The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-03-15
Love and Stars.

When | watched the HOOK upon eho bu
Boron remained whole weeks without see
ing living SOUL alone in the pasturage
with my dog, Labri, and my sheep. From
time to time he hermit of Mont de Pure
passed there to look for medical herbs, or
saw the black face of some Piedmont colller
but they were simple souls, silent by dlnt
of solitude, having lost the taste for talk
ing and knowing nothing of what was said
down in the villages and towns.
Hence every two weeks, when l heard
upon the ascending highway the bells OF
our farm mule bringing me my provisions
for the coming fortnight, and saw grad
uaily appear from below the lively coun-
tenance of the little farm boy or the req
locks of old Aunt Norade, was indeed de-
lighted | made the visitor tell me the
news of the country at the foot OF the
mountain-the baptsms, the marriages.
hut that which interested me most of all
was what had happened to my masters
daughter, our Demoiselle Stephanette, the
Drettiest girl for ten leagues around.
Without appearing to be too much bent
upon acquiring this knowledge gathered
information as to whether she went grea1
deal to parties and evening assemblies
whether new admirers were stlll throhB-
ing about her, and should you ask me
what good those details could do me,
n poor shepherd of the mountain, VIII re-
piy that was twenty years old, and that
Stephanette was in my eyes the hand
soonest creature on the face of God S earth.
Now, one Sunday when l was waiting
for nv provisions, it so CHANGED that they
did not arrive until very late. In the morn
ing | said to myself ut is the fault OF the
high mass" Then toward noon heavy
storm came on, and thought that the mule
had been unable to set out because of the
had condition of the road. At last, about
Bo'clock in the afternoon, the sky having
cleared and the mountain being all OF u
glitter with water and sunlight, heard
amid the droppngs from the leaves and
fbe OVERLOOKING of the swollen brooks the
bells of the mule, as gay and brisk as a
grand church chime on Easter day.
But it was neither the little farm boy
nor old Aunt Norade who was urging the
animal along. 1t was-guess who? Our
llemoiselle my friends-our demoisele her
self, seated right between the osier baskets,
all rosy with the mountain air and the cool
ness brought on by the storm.
The little farm boy was sick. Aunt No
rade was absent on holiday visit to her
children. Pretty Stephanette told me all
this as she sprang down from her mule,
and also that she was late in arriving be-
cause she had lost her way But to see her
30 finely dressed, with her lowered ribbons,
her brilliant skirts and her lace, she had
rather the air of having fingered at some
dance than of having sought for her road
among the bushes.
Oh, the delicious creaturel My eyes could
not grow weary of gazing at her. 1t is true
that had never seen her SO near. Some
times during the winter, when the flock had
gone down into the plain and | had re-
IL In To no fn
sup, she passed brskly through the hall,
without talking much to the servants, al
ways bedecked and a trifie naughty Now
had her there before me, for myself alone.
Was it not enough to turn my head?
When she had taken the provisions from
the basket Stephanette began to look Curl
ously around her. Raising little her Sun
day skirt, that might otherwise have be-
come stained with mud she entered the
fold She wished to see the corner where
slept, the pile of straw that was my bed,
my sheepskin covering, my big cape hung
against the wall, my crook and my flint
lock gun. All this amused her.
$50 it is here you live, is it, my poor
shepherdP" said she, with heavenly
smile. How tired you must get of always
being alone What do you dor What dc
you think aboutW
j had a strong desire to reply, About
you, mistress" and should have told the
truth but my confusion was so great that
could not find single word Think she
noticed this, and that the mischievous
creature took pleasure in rebuilding my
embarrassment with her roguery.
''And your sweetheart, shepherdP" con
tinued she. docs she climb up here tC
see you sometimes? Surely she must be
the Golden Goat or the Fairy Esterelle
who skips only over the SUBMITS of the
mountains" And she herself as she spoke
thus to me had the very air of the Fairy
Esterelle, with her lovely head thrown
back, the pearly laughter ripping from
her cherry lips and her haste to depart
that made her visit seem like dazzling
vision.
''Adeu, shepherdw
"Adieu, mistress!"
And she was gone, bearing away will
her the empty baskets
When the descending road hid her from
sight it seemed to me that the stones roll
ing beneath the shoes of the mule wer,
falling one by one upon my heart. heart
them long, long time, and until the clos
of the day / was like one wrapped in
sweet slumber, fearing to stir lest nigh
drive away my dream.
Toward evening, as the depths Of tn
valley began to grow blue and as the sheel
huddled together, bleating to return to tn
fold, heard some one call me down tn
road and saw reappear our demoiselle. N,
longer smiling as had seen her n shor
time before, but trembling with cold, fei
and wet. 1t seems that at the base of I'll
mountain she had found the Sorgue tie
ribly swollen by the recent rain, and TIL
in making desperate effort to cross it 81
had nearly been drowned
The most dreadful thing of all was TIL
Mt this hour of the night she could N
think of attempting to return to the farI
for our demoiselle by herself could new
find the way by the short cut and / cou
not leave the flock. The idea of passir
the night upon the mountain tormented h
almost to madness, particularly on accou
of the uneasiness her family would fe,
AS for me treasured her the best / W
able.
'In July the nights are short, mistress
said |. ut will hardly seem more than
wretched moment"
And quickly kindled roaring fire,