The record-union., 1894-07-28

her father at their rose-embowered home;
idyllic days in my dreamful loiterings in
ancient cathedral and more ancient cathe-
dral town; but they were days and nights
of anxiety and unrest, as | sought by
every art to win over the unyleldlng
spirit within the New Inn.
My uncle had extended his prison
bounds to the limits Of the inn court. Not
for all the mines of Ballarat would he
bulge foot further, not he!
stay as long as you like, hunt 'tother
ones till the end of time if you will, Rob-
ert Dorklin," he would say with exas-
perating resignation whenever l touched
upon the subject of the city or the cathe-
dral, but don't you dare to leave this
inn till you're ready to take me as l come
by night and in a closed carriage that
can go!-Bah!
And Kirby Dorklin would have fairly
contentedly sat about that pleasant old
inn until this day, innocently disturbing
its discipline of service with his ill-con-
sldered and grotesque generosities. had l
not again resorted TO heroic measures.
One afternoon, after making secret ar
rangements with Grace Newton regard
ing her aunt, upon her arrival from
Cheltenham the same day returned to
the New Inn, and, finding Kirby Dork-
lin doing in corner of the churchyard,
l awakened with:
Dorothy Newton has passed awayW
l fully expected him to storm and rave
furiously. But he only looked at me fix
edly, feebly and pitifully for time, as
though he had suddenly lost the power of
speech.
'The young artist who Tilted her, or
whom she Tilted, has no more to fear from
her gentle, suffering presence. Hers was
saints life, until il was stilled, l am
told" carelessly added.
Hot tears trickled from the old woman
hater's quivering face.
II wish you would go with me to see
and know and remember where she is at
rest" l urged quietly but with emphatic
! tinality in my tones.
Poor old souli So long as he could
marshal his offended pride, stubbornness
and selt-inflicted hurts against the living
phantasm of his disordered mind, no
human power could touch his stern and
| fiinty blindness.
Even the fancied irrevocability of death
had never before set his awful and impas-
slve relentlessness against his own. a
storm burst OF remorse swept over him
for time; when he staggered to his feet,
and, clutching my arm for support, said
feebly but determinedly:
"We will go. We will go at once,
Robertr'
AS we entered the cathedral the vesper-
chanting of the "Magnifcat" had just
| begun. The uplifting notes Of MY soul
doth magnify the Lord" swept gloriously
among the massive arches. With bowed
and uncovered heads we softly crossed
the nave into the north transept. The
verger, standing beside the north door,
gently opened it and in a moment we
were within the tranquil cloisters, NOV
ing slowly beneath the marvellous fam
shaped arches of the South Walk.
The figures of two women were ap-
preaching US from the opposide side
of the garth, along the West Walk. The
attention OF one was cunningly diverted
from US. We met them at the corner
! just where the wise abbots in ages gone
| stood to scan the tiny arched recesses
where the old monks studied and wrote.
"My God ~ shrieked Kirby Dorklin,
with trembling, appraised hands.
Robert = Robert! It's Dorothy's
ghostv
| Ghost or human, in an instant more
the taller figure of the two was locked in
Kirby Dorklin's arms.
| Somehow in the confusion and the
overwhelming excitement of it all, the
other little woman clung fast to me and
l to her; and L was glad to have
it so; for at that moment I saw the
face of John Newton, at the open north
cathedral door, glowing through tears
of JOY upon the vergers' daughters and
their companions, while from the
cathedral came the mighty organ notes
with the pean OF voices in praise:
''AS 1t 1CaS az the beginning, Is 7OsU, and
eUer shall be: acortd aoithout end"
And all our hearts. if not our speech
less lips, Joined fervently in the exultant
and solemn "4men''