The herald., 1894-04-29
IN THE ORCHARD.

It was charlningly mild and balmy
day. The Sun shono beyond the orchard,
and tho shade was cool inside. a light
breeze st tired tho boughs of the old ap
pie tree under which fhe philosopher
sat. Mono of these things did the phi
losopller notice, unless it might DO when
tho wind blow about the leaves of the
largo volume on his knees and he had
to find his place again. Then he would
oxclaim against the wind, shuttle the
leaves till he get the right page and set
tic TO hisreading. The Book was a trea-
tisc on ontologE. .Itstvas written by an
philosopher, IA afriendof this phi
losopher. It brfstledwith fallacies, and
this philosopher was discovering them
all and netting 2thena on thenyleaf at the
end. .l7e was not going to review the
book. as solno;1rigl1t ,have Thought from
his behavior. ,orseyen to .ansyTcr it in
work of his own. It-was just that he
found a'ploasuEe i'll stripping any poor
fallacy naked and cruGifying it.
Prcsontly.a girl in awhite frocz came
Into the orchard Sl1espicked up an ap-
pie, bit it and found it ripe. Holding it
in her hand, she walked up to where
the philosopher sat and looked at him.
He did not stir. Sho took bite out Of
tho apple, munclled it and swallowed
Il. The philosopher crucifed fallacy
Oh the fyleaf. The girl flung the apple
away.
"NIr. birmingham, said she, "are
you very busyS'
Tho philosopher, pencil in hand,
looked up
"No, Miss May" said he, mot very"
because I want your opinion"
"In one .noment, said the philoso-
pher apologntically,
lie turned hnck to the fyleaf and be-
gan to nail the last fallacya little tight
ar to tho cross. Tho girl regarded him
frst with amused impatience, then with
vexod frown, finally with wistful re-
gret. Ho was so very old'for his age,
she thought .Ho:could mot he much be-
yond 80. His.hair was trick and full of
waves, his eyestf bright and clear, his
complexion not yet Invested of all
youths relics
''Now, Miss May, I'm at your serv-
ice, " said tho philosopher, with lin
gering look at his irnpaled fallacy. And
he closed the book, keeping it, however,
on his knee.
The girl sat down just opposite to
him.
'lt's very,important thing want
to ask you, ''sho began, tugging at a
tlIft of grass, "and it's yery-difffcult,
and you mustn't tell any one I asked
you-at least, I'd rathor-you didn't"
"I shall not speak of it-indeed /
shall probably not remember it, - said
the philosopher.
And you mustn' t'look at me, please,
while I'm asking you.
II dom think I was locking at you,
but if wasI beg your pardon, said
the philosopher apologetically.
She pulled tho tuft of grass right out
of the ground and lung 1t from ner
with all her force.
''Supposesa man''-she began. ''No,
that's not right"
You can take any hypothesis you
please, observed the philosopher, 'but
you must verify it afterward, Of course. "
'Oh, do let mo go on! Suppose girl,
Mr.. Jerningham-I wish you wouldn't
nod. "
''It was only to show that 1 followed
you. e"
"Oh, of course you follow me- as
you call it, Suppose aDgirl had two low
ers-you re nodding againl-or l ought
to say suppose there were two men who
might be in love with girl. ="
EGOo1xr &1r+1p3, aa1~oJ v,bi1oeoTba-.
"You see, any number of men might
be i'll love wifh"--
"Oh, we can leave the rest out, " said
Miss May, with a sudden dimple-
"they don't matter. p"
Every we1l,'' said the philosopher,
''if they are irrelevant, we will put
them aside"
Suppose, then, that one of these
men was, oh, awfully In love with the
girl and-ana proposed, yen now''-
"a momentP' said tho philosopher,
opening a notebook 'tLst me take
down his proposition. What was it?''
why, proposed to her-aslIed her to
marry him." said the girl, with stare.
Dear me, how stupid Of me! forgot
that special use of the word. Ycs?"
''The girl likes him pretty well, and
her people approve of him and all that,
you know. ;"
''That simplifles the problem, - said
the philosopher. nodding again.
''But she's not in--in love with him,
you know. She DOESN'T really care for
him-mpch. Do you underestimate
Perfectly. 1t is a most natural state
of mind :"
"Well, then, suppose that there's an
other man-what are you writing?'
II only put down (B}-like that, !"
pleaded the philosopher, mcekly exhib-
! iting his notebook.
She looked at him in a sort of help
less evaporation, with just a smile some
where in tho background Of it.
ooh, you really are''- she exclaimed.
"But let me go on. Tho other man is a
friend of the girls. He's very clover
oh, fearfully clever, and he's rather
handsome. You needn't put that down. ="
''I5 is certainly not very material, y
admitted tho philosopher, and he crossed
out Handsome. p" ''Clevcr" he left
"And the girl is most awfully-sho
adnirea him tremendously. she thinks
him just the greatest man that ever
lived, you lllow, and she-sho"- The
girl paused.
7 t4Ti.,, folro1,-i,,,, cold +bn ,,l,iloeo.