St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-05-30
rHF GRAVE ON THE HILLSIDE.


oooin and again to rest on one OBJ
noxious spot.
az ook in another direction" suggest
i bor husband. He was a grave, mid
die aged professor of chemistry, gen
a.o1lv much amused by the whims and
,,ooaries of the pretty young wife he
nod lately taken to himself, but this
.or,od upon him. 1t seemed to imply
shallowness of nature, lack of deli
cote womanly sympathy.
CYNTHIA pouted. II can't" she said.
mt's nv favorite bit of all, the view
ooross the valley under those two
rroat trees to the hills beyond. / want
70 90 over and sit there every day
with nv books and the guitar. We
conld put up hammock. The sun
cots would be enchanting from that
noint and on moonlight nights-oh,
Robert!
She slipped her hand into his arm
oorpssingly. Lennard smiled down at
her After all, she was nothing but a
cnoilpd child, a butterfly whose joyous
existence had been passed in the sun
cbinv gardens of life. Why should
no pypect her to divine instinctively,
as he did, that some sad story must be
connected with the lonely grave on the
hillside. in which she saw only re-
hinder of unpleasant things to spoil
her enjoyment of the summer? He had
hpen strongly impressed by the hint Of
tragedy. and when he was negotiat-
ing with the agents for the purchase Of
+be deserted farm he tried to find out
something of the history of the family
10 whom 1t had once belonged. But
their dealings with the owner had
been confined strictly to business, and
they could throw no light upon the
past. The professor meant to pursue
his inquiries when the proper time
should come and they should have
made the acquaintance Of some Of their
neighbors.
Meantime an army Of workmen had
transformed the old red farmhouse in
to luxurious country home, and Mrs.
Lennard, arriving the day before to
take possession, was charmed and de-
lighted at the taste and thoughtfulness
her husband had displayed. Only,
whether she paced the wide veranda
on the front of the house or sat at the
window in her own dainty morning
room up stairs or lowered over the
boxes of flowers on the balcony, her
eyes were drawn as if by a spell to the
grassy knoll a few rods distant, topped
BY the tall twin elms. Below it the
land fell away to rich, fertile valley
and then far off in the distant west
swelled upward again to dim, purple
heights No other point on the large
estate commanded just such ravish
Ing prospect as that framed by the
dropping branches of the old elms,
and her first feeling of disagreeable
surprise at finding a silent occupant
already in possession was presently
succeeded by lively resentment.
What a capital place it would be to
assemble her future house parties for
afternoon tea! What a delicious out
of door parlor could be made there!
But, no. the presence of the green
mound with the weather stained slab
of marble at its head put all plans of
that sort out Of the question. The
moro che raUnc+ad ,Iunp IL tho qrao FOR
grew her annoyance until she could
think or speak of little else, to her hus-
bands bewilderment and chagrin.
When he had smiled at her so indul-
gently after her wistful ooh, Robert"
an idea darted into her mind, at which
she took new heart.
Surely something can be done about
tt"' she murmured, appealing to him.
well, what, my dear? To be sure,
we can have the house turned to face
another way"
THAT would be lodging the difficult
ty, and we should be not much better
off. Why can't you have the grave re-
moved? l have read of such things
being done, and there was pretty lit
tie cemetery we passed on the way
from the station. l have no doubt the
rest of his people are buried in it."
Lennard looked wonderingly at the
sweet, fair face upturned to him and
listened more wonderingly still to the
hard matter of factness Of her voice.
We're all women such mysteries? The
dntricacies of organic chemistry were
as nothing to the complex structure OF
one feminine mind as it had already
Deen revealed in his brief matrimonial
experience.
Suppose we walk over to the knoll,
was all the answer he vouchsafed
Remember, you have not seen it ex
cept from distance, and perhaps the
morbid sensitiveness you feel about II
may disappear when you find what
peaceful, pleasant spot it is"
mo, no" cried Cynthia, shrinking
pack. But he caught her and SWEEP
ner after him, half laughing, half seri
ous' down the steps and across the
Sunlit sward.
Peaceful and pleasant it certainly
was in the cool shadows Of the grea'
trees, where the liquid note of a wood
thrush drifting downward through the
oeughs was the only sound that broke
Tie stiffness. The professor dropped
on his knees before the headstone
parting the grasses that had grown vi
ana hidden the name cut upon it.