Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-11-07
Continued.

grass which waved above the ill-kept
graves, and the good old monks rest
ing place i'll its almost forgotten cor
ner which Herman had wished he's
to see. God bless the monks of Old
friars!' The line on the tombstone
haunted her for long afterward-
could not forget it. 1t was as though
it were stamped in unfading charac-
ters upon her heart-an evergreen
memorial on that April day.
Lately, however, she had seen little
of Mr.. MerryWeather, and the time
for Alicia Penrith hung heavily upon
her hands. He was getting very busy,
her grandmother told her; it was a
busy time OF year with him just now.
When he called at Oldfriars he could
never stay long, and frequently he
was seen about the place, and did not
enter the house at all. He had said to
himself that the less he beheld of Sir
Rugs young daughter the better it
would be for his peace Of mind-if
that were not clean gone already.
The mistake, as Herman called it, had
begun with a chivalrous pity. The
chivalrous pity unfortunately, had
changed to a noble love.
Every Sunday morning, Alicia, in
the roomy, fusty old carriage. with
Jabez Jennings in solitary state upon
the box, drove along to the village
church and took her place, in the tall,
family pew, with every eye upon her.
She was conscious at such times that
she was the center of general Observa-
tion-that rich and poor, high and
low, were, even as they gabbled their
thoughtless prayers, thinking of her
self and Alicia Leigh.
Could she have found the courage
she would have drawn the shabby red
curtains about her pew and screened
thus her pale, young face from the
gaze of those curious folk around
her. For twenty years had that tall
oak pew in the chancel been unoccu-
pied by any one member of the fam
lily at OldfriarS. No wonder the con-
gregation gaZed their fill at Alicia
Penrith and thought of Alicia Leigh.
rom che body of the little church
Herman Merry Gather, with the rest
of the people, saw the girl, too; and
how intensely he felt for and suffered
with her ON these trying occasions,
none but himself knew then. Alicia
always prayed very earnestly for her
grandmother, Knowing it was the ut
most she could do for her.
1.-The longer she lives said the poor
child, drearily, ''the greater, it seems
to me, becomes my sin. And yet
when she dies / shall be utterly alone
in this world. Heaven help me, I am
wretched indeedr'
Although it was known quite well
throughout THE county that Sir Ruy
Penrith'S daughter had come to dwell
with her grandmother, nobody
dreamed of calling at OldfriarS to
visit her; nor for the matter of that,
did Alicia herself expect that such a
thing would come to pass. She had
guessed accurately enough what her
fate would be before she came to
Garth. Notwithstanding, her appear
ance in the neighborhood had created
very great sensation, and her
beauty, her loneliness, and more espe-
cially her splendid fortune, We're the
theme of every dinner-party for miles
around her home. There was many a
warm-hearted young fellow about Old
friaIS that would have given much to
procure an introduction to the beauti-
full Alicia Penrith, if only the terrible
circumstances by which she was
hedged in could somehow have been
ordained otherwise than they We're.
As it was, worse luck. the barrier
betwiNt them and her was simply in
Surmountable. Merciful powers what
had her father been dreaming Of,
pray, that he should have left her to
4 guardianship so doubtful as thatg of
the dowager lady Penrith?
And as the time went on, grand
mother and grandchild got to be more
and more to each Other-almost in
Se1sibly so, they felt. Real friend
ship" says Lord Chesterfield, lis a
slow grower" and surely the same
may be said of a real and true affec
tion. They stood so completely alone
in the world: the attachment was but
natural. The past now was never al
luded to; the present must be cher
ished and the future left to itself
Sometimes after a long day spent
I'm the Seclusion of the tower room,
Alicia would succeed in coaXing her
ladyShip out of doors-ever a matter
of some difficulty-for a breath Of
fresh spring wind that came frolick-
ing up from the valley.
There along the neglected paths of
that once fair garden. where the wild
red roses were beginning to bud and
blossom, the honeySuckle ito make the
air faint with its most delicate breath,
and the heayy7headed carnations to
burst into glorious life and color, the
twain would pace for hours together,
the elder woman leaning so trustfully
upon the arm of the younger, and
thanking kind Heaven for this child
of her old age.
Sometimes they would sit in the
weed-chobed pleaSaunce. where the
grasShopper chi1ped in the mournful
silence and the ivy rustled upon the
crumbling gray walls to watch the
pale stars besprinlle the sky or to
wait for the slow rising of the sill,
very moon over the misty distant
wood surrounding Garth
One evening, deep in quiet converse,
they had wandered, unconscious