The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1896-08-28

the dullest, the hone of release to con-
sole her. Now she was settled In lie,
could sit down with idle hands and
spend her days in contemplation OF her
grandeur. She had married we'll. No
body looked askance at her when old
maids were the subjects of pity or ridi-i
Guile. The most censorious could not
couple her name with the dread word
dependence. She had no household
cares. Mr.. Withers and Miss Field re-
lieved her Of all such.
And the mistress of the mansion was
left to her own devices? BY no means.
If her husband were fastidious, he was
also tyrannical. He dictated not only
what dress his wife should appear in
daily, but also what laces and orna-
ments she should sport; at what hours
she should take the air; whom she
must visit and whom invite; what
songs she should sing to him when he
asked for music in the evening, and
when the day should close-the day so
wearisome in its similitude to all that
had preceded and those which should
follow it.
my cousin is man with aspirations
} above the frivolities of fashionable
} life, and excitement is injurious to his
health" Miss Field notified the bride
that day after her home-bringing. L
: fear Mrs. Withers will tire of the even
tenor of our way"
81 like quiet" Constance replied.
: But she did not mean stagnatlon.
: She was married in April, and on the
first of July the trio removed to Mr..
l Withers' country seat. Here Constance
: was to find that the dead level or her
t existence had yet lower plane OF dull
e ness. There was not neighbor within
| four miles, hardly a farm house in
5 sight.
n 1--WE recruit here after the dissipa-
;. ton Of the winter" Miss Field said,
r enjoyingly. "The solitude is enraptur-
y ing. One can sleep all day long if she
likes"
d This proved to be her favorite meth
o cd of recuperating her exhausted ener-
G gies. Mr.. Withers, too, liked post
t prandial siesta prescribed by his phy'
/ stefan as eminently conducive to diges'
II ton" Constance was not more lonely
It when they slept than when they were
l. awake. The horrible sterility of her lif(
j. was not to be amelorated by their So
4. ciety. If commonplaceness be crime
i Mr.. Withers and his cousin were OF
n tenders of an aggravated type. Harri
Of cts affectations and Elnathan's plati
" tudes were to the tortured senses OF TIT
third person of the party less endura
ID BILE than the cicada's shrill monoton
n through the hot summer day, and tn
ut katydid's endless refrain at night he
lg chains, which had hitherto paralyze'
y her by their weight, began to gall an
fret into her spirit. She grew unequa
p in temper. nervous and restless, unde
ed the restrictions imposed by her spouse
:" An insane impulse beset her to DEFY nj
rs authority and set at naught his coun
IL sells: to rush into some outrageou
n freak that should shock him out OF nj
IS propriety and provoke the prudish toa
es eater to natural speech and action.
ed This madness was never stronge
II than on one August afternoon when sh
OF escaped from the house, leaving tn
ly cousins to the enjoyment OF their re
fe cuperative maps in their reGpectiv
10 chambers, and took her way to tn
OIL mountain back of the villa. She ha
We never explored it, tempting as was tn
en- enade of the hemlocks and pines thu
IT. grew up to the summit, and the wal
On Of gray rock revealed through the I'll
g Of the foliage. A current of fragranc
on the odor of the resinous woods, Howe
down to greet her ere she reached tn
rs outskirts Of the forest, and the lullin
ne murmur OF the wind in the evergree
IS boughs was like the sound OF man
in and wooing waters The tender gree
ell tassels of the larches tapped her hes
as she bowed beneath their low brancl
i'd es. and the wide hemlocks were spres
re- in benediction above her. She W;
ill alone with nature-free for one sho
IN hour to think her own thoughts ar
act out her desires. She laughed as
bushy cedar knocked off her hat at Il
instant that she tore her dress upon
bramble.
"They are leagued with my leg
IN proprietor In the commendable busine
err of REFRESHING the lawless vagaries
uid those who cannot get their fill of ma
ing ural beauties through the windows
la a state chariot. But l shall have n
frolic all the same
,e's Another and higher peak tempt
vd- her when she had sat for awhile up
to a boulder browning the first, reveliil
of in the view of valley and hill, inclu
ing the basin in which nestled {
ion house, and the plain opening eastwa
lad toward the sea and civilization. t
US second height was precipitous, in sol
PC places almost perpendicular. Fro
the treading fearlessly ard rapidly frc
ent crag to crag, she came to pulling hi
irst self I'D gravelly banks by catching
,di- the stout underbrush, and steady
BILE. herself among rolling stones by tn
hey of wiry grass. But she kept on,
FRS. forgot aching feet scant breath a
sat blistered hands when she stood fina
GER upon broad plateau hundreds of f
ems above the house, that had dwind
en- into toy cottage, and the environi
n. tV