The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-01-16

gwen 20 speech. her Thoughts and feelings
I lie too deep for wOrds: and even II her
I pride did not prevent her from saying at
/ all times what she feels, ner mere lack II
vocabulary would suffice 10 keep her from
yolpDie seif-reyelation Nor f. she by
/ any means demonstrative II i an error
| 20 suppose that emotional natures are nee
1 essarily given 10 expressing their emotion
either IN words or gestures The exact
opposite would be truer Emotion hides
itself Meriers manners are quiet and re-
served; she is not ftfll or restless; you
cannot often see how profoundly she is
thinking or feeling: only az rare moments
/ does some accident reveal the real depth
/ Of her nature. Once l caught her at sun
| set by the two-Siep stiie that leads from
/ the moor into the Dammas fields. She
/ did net hear me coming. ] creDt Up be-
hind her, admiring her 1.-THE form, sill
/ houetted against the red sky. as she lean
ed on the stile and gazed n The crimson
and orange clouds before her. When
drew quite near. she turned roJnl with a
short sigh. To my surprise. sax she
had tears In her eyes. That's a beauti-
ful sky, Meriel," I said. She clasped her
hands and answered. "Oh, beautiful; beau
tiful! A sky Ike that makes one cry, ZUr,
doan't it?'' Then, as II she had let her
self go too much. she turned and fed, like
the wayWard fores;-hauntlng thing she IS
For a month after, whenever she saw me-
she seemed TO stink on one side, as If
ashamed Of having let herself be discov-
cred in the act of admiring nature.
A girl OF so deeply emotional a temper
ament could hardly grow up without low
ing much and loving often. The full
wealth Of her soul could only expend fl
self on those she loved profoundly. Even
as a child. / remember, she used 10 creep
/ out Of the cottage on summer nights,
and 90 TO a spot I'm the COpse where the
/ badger nested; there the badger cubs
would steal out, undeterred by the pres
! ence Of that other Wild creature, and play
clumsily with their mother in the sober
twilight. And Meriel adopted one and
! loved it, as ether children would love a
dog or a pigeon. The choice was signifi-
cant. That sympathetic heart could waste
its affection on the Veriest bear Perhaps
II was well, for what sort Of men could
poor Meriel hope 10 captivate among the
chair members and basket makers OF her
wild mOorland home? 1t is not the man
that the woman really loves-especially
such imprisoned women as this-it is the
d
ate character like MeriePs will erect a
golden image Of some gamekeeper or
some groom, and bow down 10 it in Sc
cret as devotedly and earnestly as a lady
will bow down TO her dissOlute dragon
or her worthless, drunken, cross-country
rider. Idealism works this miracle: IL is
as easy 10 idealiZe laborer or a navy
as an insipid curate or sneering stock
broker.
When Meriel was sixteen, her passion
was for the footman at the great house
in the valley-the fOotman with blue liv-
cry and padded calves. who spent half
the year at the town house in Mayfair
and half at Greydown. Not that she
ever told her love; ii is not the way of
girls like Meriel TO wear their hearts
upon their sleeves. / doubt if anybody
save myself, who am a novelist by trade.
and therefore ObserVant of these little
signs or emotion, ever so much as guessed
1t. But day by day. when Alfred was
about, Meriel would hover near the cate
OF the great house, waiting and watch
, ing, amply repaid If the hero of her
young love came out on his way to the
village on some errand, and gave her a
passing nod and a Good day. young
woman She gloated over his livery. |
reel sure; gloated over it with the admira-
tlon which an earPs daughter feels for
nero uniform. But Alfred went away
| some months later Ito better himself, or
brlsh mon, ana after mourning him for six
| weeks, Meriel fell victim to the charms
Vi tile stalWart young policeman who
! arrested Ted Vaughan for causing in
| cendidry heath fires at Highdovn Eirs
! HIS OF course, was sheer treason tn
/ hef class; family honor interviewed. San-
teflus Stanley, her father, was the friend
ana associate of gypsies. and poacbars
anu tranps. and horse stealers: he coDld
HdIuIy let his daughter consort uncen-
suieu win mere policeman. And the
! !0UiS polceman himself was not likely
70 care TOT so disreputable a connection
III tHe essence OF things, it is true. NerieI
was as Tar above him as q noe,ssc 10
| above an ordinary young CITY man. but
! the essence of things, | fear Count, 80.
| little or nothing in matrimonial r,,a+ta,s
Merlel had TO give up her stalwart noIioa-
man, and console herself later on with
TED vaughan himself, when thar nob1a
young savage came gaily out of prison
but every man and every woman has
/ one great love in a lifetime; and afte~
many lesser trial trips, Meriel STANLEY
found hers az last in Joe Arundel Tba
| poacher You may laugh; but l can Ten
you an affection like Meriel Stanley's Is mo
laughing matter; the fact that she could
ldeallze a great hulking rowdv and br1I,,
Ike Joe Is in itself a strong proof OF the
wcman's deep poetic nature Outwarllv
tranquil OF demeanor, a dreamer ana
brooder, Merfel has yet a profound admi-
ration such as the natural woman ALWAYS
feels for the man Of courage and the man
or action. DO you remember Homer's
Andromaehe? She is the true type of the
impassioned woman of these lower grades
and lower races-the woman who can
love ana endure much. 10 whom crime ana
bioodshed are but natural attributes of
the nero she worships. Hector had al
tackled the town where Andromache lived
had sacked and burned it, and slain her
father and mother, and had carried her
OF as MS VIE after the primitive mode OF
marriage by capture" And did Andro-
mache hate him for those deeds of vio-
lence with all her soul? Not a bit of II.
she accepted such little episodes as part
Of the established order of things and
chung 10 her Hector and loved and cher
ished him. and wOrshipped him with a
worship passing that of the willing choos-
er. But Hector" she says to him in that
immortal passage which has stirred m.
hearts OF a thousand generations. "but
Hector, thou 10 me art father and mothe-
and thou to me beloved husband" Merial
Stanley Is a survivor OF barbarism cast in
the same mold. She could have wor-
SHIPPED the man who stole her from her
home and slew her parents il only he had
qualities she could respect and idealige
Now Joe Arundel, the poacher. was the
NhisDered terror of his own nefg hhorbo,5.
from childhood up, Meriel had heard an
her own set admire and describe with
glowing praise the bold acts OF this brave
VERY RE