The herald., 1896-04-05
track with the tread Of a wild doe.

| the air OF the hills, the benediction of tn,
sun. All the way home, she continued un
der the intoxication Of these sky-scrappinl
spirits. At table she could talk freely O.
young Herniston gave her opinion of hin
of-hand and with loud voice, that he was
a handsome young gentleman, real vel
hammered and sensibe-like, but it was &
pity he looked doleful. Only-the momen
after-a memory of his eyes in church en-
barrasscd her. But for this inconsiderable
check all through meal-time she had good
appetite, and she kept them laughing al
table, until Glib (who had returned before
them from Crossmichael and his separativt
Worship repipved the whole of them fol
their levity.
Singing Sin to herself" as she went
her mind still in the turmoil of glad con.
fusion, the most beautiful of her sex b,
her victories at the kirk, the gayest by hel
more recent triumphs in the bosom of hei
own family, she rose and tripped upstairs
to little loft lighted by four panes in the
gable, where she slept with one OF hel
neces.. The niece, who followed her. pre-.
suming on "Auntie's" high spirits, was
flounccd out Of the apartment with small
ceremony, and retired, smarting and hall
fearful, to bury her woes in the byre
among the hay. Still humming, Christina
dlvested herself of her finery, and put her
treasures one by one in her great green
trunk. The last of these was the psalm
book; 1t was fine piece the gift of Mis-
tress Glen, in distinct old-faced type, on
paper that had begun to grow foxy in the
warehouse-not by service-and she was
used to wrap it in handkerchief every
Sunday after its period of service was over,
and bury it end-wise at the head of her
trunk AS she now took it in hand the
book fell open where the leaf was torn,
and she stood and gazed upon that evidence
of her bygone discomposure. There return
ed again the vision of the two brown eyes
staring at her, intent and bright, out of
that dark corner of the kirk. The whole
appearance and attitude, the smile, the
suggested gesture OF young Hermiston
came before her in flash at the sight of
the torn page. 81 was surely fey!" she
said, echoing the words Of Dandie, and at
the suggested doom her high spirits de-
serted her. She flung herself prone upon
the bed, and lay there, holding the psalm
book in her hands for houSs, for the more
part in a mere stupor of unconsenting
pleasure and unreasoning fear. The fear
was superstitious; there came up again and
again in her memory Dandie's ill-omened
words, and a hundred grisly and black
tales out of the Immediate neighborhood
read her a commentary on their force Tho
pleasure was never realised. You might
say the joints Of her body thought and re-
membered, and were eladdened but her
essential self, in the immediate theatre Of
%eII t-lr
thing else. like nervous person at fire.
The image that she most complacently
dwelt on was that of Miss Christina in her
character of the Fair Lass of Cauldstanes-
lap carrying all before her in the straw
colored frock, the violet mantle, and the
yellow cobweb stockings. Archies image,
on the other hand, when it presented it.
self was never welcomed-far less well
coined with any ardor, and it was exposed
at times to merciless criticism. In the
long, vague dialogues she held in her mind,
often with imaginary, often with unrea-
Used interlocutors, Archie, If he were refer
red to at all, came in for savage handling
He was described as looking like stork,'
staring like caulf,' ga face like a
ghaists." "Do you call that manners?"
she said; or. 81 soon put him in his place."
=" Miss Christina, if you please. Mr.. Weir!
says J. and just TYPED UP my skirt tails"
With gabble like this she would entertain
tirc Y}es' t,rz.t ~, i-.
the darkness of the wall, and the voluble
words deserted her, and she would lie still
and stupid, and think upon nothing with
devotion, and be sometimes raised by a
quiet sigh. Had doctor of medicine come
into that loft he would have diagnosed
healthy, well-developed, eminently viva
cious lass lying on her face in fit of the
sulks; not one who had just contracted, or
was just contracting, mortal sickness of
the mind which should yet carry her to-
wards death and despair. Had 1t been a
doctor OF psychology, he might have been
pardoned for divining in the girl passion
of childish vanity, self-love in eXcelsis,
and no more. 1t is to be understood that
I have been painting chaos and describing
the inarticulate. Every lineament that ap-
pears too precise, almost every word used
too strong. Take fnger-po in the noun
tains on a day Of rolling mists; have but
copied the names that appear upon the
pointers, the names Of definite and famous
cities far distant, and now perhaps bask-
ing in sunshine; but Christina remained
the post itself, not moving, and enveloped
in mutable and binding wreaths of haze
The day was growing late and the sun
beams long and level, when she sat sud-
denly up, and wrapped in its handkerchief
and put by that psalm-book, which had al
ready played part SO decisive in the first
chapter of her love story. In the absence
OF the mesmerist's eye, we are told nova
days that the head of bright nail may fill
his place, if 1t be steadfastly regarded. So
that torn page had riveted her attention on
what might have been but little, and per-
haps soon forgotten; while the ominous
words of Dandie-heard, not needed, and
still remembered-had lent to her thoughts.
or rather to her mood, cast OF solemnity.
and that idea of Fate-a pagan Fate. I'M
controlled by any Christian deity, obscure.
lawless, and august-moving indissuadably
in the affairs of Christian men. Thus even
that phenomenon of love at first sight.
which is SO rare and seems so simple and
violent, like a disruption OF life's tissue.
may be decomposed into sequence Of acct
dents happily concurring.
She put on grey frock and a pink ker
chief, looked at herself moment with an
proval In the small square of glass that
served her for a toilet mirror, and went
softly downstairs through the sleepine
house that resounded with the sound of af-
ternoon snoring. Just outside the door
Dandie was sitting with book in his hand
not reading, only honoring the Sabbath bv
a sacred vacancy Of mind. She came near
hin, and sfood efiIi