The Penn's Grove record., 1897-07-23
FERN COTTAGE.

"And Fern Cottage Is leased Tor I'VE
years to a widow lady, Mrs. Raynor.
She brought good letters from New
York, and supports herself by color
ing fashion plates Cor a magazine
there"
This was the last statement my
lawyer made upon the long-winded
recital of the state of my affairs, when
] returned from n s~eyeu-years' alb
seuce, to take up my abode i'll my own
home. He had by my directions
renovated aud put into good order
the large, handsome house that was
my inheritance from father, grand
father and grcat-Erandfather, passing
i'll each generation through a course
of undermining that still left the
stately, old-fashioned wallsa aud extern
sive grounds intact. We Hiltons were
very fond Of Hilton Place, and had
ample e wherowith to maintain
its beauty.
But beside my wi home, | also
possessed several hOusesin the village
of Crawford and one cottage just at
the boundary line of my garden, a
pretty place that my mother had chris
tened Fern Cottage, from the number
of rare ferns that nestled i'll the little
garden under f~anciful miniature grot-
tos and piles of rocks placed there.
| confess TO a feeling Of decided an
noyance when | heard that this little
gem of a country home had been
leased to a workingwoman. 1t had
been n summer resort for some of our
own intimate friends, who preferred
an independent home to the hospitali-
ties of others, and it annoyed me to
think of any one living there who
would not preserve its dainty furni-
lure and pretty surroundings with
cultured taste. But | kept my opinion
10 myself, and, indeed, for many days,
was so crowded with business calls
that | quite forgot the matter.
1t was after twilight, on a warm
April evening, that, passing the cot
tage, l saw through open windows my
new tenant. She was bending over a
small table, apparently drawing, while
the circle of light from II student lamp
fell full upon her. 1 had fancied a
vulgar, commonplace woman This
was what | saw:
A figure slender and graceful, with
hands as white and perfect as if carved
in marble. A face purely oval, color
less and fair, with regular features,
and shaded by hair of midnight black.
Twice, while | looked, she lifted her
eyes, large, lustrous and dark, full of
suppressed pain. A face that covered
a heart full of bitter anguish, a brain
sensitive and cultivated.
| am a physician, though / have
practi ed little, preferring to write for
the use of younger students; but l
love my profession and cannot quite
keep its instincts quiet, when | study
a new face. And all these instincts
warned me that here was a woman
burning a candle already fickering at
both ends.
j hal quite forgotten mine was not
a strictly honorable position, thus
spying ON a solitary woman's privacy,
when an eldery woman, seemingly an
upper servant of better days, came
into the room.
"Will you cease your work
ing 2" she said, fretfully. ''When the
daylight is gone, and you cannot sort
your %colors, you take mp that drawing
that is running your eyes. Rest,
child!'
Then the voice | knew must belong
to that face, full, rich, melodious, but
fpaInltaI With pn1ttaug n,,gpuar,1 ha,.
REST! You know | cannot restl"
"Play then! Do anything but strain
yOur eyes any longer over that fine
work"
The widow rose then, sweeping her
heavy, black draperies across the room
TO the piano, where she played. Surely
if this was recreation, it was a pitiful
mockery. Wailing, minor music full
of sobbing pain. Heavy chords melt
ing inio sad refrains. 4 master touch
n rare power in the long, slender
fingers only called out strains of
heart-breaking pathos.
The old servant took out her knit
ting, seemingly satisfied to have
driven her mistress from actual work,
and the darkness fell around me, max
ing still clearer the bright circle of
light upon the table, aud the soft,
shadowy gloom OF the corner where
Mrs, Raynor, with her deep, sad ewes
and breaking heart, poured out some
thing of her pain in music.
A soft rain drove me home, but /
unused long and deeply over my ten
ant. | called several times, and re-
ceivel courteous welcome, was enter
tanned by strictly conventional CONVEX
sation, heard the piano in some fash
ionable, SNOWY music, and found the
surface society of Mrs. Raynor, a
gentle, refined lady, attractive and
agreeable-no more.
| might have accepted this for the
real woman, but | had Il habit of lin
gering about my garden, as the draw
ing-room of Fern Cottage commanded
no other view, my neighbor seldom
closed the windows as the spring crept
into summer. Paler, more shadowy.
with added sadness in the great, dark
eyes. Mrs, Raynor became almost
ethereal as the warm weather stole
something each day from her strength,
and I was not surprised one morning
to see old Susan coming hastily in.o
hallway.
''Oh, DIR. Wilton" she said, "she
has tainted over those horrid p%ieturesl
Will you come ?"
l went at once, finding my patient
Frustrated at last, and gently submis.
sive to all my commands but one, the
most imperative.
Il must work." she said, ''as long
as ] can hold a brush"
"But you will die" " / said, bluntly,
"if you do not take n few weeks Of
entire rest"
"Die!' 'he said, quietly, not as il
there was any terror in the thought,
but as if it was a new possibility il
some problem of life. "No, | must
not die yeti"