Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-11-05
CHAPTER xxx.

CHAPTER xxx.
And now night has fallen at last upon
this long day. A gentle wind is shivering
through the e!ms a glorious moon has risen
in all its beauty, and stands in heavens
wide, painless way" as though conscious of
its grandeur, yet sad for the sorrows of the
seething earth beneath. Now Respondent
she shines, and now through a tremulous
mist shows her pure face, and again for a
space is hidden,
''As if her head she how'd
STOPPING through faecy cloud"
Miss Priscilla, with a sense Of neW-found
dignity upon her, has gone early to bed.
Miss Penelope has followed suit. Terence,
in the privacy of his own room IS rubbing
dirty oily flannel On the bright barrels of
his beloved gun, long since made over to
him as gift by Brian.
Kit is sitting on the wide, Old-fashioned
windOw-seat in Monica's room at her sisters
feet, and with her thin little arms twined
lovingly round her. She is sleepy enough,
poor child, but cannot bear to desert Mon
lea, who is strangely wakeful and rather ST.
lent and distrGtte. For ever since the morn
ing when he had come to carry Miss PriS-
ella to Coole, Brian has been absent from
her; not once has he come to her; anu
sense of chill and fear, as strong as it is fool
ish, is overpowering her.
She rouses herself now with little ner-
vouS culver that seems to run through all
her veins, and lets her hand fall on Kit s
dropping head.
1T grows very late. Go to bed, darling"
she says, gently.
Not till you CO., says Kit, tightening the
clasp Of her arms.
well, that shall be in moment, them"
says Monica, with stifed sigh. All through
the dragging day and evening she has chung
to the thought that surely her lover will
come to bid her goodnight" And now it
is late, and he has not come, and
She leans against the side of the wide-Open
easement, and gaZes in sad meditation upon
the slumbering garden underneath. The
lilies,-"tall white garden-lilieS, Though
it is late in the season now, and bordering
on SHOWS and frOstS, are still SWayingt0 and
fro, and giving most generously rich per-
fume to the wandering air. Earth's stars
they seem to her, as she lifts her eyes to
compare them with the ''forget-me-nots of
the angels up above.
Her first disappointment about her love is
desolating her. She leans her head against
the woodwork, and lifts her eyes to the
vaguely-tinted sky. Thus with face up
turned she drinks in the fair beauty of the
night, and, as its beauty grows upon her,
her sorrow deepens.
with how sad steps o moon7 thou climb'st
How silently, and with how wan face,
Thou fcePst a lovers case!
read it in thy locks; thy langntsh'd grace, -.
To me- that feel the like thy state describes"
AS she watches the pale moon, Sidney's
sod lc rob, tn hnr TJJ-t hIano
resting in a bath of palest azure, whilst all
around her clouds, silyer-tinged, are lying
out from her, trembling in mid-air.
Great patches of moonlight lie upon the
garden sward. One seems brighter than it's
fellows, and as her eyes slowly sink from
heaven to earth, they rest upon it, as though
attracted Unconsciously by its brilliancy.
And, even as she looks, a shadow falls
athwart it, and then, low, quick CRY breaks
from her lips.
what is it?' says Kit, scrambling to her
knees.
'Only Briml," says Monica, with hastily
drawn breath. A rich color has rushed into
her cheeks, her eyes are alight, her lips have
curved themselves into happy smile.
''Ifs al right now, then, and l can co."
says Kit, ioyfully.
Go? To bed, you mean, darling"
eyes, now l know you are hdppy," says
Kit, tenderly; and then the sisters embrace,
and presently Monica is alone, but for the
shadow in the moonlight.
lis it you, Monica?' says Brian, coming
close beneath her window, and looking up
ward.
She leans out to him, her white gown
cleaning softly III the moons rays.
''Oh, why venture out at this hour?' she
says, nervously. Now he is here,-Woman
Gke,-fears for his safety, forgotten before,
arise in all their horror. They may have
followed you; they may"
Come down to the balcony" he inter-
rupts her, with light laugh. 81 want to
talk to you. Nonsense, dear heart! [ am as
safe as a church. Who would touch me-,
with an angel like you near to protect me"'
His shadow, as he moves away, may again
be seen for an instant, before he turns the
corner of the old house; and Mon ca, open
ing her door softly, runs lightly down the
corridor and the staircase, and across the
hall and the dTawing-room floor, until
she reaches the balcony beyond, when she
finds his arms awaiting her.
"You nave missed me all uays' ne says
after a pause that to them has been divine.
''Oh, Brian, what day it has beenv' she
clings to him. "AlI these past hours have
been full of horror Whenever l thought
of Your danger last night, l seemed to grow
cold and dead with fear; and then when the
minutes slipped by, and still you never came
to me, began to picture you as cold and
dead, and then-Ahr' she clings still
closer to him, and her voice fails her II
never knew" she whispers, brokenly, show
we'll l loved you until | so nearly lost YOU.
l could not live without you now"
Nor shall you," returns he, straining her
to bis heart with passionate tenderness.
Vi y life is yours, to do what you will with
{. And somehow all day long knew (and
vas HAPPY i'll the knowledge, forgive me
HaD that you were lonely for want of me !;
Jut l could not come to you my soul, until
this very moment. Yet, believe me, suffer-
ed more than you during our long separa-
tion." Of any one laughs here, it will prove
lie has never been in love, and so is all OBJ
Ject Of pity. This should check untimely
mirth.)
you felt it long, too, them? says Monica,
hopefully.
How can you ask me that? Your darling
face was never once Out Of my mind, and
Yet could not come to you. l had so many
things to do, so many people to see, and the
poor old fellow was SO i'll. But have we not
cause to be thankful?-at last the breach be-
tween our houses is healed, and we may tell
all the world of our love"
You should have heard Aunt Priscilla,