The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-02-01
A VILLAGE ROMANCE


village gossips declared, and surely NJ
one would have the temerity to contra
dict authorities SO well informed. AnG
the village gossips had spoken truth
this time. Molly, the pride of all Long
vile, the pretty country girl whom ma
ture had endowed with a superabun.
dance of animal spirits; Molly, the fas
cinating ooquette, had been subdued,
and John Lock, the village carpenter:
son, had conquered. At least that was
what all Longville thought.
John in himself, although boastine
no ancient lineage, was, as the laborert
termed him, "a cut above the ordinary
run. :" Somehow without having had
any educational advantages he had de.
veloped strong love for books, and
when the days work in the little car.
penter's shop was done he would go out
into the soft summer eve, and a brisk
walk over the hills would bring him to
the rugged cliffs by the sea. Here he
would throw himself down, and as long
as the red shoots of the setting sun gave
light over the land he would read with
rapturous intent, and when at last ii
had disappeared in blaze of color in
an opalescent sea he would watch the
stars and talk learnedly of their dis
tances and of what consultations they
formed part
The good people of Longville could
never quite understand John. He would
astound them with his enthusiastic de-
scriptions of fieeting clouds, would bid
them hear a poem in the constant roar
ing of the sea and tell them that there
were new worlds, of which they knew
nothing, in pictures and books. But
John was genial and kind hearted, and
SO, although his personality eluded
definite analysis by them, they yet rec
ognized him as the village favorite for
the humber and maybe more useful
qualities of good fellowship and unset
fish courage.
1t was little wonder that when Molly
and John commenced keeping compa-
ny" that Longville should talk. Never
two persons had less in common, so far
as temperament and tastes were con-
cerned, and yet somehow, for a reason
which even old Mrs. Knight, who had
seen two generations of village court
ships, could not explain, these two peo-
pie of opposite dispositions were des-
tined to share life's storm and sunshine
together.
How they came to be engaged 1 can
not say. There was a meeting of the
two, when the usual CHEEKY Good
night, JOHN" and GOOD night, Mol
ly," ceased to have the old prosaic sig
nifcance. The untamed, restless little
heart Of Molly beat convulsively, and
the roses on her cheeks burned deeper
hue when that evening John stopped
her and insisted on her talking with
him. was not there, so that of what
was said am unaware
This much, however, all Longville
soon knew-that John Lock and Molly
Lane had become sweethearts. How the
good wives enjoyed standing at the door
way of their cottages and discussing
the probabilities of village wedding
and what it involved These good souls
would have made the devious, sinuous
track of these two lives much straighter
and more direct than it was fated to be.
No event is too wonderful to become
familiarized with, and so it was that
the wonder ceased, and Molly and John
for months pursued their pleasant way,
dreaming the old love dreams common
to youth since the world began 1t was
true that sometimes John imagined
"his Molly" was restless and scarcely
contented. She seemed to sigh for new
opportunities of conquest. The old spir
it, which he thought dead, reared its
head again and gave warning of, al
though it never actually broke out in,
open rebellion. Then John would be
troubled and would search his generous,
simple heart in the hope of discovering
some excuse for the discomfort which
only too obviously was smoldering in
his sweetheart's mind.
One week in the midsummer of the
following year Squire Hurst's only son
came of age, and the event was oele-
brated with great eclat by the whole of
the inhabitan s of the village. The love-
ly old park surrounding the hall was
thrown open, and numerous were the
al fresoo attractions provided to amuse
the assembled guests. The sports of the
day terminated with grand villagers
ball, at which the heir to Longville
Hall himself was present. There had
been many a rumor that Harry Hurst
had been ga gay young spark" in his
time, but tonight all ugly memories
were lost in the pleasure and excite
ment of his presence among the COM
mon folk at the ball.
All seemed happy save one, and that
was John. In spite of his best attempts
to suppress it great pain was at his
heart-almost as severe as a physical
one-as he saw his Molly being claimed
for dance after dance by the squire's
son. How she seemed to enjoy the dis
tinction, too. as with flushed cheeks
she was waltzed. around in whirl Of
excitement
And when the evenings amusements
had ended Molly seemed cross when
John pushed his way to the front and
claimed his right of seeing her from the
park to her fathers cottage gate. She
was irritable and moody. John had
never known her so before, and it was
with a heavy, aching heart that he
kissed her good night. Nor was the I'M
happiness of his mind diminished when
for several nights after she refused to
take her customary walk with him.
At length the climax came, and one
evening, after he had succeeded in in
ducing her to come with him over the
hills, he received the dread ultimatum
which he had almost expected would
fall. Molly was frank. She avowed
shyly that she did not and could not
love him and then, with pretty, dis
dainful toss of the head, declared that
she would be glad if he did not worry
her any more. John took the blow
quietly, but the agony of soul he suffer
ed no one but himself knew.
Then grave whispers and mods and
winks passed around from house to
house in the village. There were talks
in bated breath of secret meetings at
night, and of Molly and the young
squire being seen together. And John
would be questioned, but he never an
swered. His sorrow was for himself
alone-so he would tell himself - it
could not be shared by the curious. 1t
was his wont to go and sit by the sea,
and there find sort of melancholy sat-
isfaction in the low wall of the pillows
as they broke in at the foot of the cliffs.
AS for Molly, after one final attempt to
reclaim her, John avoided her. To have
met her would have increased the in
convenience of both, and in his case
wonld have opened afresh the wounds