The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-12-18
NO TRESPASSING.

Moreover the leaf buds were bursting from
their paler sheaths, shedding spots OF shade
upon the quickening earth beneath, while
pretending to hide their sturdy parent
item. Down the slope of the wood, too, as
far as the eye might see the elms, beeches
and hawthorn bushes wore something
more than the coy green film they had ad-
ventured when first the charm of apparel
had been stirred in their sap by the frolic-
some touch of spring. Their tint was de-
cided now, their leaves almost shapely.
Even that gallant, the sun god, was forced
to recognize their power to check his bold
chances and hide from him some of the in
nocent little blossoms straining up from
their brown cradles to meet his kisses. But
the tree on the other side of the gate lead
ing into the wood was poplar, caring
nothing for the well being of the violets
nesting at its roots nor for the hiding of
its own bare stem. LET me reach you,
YOU wonderful blue heaven" its branches
seemed to plead as they stretched toward
the sky with never one doubling curve.
And it was on the poplar that the notice
board was fixed.
A winsome maid stood by the gate lead
ing into the wood and rested one arm on
the top bar, and she gazed down the slope
with wishful gaze, realizing the patches
of primrose leaves and blossoms, the stray
Cling violet roots, the pale Towering will
low, the catkins the speedwells, the spot
ted orchis leaves. Then she turned her
face to the poplar and read its silent, over
brusque message But the sun shone with
O bright yet tempered warmth, lark rose
from the field of young wheat on the other
side of the road, the spring was in the air,
in the song Of the bird, in the heart OF the
maid, in the breeze, too, which blew softly
from the south, for on that breeze came
the scent of the primrose, mingled with
the scent of the vioiets and the willow
bloom and of all the young greenness I'M
derfeot and overhead, and the maiden
turned her eyes quickly to the woods again,
while a small but reckless smile crept to
her lips and eyes. And anemones, too,
she murmured as she noted their trembling
blossoms and fresh green leaves.
Then a man, young man, came along
the road, and although he could not see
the smile on the lips and eyes of the maid
her face being turned from hint is
Dossible that the pose Of her head may
have aroused his suspicious, for as he drew
near her he stopped and looked expectant.
The ears of the maid had scarcely needed
the footsteps, but they noted the following
silence, ana Sne 1aCeu dDOub DelOTo lliC
smile had died and while her thoughts
were yet entangled in the woods. Then
slowly an impulse came to her, and she
spoke:
"Would there be the option of 4 flne?"
she asked gravely she pointed to the
board fixed to the poplar stem.
II think it probable, " he answered in
tone which was only serious.
"Much?'' she inquired.
mot exceeding 20 shillings, l should
fancy.
The maiden sighed. "The price is high,
but imprisonment would be longer, and
1 must have them"
Then there followed short silence, dur
ing which the man looked at the maiden
with hesitation, but the maid wished that
the man would go upon his way. There
was the five barred gate to be climbed be-
fore the theft could be committed, and
maidens crave no spectators for such feats.
''Thank you,'' she said at length in Il
tone of finality, and she turned her Shout
der to him and faced the wood again. But
the man, If lacking perception, did rot
lack kindly heart.
81 am the-the person who would have
to summon you if you were found trespass-
ing" he remarked. She turned to him
again, with chagrin and defiance strug-
CLING in her eyes for mastery. "On the
other hand" he continued, II am the per-
son who could prevent the trespass''-de-
fance conquered chagrin for the moment
-"by giving you permission Pleasure
came as arbiter, and the maids eyes held
nothing but an honest smile as the young
man dived in his velvet coat pocket for the
paddock key.
81 hope" he said as he proceeded to I'M
lock the gate, "that you will lose nothing
of the pleasure by this prosaic entry
No." declared the maid, with a half
sigh of regret, ~ have grown away from
that fraudful age when five barred gate
is primarily a mighty thing to be climbed
especially when it slants toward one. 1t
no longer represents to me the beetling
crag which must perforce be surmounted
to reach the enchanted castle beyond. Be-
sides which" she added, II think say
I think-my ordinary nature is honest
though apt to chafe when"-she spoke
somewhat Economically - "when the
flowers are Wild
They had passed through the undecorated
portal toward the goal of her desires, and
the young man laughed unaffectedly as he
hoped that she would find the wood en-
chanting rather than enchanted, with
more of peace and less of peril.
tbs better so-when youth is passed"
she answered, signing And then she
bent her pretty head and looked demure
So they wendell down the sunlit slope
with their faces turned toward pleasant
ness, and the blossoms growing in the
wood were lessened by many a score, and
the lark above the wheatfeld was many o
mile nearer heaven.
why does he not 60 upon his way"
thought the maiden as she stopped over
the lush leaved primroses growing by the
little rill, swapping their crisp stems with
out single scientific qualm for the lives
she thus laid low. "But tits his duty,
after all, to lock me out again, as twas
his courtesy which let me In. By rights
should not hinder him.
But the young man was no unpleasant
companion, and withal somewhat useful,
for a willow stem fights for its blossomy
head, enduring the stripping of its young
skin and the sacrifice of its soft, almond
scented blossoms one by one rather than
yield, and a pocketknife is seldom among
the gewgaws Of maiden.
The picking of violets is a slow, per-
fumed pleasure, and even the aid of a
young man may sometimes fail to hasten
it. With this young man-who had yield
cd himself for the preservation of stran-
gers honesty-an anxiety to be thorough
in his sacrifice marked his actions.
The heart of q wood with its pulses
quickening; the gladness of birds song
in the full flush Of domesticity:. the ripple
of the rill between its edges of In green
ness-so sure of its good service, SO cheer
full in its philanthropy; the score of small
do xvhiah holT 70 -
stiffness itself in the midst of hurrying
world-all these are joys on late April
morning
The bluebells were out when Mary was
yet young, and the floor of the wood was
gorgeous with the blues and green's of ma
5ure's enameling. The young man had
prophesied 1t with note of Interrogation,
and the maiden had recognized the note
and promised to verify the prophecy.
Which all goes to show that spring in the |
veins may work strange anomalies; that |
young man with key should plead with |
a trespasser; that maid should promise |
when by rights she should plead.
The sun god was more ardent than in |
the time Of the primroses, though the leafy |
shades were stronger in the protective !
power; the whole air was warmer and /
more heavily scented and filled with q
faint hum Of insects which had been lack
ing before.
"If all were as it should be- began
the maid smiling.
The young man looked down at her as
she sat upon a tree trunk with a sheaf of
languid bluebells lying across her lap.
''If all were as it should beS" he queried
and waited.
"Then you should prove to be the squire
of high degree" And the maid laughed