The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1899-12-23
CHAPTER X.

VIII ASK Slr BASH 20 come, ana tne Two
lovers viii be happy-that is, If such I'M
reasonable beings as lovers are ever hap
by. They seem to me more often discon-
| tented
August found them at Dene, well and
| happy, without the faintest knowledge
of the doom that was fast drawing nigh.
Partly on account of its bracing air and
partly because he at times had few en-
gagements in the neighboring towns,
| Martin Ray had for some years made
| this place his home.
These were the days of Martin Rays
| decadence. and he could not perhaps have
chosen any spot on earth where he could
| have been more secluded or more forgot
! ten.
1t was a strange chance that brought
these two sisters so near together, yet
! placed them so far apart. The steep
green hill that stood between Dene Abbey
and SOuthwood was typical of the great
barrier of caste which parted them. There
| We're times when both at the same mo-
ment watched the same seas, the same
skies, yet neither had the least notion
of the others presence in that part OF
| the country.
The summer bad been hot and oppres-
sive. Martin Ray had suffered much,
and it was some relief when the cool
! breezes Of autumn came. They heard
casually that Dene Abbey was filed with
visitors, but that any Of the visitors con-
| cerued them never occurred to them
| Father and daughter would not have sat
! 50 quietly watching the heaving waters
| had they known that Leah was so near
them.
The occupants of Dene Abbey seldom
| attended the pretty old Norman church
at Southwood, where Hettie sang so
sweetly and so clearly. There was n
/ church nearer to them called St. Bar
| hauid's, which stood in the center of
! little village near the sea. But Sir Ba-
| sill liked Southwood best. He admired
| the quaint old Norman church, with Its
square tower and fine arches. So, one
/ Sunday morning, when the whole party
went over to st. Barbould's, Sir Basil
went through the woods. climbed the
! steep hill and descended the beautiful
/ grassy slopes, until he reached the old
| Norman church where his fate awaited
him.
The rector read the prayers, and said
Il few words 70 the people-simple. hon
est words that went home to every heart
! and left an impression there. When the
/ clear, earnest voice ceased, there was a
/ Slight stir in the organ loft, and then a
1 dead silence.
! What broke it? A clear, sweet voice
! which Sir Basil never forgot, singing
! solo in Il grand old anthem, every word
/ Of which was distinct and audible-beau-
! tiful words, we'll matched with the line
/ music and the angelic voice. lie listened
! In wonder; he had heard some of the nm
/ est singers in Italy and some OF the
! rrandest music in the world, but nothing
! like this He was not sentimental, ana
! Gattcred himself that he took practical
| view of most thinks; but as he listened
! he thought TO himself:
THAT must be how the angels sing.
Ue looked up into the organ loft from
! which the sound came, and there he saw
/ picture that was photographed on his
/ brain for cvrrmore. \ tail. slender girl
! stood in the midst of the choir, III i dress
I ,f male blue--a girl with a face so iair, SO
/ rapt. so seraphic, that it awed and be
vidercd MIN. She was slnglng-not 10
the people. who listened with bated
breath-not to him, whose eyes never
/ moved from her face.
.Ier thoughts had pierced the old groin
ca roof and the blue ether that lay be-
yonJ. ana had gone to the land where an
i gels dwell Her golden hair made halo
| round her head, and he could have
! thought that an angel had descended
from the realms of light" Then 1t
/ dawned upon him slowly that this girl
had been the original of the picture, The
First Glimpse of Morning" and he re-
mcmbcrcd what he had said to Leah,
That face has what yours lacks-tenaer-
ness" Il am destined to know her
/ through the arts" he said to himself.
she dawned upon me in painting, | see
| her ethcrealized by music-yet what Is
| she to me-
She was nothing to him, yet during the
/ whole of the day that rapt spiritual face
! seemed always before him, He would
! have asked who she was, but he knew
no one there. and when the anthem was
! finished she vanished. He fingered in the
/ old churchyard " mere the tall elm trees
cast graceful shadows on the grass, but
he caught no glimpse of her. He went
nome To pene Abbey with the clear, rich
/ voice ringing in his ears. There was 4
! little rfvuIct that ran through the Dene
/ woods. he bent over il, and. 10. the sweet
face smiled ut him from its clear depths.
! lie laughed at himself. No woman 5
| face had ever haunted him before. With
MI its brilliant beauty, even Leah's had
not haunted him as this one did.
The week that passed before Sunday
~5na again was n long one to Sir Basil.
lie had not the least intention Of ever
br,Yr. even in thought. untrue 20 Leah.
If he had dreamed that there was any
Danger in seeing the beautiful singer
,,.,,.i1 bovn avoided I,.r ?
| harm! could there be III going 10 south
! wood Church to hear a grand old anthem
beautifully sung? lie did not speak to
Leah about il. He had one definite mo-
tive for silence, and he had twenty rca-
sons that were not quite definite.
On that bright Sunday morning no
Warning came II Sir Basil that he had
better not see the young singer again
I lie went. she sang more sweetty than
cvcr. and looked TO his enchanted ewes
fairrr than before.
Wusa the people went out OF church
- cpn,viycd to be among the frs, and
then he saw the blue dress trailing o7 eI
The grass: and he noticed that every
movement ana action of the girl was as
full OF s5&cc as her singing was full OF
music.
He found the OLD sexton. Sir Basil as
/ coveted IN q moment the way to his
heart: It was suggested 10y the almost pa
thetic manner in which the man said that
1t was a dry day. He WAS so completely
overw k"lmcd when Sir Basil dropped
something in his hand with which L
make the day more comfortable that ht
would have answered any number o,
questions
"Sho was thu lady that sung
She was Miss Ray-Niss Uettjc Ray
daughter Of the old man who l.red a
Ro>cwalk.
Where was RoSevalk?
II is a cottage built cn the 1,cpe - III,
hill alonnd there 10y Sputhwood"-s
vasur direction. but Sir Basil remember
Ell every word Of II
Who was the oil man?
y ~ d. front # il a v - -
u ne WAS 4 bit Of writer in the 10