The record-union., 1895-08-24

with the opinion of certain stage gossips
| that sit 'ud not be sich a bad job arter
all if th' lass 'ud COON round to Robert
| Leatherbarrow." and that, ''as how it
was his lookln' so sharp arter her KEEP
her out o mischief"
| One Saturday afternoon, just when most
! housewives were busy and callers are
| least looked for, Boggart Bob thrust his
! great black head in at Loveladys' door,
| Mrs. Lovelady happened to be polish
ing her steel tire.lrons and looked up in
not the sweetest mood.
"Wheer's 8 Catty?" asked Bob.
Pm sure don't know. L think hoo
went for walk-hoo'd fettled up parlor.
an then hoo said hood GO out What
| brings yo' here to-day, Robert?" Mrs
Lovelady had called Leatherbarrow by
| his Christian name since ne had begun to
court her daughter. "Yo' ha' not bin
fur quite q long WHILE l thought yo'
| had given over cOomn'."
II want to show Catty summat." said
Bob. "Good-day. Pm balm to look fur
| her."
After securing the country for an hour
or 80 he caught sight OF Catty's dark-red
dress among the reeds which surrounded
a certain large pond at some distance from
the path. \ few strides of his long legs
brought him alongside of her.
Now Cstty. as it happened. was feeling
melancholy. 1t was lovely autumn
day. Gay to make young hearts leap and
young blood course merrlly through tho
veins; and as she peered into the water
| beneath her she saw the reflection OF her
own face framed by yellow irlses and
plumy reeds, and said to herself, sadly,
that IL was very pretty face. and it was
a dismal thing to think that she would
never have a lover. What was the good
of rnff al
and dedicated above the common" If it
must be her fate either to put up with
! Boggart Bob as husband or to accept
! the lot of an old maid?
She had PASSED several loving Satur-
day couples OH the road; among the rest
! David Alcock with little dumpy,
freckled, red haired girl: and David had
| pretended not TO see her, but after she
had passed she had heard the dumpy
| girl laugh; and then she had betaken her
| to the fields with red checks and a sore
heart.
David was the incest of them," she
thought but all the lads avoided her now.
AS she leaned forward, looking mourn
| fully at the likeness of her red draperies
and dark-eyed face mirrored in the still
pool, the dappled patch of sky which
| tloated amid the trem bling shadowy reeds
| was suddenly overcast, and tho sem
blance of q swarthy eager face appeared
beside her own.
With start and a scream she turned;
Boggart Bob was looking over her shoul-
der into the water.
Didn't yo' hear me coom?" he asked.
''See, Catty. look yonder-our two faces
side by sidep'
Pm sure / don't want to see 'en, I"
| cried Catty, but she looked nevertheless,
and thought how pink and white her
own seemed next tC lis dark one. And
then, in E minute, Bobs beard brushed
her cheek and he kissed her.
''Oh!" she cried, jumping back and
turning fiery red: "Oh! how I do hate
youW
''Catty, 1 couldn't help it," pleaded
! Bob, apologetically. ''Seein' th' two faces
SO nigh to one another i tn water, yo'
knowen-'twas moro nor mon could
stomp
Catty began to walk away without an
swering; she would have liked to run.
| but scorned to abate joE of her dignity.
! Bob, with one stride, came alongside of
| her.
"Catty [ want to show yo' summat at
my place. viii yo' coom?"
Likely, Pm sure" she returned loftily.
Bob heaved sigh.
"Well, I'd as soon yo'd COON pleasant
Ut 'ud be dale agree bier. But if yo'
wonnOt walk o. yo'r own feet | nun
carry yo'."
Catty stood still: her face white, her
heart humping violently. The place was
very lonely; nothing in sight but waving
corn and wide bare meadow land; not a
sound to be heard but the whistle of a
flock Of plover overhead and the rustic of
the reeds
bob Leatherbarrow," she said. you
are mean coward of man to threaten a
q girl. But you are stronger than me,
and L suppose L shall have TO give in
Pm going against my will, but PHI
| walk"
"Catty," answered Bob, "them's cruel
words! Threaten yo', Eh, my lass, d.
yo' think Fd ever seech to hurt yo' ?''
Then why can't you let me be?" she
cried passlonately; sob rose i'll her
| throat, but she choked it down. "Go on,
then, if we must CO."
They walked together in silence till
they reached the Grange; Bob looking
downcast and unhappy, and Catty raging
| in her heart.
In the middle of the yard stood smart
yellow dogcart: no horse was in the
shafts, but q set of brass III ounted harness
was flung negligently over the seat.
"Thot," observed Leatherbarrow diff
IDENTIFY, 'thoos a new trap, thot is."
Catty cast a brief ana irate glance at it,
and walked on.
An th' 'arness is new too" added
Bob.
The girl vouchsafed no comment, and
LeatherDarrow. with an air OF deep de-
preston, ushered her into the house.
In the narrow passage was an aggres-
slyely new iron coat stand, upon which,
as he passed. he raped with timid
knuckle. "For 'ats and sich like" be
explained. Through an open doorway
came glowing vision of an immense
kitchen, which. from the coppers on the
walls to the f1itches hanging from the
rafters. was everything that farm kitch-
en- ought to be. An old woman was
toasting mullins before the fire, and a
tidy, rosy-cheeked girl was setting out
teacups on a tray.
Robert pointed out the latter and OBJ
served, in a low whisper, "Hoos a new
maid-nob- but jest coom.o
Then, throwing open the parlor door,
he requested Catty TO walk in.
1t was certainly magnificent room.
| The pattern OF the Brussels carpet posi-
lively jumped to the eye, and the cur
| tains were as red as red could be. There
| was, moreover, an armchair 10 match,
besides the sofa and six small chairs
Bob closed the door carefully and stood
still.
"Yon's th' new pisnner," he remark ed
jerking his thumb towards it, ''an' ihot
theer's what they call a workable. There
is little places for silks an wools am thot
| inside. An this ERE tablecloth-did yo'
chaDce to notice tn tablecloth? IL costed
a dale O. money. thot tablecioth did,
His face was crimson, and while he
spoke big drops broke out on his brow.
There's clancy" he continued trem-
ulously, ''p tn cupboard yonder, an sill
yerspoons, an a Iaypot,an' hauve a dozen
forks" He paused. Han yo' tried th'
armcheer?, us as soft! AM silk cush-
ion an all. Do set yo' down in it,
Catty complied, at once astonlshed, Gu
rious and exasperated. She was i'm
pressed III spite of herself by the spfen-
dors around her, and was annoyed with
herself for being impressed. What did
! it matter to her after all? And yet-if
lnh I,nI