Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1900-06-05
His First Love.
CHAPTER /.

| trivial acts, so that if they but speak to
| you, you are conscious of charm in the
accent and cadence of their words; if they
! only so much as cross a floor your eye
| follows them with the same sort Of pleas
ure with which your ear listens to mu-
| sic; but Margaret Egerton was not one
| of these happily gifted people. She was
| young, yet she had not much of the bloom
| of youth; her features were delicate, and
| yet few people called her pretty; she was
straightly made, with figure that was
light and slim, yet in its action there was
always a certain stiffness. and the awk-
wardness that came from self-conscious-
ness She was woman to whom lit
| tie admiration from the people whom she
loved would have given warmth and life;
but she did not arouse admiration easily,
and perhaps the person in the world who
cared for her most was the one who was
most keenly alive to her deficiencies.
She was standing at a table in her coGs-
in Godfrey Helstone's drawing room, ar
ranging some flowers in bowl, and ar
ranging them i'll enough, for she had not
the knack of doing that sort of thing
gracefully. Godfrey. glancing up once or
twice from his book, had experienced a
mixture of amazement and irritation at
her want of success He had seen other
women set 4 cluster of flowers with a
few careless touches, but poor Margaret
had been toiling over her work for ten
minutes, and the result was only taste
less mass of close-packed roses.
Don't you think you might put some
| more greenery there?" he said to her,
suddenly.
The girl glanced up when her cousin
spoke Perhaps she had already had a
suspicion that Godfrey, although he seem
ed TO be reading, was sufficiently aware
of her occupation to be capable of criti-
cising it, and the suspicion had possibly
helped to make her ungraceful fingers
even less deft than usual at their work.
Il am afraid l am not clever at arrang-
ing flowers" she said, gently.
And then he held his peace. That fact
was so self-evdent that, not being man
who paid compliments, he probably felt
silence 10 be his best response. They
were very good friends, these two, though
Margaret had no more charm for God
frey than if she had been a boy instead
of a girl of twenty. Two years ago,
when her father died, it was he who had
first proposed to his mother that she
should come and live with them. Mar
garet was the only child Of Mrs. Hell
stones brother, who had been rich man,
and his wealth had all gone to her, with
the great house in which she had grown
up. and which, indeed as Godfrey said,
would have been dull place for her to
have continued to live in alone. lyor
Hall, they called it. 1t stood within
mile of Godfrey's own more modest house
the Dene. When Godfrey said to her,
Come and make your home with US, she
had come willingly She would have done
most things that Godfrey asked her to do
When he said, Come to u.s." he brought
the color to her cheek. and one of those
rare looks into her face that gave her
for a moment touch of beauty.
Mrs Helstone was a widow, and God
frey was her only son. He was twenty
four, and had just taken his degree at
Oxford, and come into the enjoyment of
the estate which his fathers death had
left to him. 1t was not a large estate,
but it was large enough to make him in
dependent. He was something of a stu
dent, too and had good library. For
his age, he was rather a grave man,
though social in fair degree, and fond
of travel, and sport, and active life. He
was a good son, too, and a good friend.
Both Margaret and Mrs. Helstone had
been making much of Godfrey of late, for
he had come from Oxford with some hon
Ors on his head, and of course they offered
incense TO him. They had been very
happy together for a week, but on this
day, when Margaret had made her pom
derous bouquet, Godfrey was on the eve
of taking his departure from them again
for a little while.
You must want holiday now, my
dear" his mother had said to him. You
look well, certainly-not as If you had
been. overworked at aii-but still you
must really be in need of thorough
rest"
Il am not so sure about being in need
Of one" Godfrey replied; but l think of
taking one / have promised Dallas to
go for a months fishing with him on the
Trent"
And accordingly he was on the eve now
of starting on this expedition. He was
rather an ardent fsher-his intended
companion was man whom he liked
the weather was all that weather at the
end Of June ought to be.
Mr.. Helstone and his friend were TO
meet at the inn of Brentwood. a village
on the Trent but when Godfrey reached
this place upon the following day. he
found not Mr.. Dallas, but letter from
aim, postponing his arrival until the next
afternoon. The delay did not matter to
Godfrey. I'll try and get a basket OF
fish before be comes" he only thought.
SO he went 10 bed that night after having
taken a survey of the river, and the next
morning began his sport.
Godfrey chose his position, and arrans-
ed his line. The place was pretty-green
and solitary; an English, home-like scene,
such as was pleasant in the young mans
eyes The river made a bend near where
he stood: on the opposite bank there was
a belt of trees; stretching far away on
either side were wide green meadows, dot
ted with wandering sheep. 1t was all so
quiet that he heard no sounds except the
singing of the birds. and sometimes the
low Of cattle far away. The silence was
unbroken for so long that Godfrey at
last, to relieve it. said aloud TO himself,
Upon my word this IS quiet place"
Just at that moment, the wind caugh;
his line ant discompoSed him. He bad
drawn il out of the water 10 throw It
afresh. The same unfortunate breeze at
tackled his hat. and before Godfrey could
prevent il, the covering that had so late
~ adorned him was first uplifted in the
air. and then tossed into the river out of
reach.
He threw out his line and tried TO catch
Il, bur that effort failed. and / went
floating buoyantiy down the stream. lie
laid down his rod. aud was in the act OF
throwing of his coat. when he perceived
TO his discontinue. advancing directly to-
ward him across the nearest field, pair
of igares--a man aud woman-whase
presence brought his intended proceed
ings 10 an inevitable stop.
"Provoky-gg thought Godfrey; but in
the face Of such an arrival he was clear
| liz helpless. 50, feeling a little foolish. he
took up his rcd again and began with as
much appearance 81 ease as he could as
/ sumo to busy himself With the resdjust-
ment 81 his Inc.
.Hey-day, young man. you want that
hst Of yours back again. don't yous"
Il 4 a.r ~, II