, 1891-07-30
UNDER A CLOUD.

am Agnes Grey; or at least that wa.
my name when one bright summer day
the sky as blue as though there never
csHld be another cloud in it. | came home
across the fields from Nellie HobartIa
wedding. Very sweet she looked in her
bridal dress, and very fond the gentle.
man to whom she had given her hand
seemed to be of her The church was
decked with flowers, and not one Of
those whosat there but wished the pretty
young creature well. and as she stepped
out from the shadow Of the painted
windows into the clear, golden, out Of
door light / thought of the old rhyme
Happy is the bride
Whom the sun shines on.
And thought that she looked like one Of
those fair saints the old masters We're so
fond Of painting, blue eyed and blond.
and with mouths like those of smiling
babies.
l thought Of something else, also, as |
suppose every girl who had been to that
wedding did, could one but know the
truth. 1 wondered whether it would
ever be my turn TO stand where Nellie
stood that day, and what manner of man
my bridegroom would be; for had never
yet seen any one | could fancy giving
myself TO, almost body and soul, as u
wife must, | was making II picture Of
him for myself, like a goose, when my
foot caught in the grass, where some
boys had tied it, and down 1 fell, twist
ing my ankle and hurting my head. so
that for awhile | knew nothing.
A. last | felt some one lift me off the
ground, and opened my eyes to see that
it wal n great, swarthy, black eyed girl
of seventeen or sou girl with a careless
look about her dress which was no lady.
like. But she had the voice and manner
of n lady, and she asked me very kindly
if | were much hurt; and, seeing that |
was, picked me up in her strong arms
and carried me through a garden gate
and into n little parlOr, whore she hid
me on II sofa and bathed my hend with
rose water and told me to keep up my
courage, for Gideon has gone for a doc.
tor"
That name told mo where / was. /
was under u roof that had never
thought would shelter me, no matter
what would come to pass. | would have
risen ana gone away if | could have
stirred from the odd old sofa, For this
was Gideon Lees old homestead and
here dwelt the children of the man who.
sixteen years before, had been hung for
the murder of my Uncle Mathew.
/ was but "a baby when it all happened.
but | could remember how the whole
village was astir in search of the miss
ing man, and how a body was found ut
last in the hear of Alcott's woods, and
how the facts that there had beer a
quarrel between Gideon Lee and Uncle
Mathew, and that Gideon Lee owed the
latter money, and how they were last
seen together quarreling in Gideon's
garden, where a bloody handkerchief.
marked M. g." was found soon after
and brought Gideon to the gallows.
Perhaps hearing the story afterward
from my grandfather made me fancy |
remembered it, but at all events the
name | had learned to hate was that of
Gideon Lee. And now it was the child
born on the day Of her mothers death
the very day on which the father met
his awful fate-who lifted me from the
ground. dusky Madge Lee, who had
never found n playmate nor "A friend in
the town because of the ban upon her
fathers name, and Gideon, the son, who
bad been old enough TO understand it
all at the time, who came in with old
DIR. HUMPHREYS soon after.
They were not poor people. The house
was a substantial one, and there were
more books and pictures and tokens ol
refinement within than country home,
generally boast of. But even the farm
hands spoke contemptuously of the ''sor
of the man who vas hung, and the serv
ants who were hired by Madgp lie.
were not natives of the place
And here was 1, Mathew Grey's owl
niece, lying under the roof, aud likely t.
be there for some time, for the docto
forbade my removal
81 must so home-l must 20 ava
from this housed | said, angrily an
feverishly.
And Madge Lee looking down on III
as an Indian princess might, with he
dark eyes aglow, said, in T. bitter voice
"Never fear, Miss Grey, wen not mul
der your and somehow abashed N,
naughty as | was.
Grandpa was away from home, or
think even the risk of my life would NJ
} have kept him from taking me humt
and ! grew i'll and delirious, and Madg
Lee nursed me as a sister might. an
Gideon was kinder than a brother L