forget him? How well he lookedl Why
hadlshe never noticed his fine expression
What ease and self possession were his
Why had she been SO blind before? And
| SO. and SO she vexed herself as the night
hours wore away.
Within week Jack was back at .Cho
corua, a guest at The Elms,. theyillage
inn. Eleanor saw him constantly, was
obliged to do so, since he was general
faTorite, although not given to games.
His attitude toward her was perplex.
ing. Politely Indifferent, he neither
i stunned nor sought her. Eleanor was,
assalways, gay. But her gayety was fit
full; now bordering on extravaganza, as
when she dashed after hay cart with
Fred; now relapsing almost to sobriety,
as when. she sought, the kitchen to assert
rags with old Aunt Eunice.
One afternoon following the arrival of
the daily stage she and the Kensel girls
proposed walking up to the village post
Office for. letters. They were joined on
the way by Fred, and at The Elms by
re-enforcements, including Mr.. Jerome,
Arthur and Jack. At-the postoffce de-
livery Kitty Kensel volunteered to call
for letters for the company.
"Mr. Jerome Arthur, one; Miss Grace
+. Morris, two-three! more than your
share, Grace Morris; Miss Persis G. A.
Pratt, two and a card; Miss Catharine
Kensel-that's me-one; Miss Eleanor
Armstrong, card and letter-oh. seel
and dead letter, toor'
ga dead letter. Oh, let's seei" cried
allsthe girls, huddling' together.
Jack Renshaw stood at Eleanor's right,
looking quietly on.
Behold her rosy cheek. doth. pale,
And palsied grow her lily hands;
She dare not rend the mysticveil-
ran on the giddy girl who had delivered
the letter.
Eleanor flushed and wrenched the en-
velope in laughing contempt.
"See If | dare notp she exclaimed
Inc lnciosed letter fell to the floor,
with the addressed side conspicuously
uppermost. Jack stopped and restored
it to her, inevitably reading the super
scnption as he did so. Eleanor at that
moment readit also.
~. III. Renshaw"-nothing less, moth
ing more. In amazement and confusion
she raised her eyes to his, which were
eagerly regarding her The lightning of
recognition flashed between them.
There it was, her own letter of a year
ago sent to the dead letter office on ac-
count of an unfinished address. She re-
membered it all. She had written his
name, nothing more, that day when she
was hesitating to send the letter. A call
e- had interrupted and made her forget
Then the maid had mailed it as it was.
So Jack had never heard from her,
and she had never heard from Jack
again.
Eleanor hastily thrust the letter in her
pocket and hurried from the Office. fol-
lowed by the chattering company, whose
attention was already caught by another
matter.
Jack soon took his place by her side
on the homeward way. Neither spoke
until they came to where the old path
led out from the main road and through
the meadow along the river.
The shadows were long and cool, and
the golden sunset light swept down the
depths of the quiet water like reflected
sky.
Eleanor" said Jack, pausing at the
turn, 81 think I see how it all was; I
think 1 understand. Do I not?"
Her heart beat thick and fast. She
would not trust herself to speak; she
only looked away to the sky.
"Shall we walk by the river tonight?o
he continued, "and would you care now,
as would, not little, but with all my
soul and for all my life, if we never had
walked together again.
Eleanor lifted her eyes to his with a
look which answered his fondest hope,
as they turned and went down the river
path.
''But really, Jack, you do make me
think of an owl sometimes-you look so
very solemn and wiser she said, with a
flash of her old audacity, as they came
again in the twilight down to the farm
horca rate