The Windham County reformer. (Battleboro, Vt.) 1876-1897, 1893-11-10

:
5. quence In his efforts to entertain hei
It but Cynthia was at all times absent an
., distraught, and appeared to be haunte
e by q nervous dread that Mr.. .Jerrol
T. was about to say soinf5l (which i
t would give her great pain % mar Upol
}, the slightest p1eteXt she would escap
IS HIM and bury herself amid the solitude
n of the sympathetic pines. Here tina
V strange trouble which made her hear
d ache would occasionally overflow he,
f eyes, and there were tears shed in til,
Q dim woods as little biddenas understood
g tears which the pines beiaoaned ant
/ the bluebirds and squirrels held sacred
Y but which somehow b1,l;A ", 1tne~bsflr
f Of relief to her who shed them.
Y ! do not think throughi it all that Miss
t Dallas was really conscious of being in
3 love, only in general way that she was
, bereaved and disappointed. The occur.
rences of tho past few months had come
{ to her in the light of revelation. She
was suddenly aware of the existence of
, some ono who possessed for her pecul-
lar sympathy; whose words awoke re-
; sponsive echo in her heart-some one i'm
measurably superior to the rough men
she usually encountered. r@~could not
explain tho strange claim this hitherto
unrealized being had upon her. She only
knew that it existed; that she longed for
it's influence; that she grieved when it
was denied. And there was associated
with this feeling, as there always is, one
of pique and injury for the apparent ne
glect which she had suffered.
How much this state of mind was nj.
leviated when the obliging sheriff put
into her hands the guitar Sent by Henry
Bruce it is impossible to say. Certain it
is that never instrument was the recip
lent of more tender treatment. She
adorned it with ribbons, carried it about
with her constantly and practiced as
siduously upon it. About this time the
elder Dallas, recognizing a formidable
rival, abandoned his owG-,4ertions upon
the violin. He viewed the advent of the
guitar with suspicion and commented
upon it with cynicism. Apparently he
recognized in the soft harmonies Cyn-
thia's deft fingers struck from the strings
a dangerous ally to sentilhent. Alcides.
as we have seen, was foe to romance.
eye wanter look out, Cynthy, fur the
poetry and nonsense tibet thar tarnal
thing'll fill you chuck full of, eff We once
turn it loose on yer onguarded feelin's,"
he said gravely, surprising her once
playing upon it with eyes that were
wistful and far away. tits destroyer
of the appetite, and gener'ly plumb full
O. onsatisfactoriness," bestowing glance
upon the glistening strings that was full
of foreboding. II knew girl once tibet
was tibet led away by one of them jinglin
critters tibet she didn't donothin else but
play an lie round, a-lonsin and a-yearn-
in, until by and by the sallow faced
c1itter got herself clean bewitched. Her
family and friends could do nothin with
her. She wouldn't eat nothin. And fin'ly
she went into gallopin consumption,
and they buried her one very damp day
in the arly spring
But in spite of this terrible example
of the fascination of guitar playing Gym.
thia still persisted in her practicing. She
endured with chGerfulness the sore fin
gers, tired wrists and other annoyances
which this exacting instrument imposes
upon its devotees. And she received no
end OF encouragement other ways.
The mocking birds NlIN fed aghast
from the shrieking violin sometimes
favored her with initiative outbursts-
that sincerest form of tlattery. Perched
on some tossing spray or Pickering here |
and there in their odd "half mourning"
they produced snatches of her waltzes
and fandangoes. There was a certain
sentimental lizard with speculative eye
that would bask dai]xss,pn sunny rock,
and from his rapt delneanor during her
performance was apparently enabled tC
obtain glimpses of the infinite, hitherto
denied And Aulus sympathized and
lent his quiet and dignifedapproval. And
the fawr was soothed into dreamy Ian
guor that was fast becoming habitual
So the days passed, and Cynthia's heart
found much Of consolation, and Mr.
Buck Jerrold wondered at the change in
his dulcinea and had long conferences
with the mystifed Alcides, who was an
noyed and fretful and made mysterious
reference to the prevalence of malaria
and the existence of dumb ager'-the
inference being that his lovely daughter
was suffering from the maladies of a for
ward spring, until one day Mr.. Jerrold
the old man with this query:
''Ye don't reckon, then, tibet the visit
hat thoy Rpnpa h,l |
thin to do with this yer change? It's my
opinion thet's what's done it,
"Why, he wa mt here more'n two days
at the furthest," demonstrated the IA
her, staring at his questioner.
"Thets all right" returned Jerrold
but it don't take any
great length of time with the proper per-
son. I've bean told thar's been cases
where it was only word or look thet
lone the biz'ness. Purvided thet's the
rue state of the case" he added, stretch
ng his huge limbs awkwardly, while I
weary look crept suddenly into his eyes.
'purvided thet's it, and he proves HIM {
'elf to be better man nur am, Cynthy
must take her chico. hewitt got moth ,,
n ag'in him. He'sa square sort of chap,
md a man ez is a man can stand bein
beat by Straightforward Teller who is !
better fixed and better favored"
Then came a letter from Henry Bruce I
o Cynthia, couched in delicate terms. /
wherein he expressed regret that he was =
Unable to act as her escort to the coming |
,all at San Marcus, but that COURTESY i
lecessitated that he should accompany &
Mss Stafford. Cynthia perused this :
nissive calmly, wept over it in private e
nd thnn acted with IL, ..-.......-- II v