Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1893-01-17
Tho answers came nom within the

Tho answers came from within the
wagon.
Il was sad, sweet voice that answer.
Cd the old gentleman's call. A ladys
voice-the voice Of Q high bred woman,
delicate, distinct, self possessed. That
sound itself was tragedy In such spot.
|, In an instant the Lady % sweetly her.
aided stepped from beneath the hood Of
the wagon, and sprsng 10 the ground In
moro busy and cheerful guisr than her
voice had promised.
Again the same subtle magnetism be-
tween her and us. We could not have
been more convinced Of her right 10 ab.
solute respect and consideration II she
had entered to us In the dusky light Of q
rich drawing room, or II we had been
presented In due form at picnic OF the
grandest world. with far other scenery
than this Of "desart idle," tenanted for
the moment by q Mormon caravan. The
lady. like her father, felt that We were
gentlemen, and therefore would compre-
hend her. She saluted usquietly. There
was In her manner tacit and involun.
tary protest against circumstances, Just
enough for dignity. A vulgar woman
would have snstched mp and put on
clumsily Q have-seen-better-days air.
This lady knew herself, and knew that
she could not be mistaken for other than
she was. Her base background only
made her nobility more salient.
She did not need any such background,
nor the contrast Of the drudges and mer-
etrcious frights Of the caravan. She
could have borne full light without any
shade. A woman at to stand peer among
the peerless.
We could not be astonished at this ap-
partition. We had OWNED her father
rightly, ~ 1t afterward proved. Her
voice has already half disclosed her char.
acter.
A mature woman; beyond girlhood,
body and soul. With all her grave de-
meanor, she could not keep down the
wiles Of gracefulness that ever bubbled
to the surface. II she could but be her
happy self, what . fair world she would
suddenly create about heri
She was dressed In rough gray cloth,
a. any lady might be for . journey. She
was evidently one whose resolute neat.
ness repels travel stains. After the
tawdry, draggled silks Of the young wo-
men we had Just seen, her simplicity
was charmingly fresh. Could she and
they be Of the same race OF beings!
They were apart as far ss coarse from
fine, a. silvern from brazen. To see her
here among this horde was q horror In
itself. No horror the less that she could
not blind herself to her position and her
fate. She could not fail TO zee what a
bane was beauty here. That she had
done 10 was evident. She had essayed
by severe plainness Of dress to erase the
lady from her appearance. A very idle
attemptl There she was, do what she
would, her beauty triumphing over all
the wrong she did to 1t for duty's sake.
All these observations ! made with
one glance. Description seems idle when
one remembers how eyes can see at q
fash what II took cons TO prepare for
and 4 lifetime to form.
Brent and I exchanged looks. This
was tho result Of our fanciful present..
ments. Here was visible the woman we
had been dreading to 6nd. 1t still
seemed an impossible vision. Ialmost
believed that the old gentleman's blanket
would rise with him and his daughter,
like the carpet Of Fortunatus, and trans
port them suddenly away, leaving us be-
side Mormon wagon In Sizzum's camp
and In the presence Of . frowzy family
cooking supper Of pork.
I looked again and again. II was all
real. There was the neat, comfortable
wagon; there was the feeble, timid old
gentleman pottering about; there was
this beautiful girl, busy with her tea and
smiling tenderly over her father.