Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-06-19

knew or not that I las Nhere. her work
the fsnce segond sss gap IN II
which stood gazing. SultiI could not see
her face. partly becafse sSe did not turn
sS P nas oe GssaS lSa
by and by she, had finished her hanging,
and took up the emily basket to 70 in
asne noa stecpns kia n d the act Of
me, not being more than two, or, at the
NEST, three PAGES from mes@It was but one
look, and It lasted, suppose. two seconds
had never been touched bel bre, and at this
time of writing and Nhoufh I have been
long married, and have children, my body
burns at the remembrance Of 1t. For not
only was the face that FOR those two sec
onds looked into mine of rare beauty,
brown and low-browed, With scarlet, laugh
Ing lips and milk white teeth and eyes of
witching, brighter than q queens Jewels,
but in the look. short as 1t was and pass
Ing. shone something that I had never
seen IN woman,s face before, q some
thing, God knows what-appeal or passion
or temptation-that on the instant fired
my blood. suppose, nay, I know, that
the face that flashed that look at me from
under the dirty sunbonnet could change to
q marvel, and In q minute, and as by a
miracle, become dull and almost ugly or
the most beautiful in the world. But then
that and all such things weresnew to me,
who knew no women, and had never
spoken to a woman In the way of love. or
thought of one when her back was turned
and she gone without a second glance 1
went back to the house. another man, my
heart humping in my breast and my
cheeks burning, and my whole being op-
pressed with desire and bashfulness and
wonder and curiosity, and hundred other
at ease until had hidden myself from all
eyes.
Well to be brief, that in the space I
have taken to tell it changed ALL 1 was
ha OIL "a oh
me up, as flame burns stubble-in an hour
q day, week. l can no more say within
what tune than l can describe what befell
me before l was born. for If that was
sleeping, this was a dream, and passed
swift and confused as one I was madly
and desperately in love. Her face, bril-
liant, mischievous. alluring, rose before the
of the feIid crowded bed room by night,
and filled the slow, gray dawnings, now
with joy and now with despair. For the
time l thought only of her, lived for her.
did my work in dreams Of her. 1 kept no
count of time. 1 gave no heed to what
passed round me, but went through the
routine Of my miserable life, happy as the
slave that. rich in the possession of some
beneficent drug, defies the pains of labor
and the lash. say my miserable life, but
l say it, so great was the change, in
figure only and in retrospect. Mrs D.
might scorn me now, and the boys squab-
BILE round me; yet, that life was no longer
miserable nor dull, whereof every morning
f1attered me with hopes of seeing my mis-
tress. and every third day or SO fulfilled
the promise.
With all this, and though from the mo-
ment her eyes met mine across the fence
her beauty possessed me utterly, O full
fortnight elapsed before spoke with nec.
In the interval l saw her three times, and
always IN the wretched guise in which she
had first appea AIRED to me, which, SO far
from. vrecking my passion, augmented it
by the full measure of the mystery and
charm With which the sordidness Of her
dress, contrast with her sparkling
beauty, invested her int my mind, But for
speaking with her, that was another mat
ter. and one presenting So many difficult
ence and Mrs. DIS TEMPER were the great
est, so my bashfulnessi was not the least),
that I think we might have gone another
fortnight, and perhaps a third to that, had
good lady greatly prided herself, come to
our aid in the nick of'time,. and by bring
ing us into the same room Ia thing which
had never occurred before and OF itself
threw me into a fever), combined with for
tune to aid my hopes.
This privilege-for SO Mrs. D. invariably
styled twas the solemn gathering Of the
household on one Sunday in each month to
listen to a discourse whichfshe read to us
herself, her husband sitting meekly by,
from the works of some Independent di-.
vine. On these occasions she delivered
herself SO generously. and with SO much
gOStO tnGt 90 not .QOuDt sue IOuQQ COIH-
pensation in them from the tedium Of the
sermon on passive obedience or the fate of
the Amalekite, to which in compliance with
tine laws against dissent she had perforce
listened earlier in the day. The master
and mistress and the servant sat on one
side of the room, l with the boys on the
other; and hitherto I am unable to say
which of us suffered more under the in
Fiction. But the appearance of my saint
so, when madame's voice rang shrillest
and most angrily over the soapSuds, had
come TO think of her-in a place behind her
master and mistress (being the same in
which the old servant had nodded and
grunted every sermon evening since COM
ing) put a new complexion on the matter.
For her, she came in apparently uncon-
scious of my presence, and took her seat,
with downcast eyes and hands folded, and
that dull look on her face which, when she
chose, yelled three-fourths of its beauty.
But my ears famed, and the blood surged
in my head. and thought that all must
read my secret in my face.
With Mrs. D.. however. this was the one
hour Of the month when the suspicious
natural in one Of her carping temper slept,
and she tasted pleasure comparatively
Of spectacles. which on this occasion and
in the character Of the family priest, her
vanity permitted and even melted her to
wear, and provided with couple of tall
tallow candles, which 1t was her husbands
duty to snuff, she would open the dreaded
quarto and prop 1t firmly on the table be-
fore her. Then, after giving out her text
in a tone that need not have disgraced
Hugh Petens. or the most famous preacher
of her persuasion, it was her custom to
lift her eyes and look around to assure
herself that all was cringing attention,
and this was the trying moment, and woe
to the boy whose gaze wandered; his back
would smart for 1t before he slept. These
preliminaries at an end, however. and the
discourse begun. the danger was over for
the time, for In the voluptuous roll of the
long WOrdy sentences, and the elections
and damnations, and free wills that plenti-
fully bestrewed them, she speedily forgot
all but the sound Of her own voice. and
nothing occurring to rouse her, might be
trusted to read for the hour and half
with pleasure to herself and without risk
to others.
So 1t fell out on this occasion. As soon,
therefore, as the steady droning OF her