Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1904-05-06

Wllcu lncN ndu leII the Gus
- tered shipping of the town be-
hind them, wound along the reed rim
med bank of the river where plethoric
crows cawed to their mates. The after
noon had come with Il vivid sky burn
ing to a char on the horizon The
young secretary gazcd out of the open
window. and through it the wind came,
sweet with the clean smell of dry grass.
Anne stole Il side glance from under
dropping lids.
you are deeply occupied, monsieur"
she said at length, with a lurking
thread of sarcasm. Il should not mar
vel since all Virginia lies just outside
He threw her smile that softened
his clean cut mouth and lightened his
eyes. "All Virginia is not outside the
window-for me, mademoisclle."
With a woman it is the new sensa-
ton which captivates. Mistress Tillot-
son had been used enough to pretty
speeches. The bcaus of half Virginia
had recited quatrains to her fan. Here
was an unaccustOmed subtlety.
yet your eyes were there" she re-
joined. Had your thought fled still
farther? O 'ersea, mayhap?"
He met her look full eyed. "Shall
tell you of what l was thinking?
have seen many fair ladies in my own
land, gracious and kind belize, but
few whose charity could reach to an
object so far beneath them as n bond
woman; fewer yet whose graciOusness
would lead them to sue for pardon
from n stranger-like me-"
a." she answered more lightly, was
thinking of how the frost has set the
woods afire. Saw you ever such copper
reds and russell Colds? And those
wedges of pink rock-they have the
look of raspberries crushed in curdled
milk. God is spendthrift of his hues."
The country through which they
passed was hung with the marvellous
colors which Nirginan autumn Law
ishes so prodigally. There were the ma
room OF the wild rose stalk, the ripe
brown seams of butternut bark and the
shifting tints the sun lends the frosted
alder, the gray lichen and bronze fir
splotched with scarlet creeper and stip-
pied MOSES like saffron butterflies.
Here and there showed the splash of a
bluebird's wing or the vermilion crest
of a kingfisher.
at is very fair" he said, "as it
should be-"
Again a silence fell, while the road
swung across forest stretches, under
springing roofs through which the sky
swan in daZZles.
At last she spoke demurely:
And of what else were you think
ing, MONSIEUR"
Il was thinking what you are most
like. Some ladies are like snow noun
tains that stand very far off, white
and beautiful, but cold-so cold you
cannot warm them, and so high. Some
are like blossoms. sweet and perfumed,
made for only a nosegay in the even
ing. When the sun is hot they wither.
Some are like a song that one hears
and thinks lovely-hums it awhile and
forgets."
And which of these am |. sir?"
You are like a sword-slim and shin
ing and strnight and yet delicate. 1t
took centuries to make the sword,
mademoselle. 1t will bend, bend, but
not break. 1t is sharp and cold to all
the world save one-the one who wears
it at his side. But to his touch it be-
comes alive to ward him harm, to
guard his life, to keep his honor"
AN we were truly swords" she
flashed, 1--WE ladies of Virginia, there
were less of bitterness in this fair
colony of ours"
$50 the sword has the temperw he
cried, his eyes kindling. 1T is not for
ornament alone. And these troubles
of the colonies-they strike so deeply
then? DO even the ladies of a land
such as this feel the sting?"
She gazed out toward the low knob
bed hills limned against the deepening
Sky, her elbow on the window sill, her
chin in her gloved hand, silent. Above
them in sun stained air shreds of torn
clouds folded away like dreams From
near by came the startled flutter of
field larks and the rustic of ripening
corn.
The road curved quickly ana lurcneu
into pine forest, where the day filmed
to twilight and the hoofs fell noiseless-
ly into a carpet of brown needles. II
was a pleasant way, full of mingled
odors, all strangely pure and agreeable,
where clamorous wood things piped to
a musical silence.
"'Tis not all Virginia, after all, that
one sees here, monsieur" she said slow
ly after time. Far to the west of us
is vast region, raw, full veined and
of scattered tenants. There are great
mountain peaks and ravines, wastes
waiting seed and hoe, plateaus and
woodlands where the musket and the
ak are never silent. Deer run in the
brake. Wolves race along the ridges
There strong men have lived and