Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-09-03

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to Gray his right, as her kinsman, to
shield her from trouble, to do all that
he might for her happiness. And when
he was persuaded hat she might have
been his but for copditioIs outside her
own impulses, it was but = step for his
lawless fancy to dream that all obstacles
might yet be overcome-that it vas for
him to chase the sadness from her eyes
and bring back the bright glow of hap
piness.
Another Saturday had come, IN smiles
and tears, like a mockery of April
weather. All the morning the sun had
been coquetting through the meshes of
storm clouds, and now in the late after
noon the sky had cleared and the world
seemed steaming itself dry in the food
of mellow sunshine. The common lux
ury of fair weather was for the time
valued at its worth, and everybody had
come u of doors to enjoy it to the ut
most.
Anita, with a small party. was climb
ing a trail smooth and clean from the
beating of the rain as if it had just been
swept. winding up a brook SEayersed
gulch. A warm, brooding silence held
the place; not a whisper among the pine
tops nor among the gray green fringes
of the spruces bending heavily down
from their precarious footing; no f~aintest
rustling among the seed plumes of the
grasses, all with their heads bowed
down together oyerweighted with jew
eled drops: no chirp of gossiping grass
hopper, nor droning chant of the bee.
Delicious it was, after two days of on
finement in that stuffy ranch house, to
drink in that pure air that went to the
lungs like a tonic.
Her cheeks softly flushed, her eyes
sparkling, her lips parted in a Lalf smile
as she painted with the exercise in the
rare air, Anita led the way, stopping
sometimes to caress the petals of a late
flower, sometimes to look back at the
valley below to estimate the height they
had attained while she recovered her
spent breath. Turning at length. it
seemed as if the earth had suddenly
opened to swallow up the little band,
leaving only Gray and her.
''Why, where is everybody she cried.
staring blankly down the deserted trail.
1.-The antique young lady discovered
that the ground was damp, quite a way
back, and went down after her rnbbers.
The elderly gentleman CALAMITY went
along, and thus. of course, her mother
had to 90 too, to chaperon her. She is
such a tender little thing" explained
Gray placidly.
well" impatiently, 'that does not
account for all of them"
aDo | have to-" with languid amuse-
ment at her discontinue. Mrs. Rogers
she said she was going around home
this way, you know-branched off a little
piece back, perhaps to take a short cut
home, perhaps to-botanize. OF course
the parson branched off with her"
"Of course" gazing wrathfully down
the path. "Well. | suppose we would
better go back too"
Il can't possibly imagine why" re-
torted Gray quickly. IF you really feel
that you must have a crowd at your
heels, those young people are down there
behind the rocks, pulling daises or some
thing Of the like. to see if the girls lover
loves her. while he looks on, prepared to
prove whether the posy tells the truth or
not. can call to them to defer their
spooning and hurry up"
.'Preposterousl Have you no fellow
feeling" gazing uncertainty up at the
towering cliffs ahead, the goal of their
walk. 1t was disappointing to turn back
now.
''Fellow feeling? dead loads of it-so
much that | would not interrupt them
on my account for the world; but !
could sacrifice them for you"
"Well, | don't requireit. Twas young
once myself"
II am glad You remember it SO per-
tinently. And shall we go ong'
Anita pushed rapidly ahead, in silent
acquiescence. Gray put out his hand to
help her as the way grew sleeper, but she
impatiently drew herself away from
him. She was un~reasonably vexed with
him for the desertion Of the others.
Il suppose they will overtake us" she
said. glancing anxiously back as they
sank down on the rocks at the summit,
exhausted with the hard climb. Cray
coughing a little.
$50 much the worse for them if they
don't" breathlessly exclaimed Gray, APP
preciatively taking in the grandeur of
the landscape.
High against the western horizon lay
the range. its gray bones protruding
through many a rent in its snowy blan-
kets, the pale pink and blue gray of the
rocks merging into the deeper tones of
the dense pine forests at the evenly de-
fined timber line, while nearer rose and
fell the massive outlines of the foothills.
vast pillows of solid earth. Towering
above them all rose the grim, snow
capped head of Ute peak. Anita's eyes
ranged curiously up and down its rug
ged height OF a sudden it struck her
as rather odd that in this week at the
park, with the too ample opportunity |
provided by the rain to compel people
into intimate acquaintance, nobody had
mentioned to her Donald's adventure on
the mountain yonder. Was it in tender
consideration for the wife's feelings?