The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-10-13
CHAPTER XIII.


more becoming. But with all my pains,
I cut but very sorry figure.
Dear me, how spruce you look this
morning. said Martha, as came down
to breakfast And quite elated, toov'
Before 10 o'clock l was in the neigh
borhood of her house. 1t was too early
to go there yet; so 1 fingered about for
time. How very awkward it was that
had no knowledge of her namei l had
quite forgotten to ask it. As the time
drew near / began to feel nervous. A
church clock struck eleven as l timidly
knocked at the door. was answered by
a stout, good tempered looking old lady.
You have young lady staying here,
l began, in a hesitating tone.
"Oh, you are the young man that Miss
Clara expects, I suppose" Saying which,
the old lady deliberately drew pair
of spectacles out of her pocket. and adj
justing them, carefully scrutinized me.
Ny appearance seemed to satisfy her. for
she said, in a more friendly tone. wv ak
in, young man; Miss Clara will be with
you directly"
She showed me into neat little par
Tor. Upon the table were several water
colored drawings, some finished, some I'M
finished; also some Berlin wool work.
Bouquets Of flowers were everywhere;
upon the table amidst the work. upon the
mantelpiece in two vases, upon little
stand facing the window. and upon the
cottage piano that stood in a corner The
air was loaded with their perfume In
a few moments the door opened and
Clara came into the room.
You have come, then" she said, with
her sweet, melancholy smile.
As If aught but death or imprisonment
could have kept me away!
She painted water-color pictures, and
did Berlin wool work for the shops, she
told me. She sat down at once and be-
gan her work. and l waited upon her,
washed her brushes, ground her colers,
adjusted the blind, and between these
little Offices / watched her busy fingers;
but oftener my eyes were upon her face,
craving its every lineament upon my
memory. Never have ! looked upon an
other face SO spiritually beautiful 1t
was one of those heads that the old Ital-
ian painters loved to give to Their An
gels and Madonnas, so prefectlf serene,
so utterly free from human passions
The fair wavy hair. untramrneled By
art; the oval face, neither full, nor thin,
but perfectly smooth; the low forehead,
the blue eyes: the straight Grecian rcsa;
the small mouth; the swelling, gracefully
arched neck: the skin so delicately whita,
tinted upon the cheeks with the fainteg:
carnation. Her figure was of about the
middle height, exquisitely graceful. yea
painfully fragile. She wore black
dress, made high to the neck, with a
small, plain white collar.
We talked very little; she was too busy
with her work, and silence was more
ccngenial with our mood.
At 3 o'clock Mrs. Wilson called us to
dinner, which we took In breakfast
parlor below The old lady was very
chatty and very curious, and asked me
those l did not care to answer / con-
trived pretty skillfully to evade.
You must excuse my questions, ST., !"
she said; but although Miss Clara Is
no relation of mine, and, indeed. knosv
nothing about her, still I feel as much
interested in her as though she were ay
own child; she is SO innocent, and kns.ws
so little about the world. that it's Q.ite
necessary that she should have some one
to look after her. Now, you are the
first visitor that she has ever had. and
she has lived with me these two years
But, when she came home last night she
told me that she had met an old ac-
quaintance who was coming to see ser,
that he had come to the city in search of
employment, and had no friends nor &c
quaintances, and was so dreadfully sn;s-
cradle that it made her quite unhappy
to see him. At first, / set my sace
against 1t, but she soon coaxed me oser
and / compromised the matter by saying
that you should cone this once, but that
if did not approve Of you, it was 10 be
the first and the last visit. But / uust
say you seem very nice, quier, modest
sort Of young gentleman. And what kind
of employment might you be seeking?"
told her had been usher at school
but that at present / was doing COPY :ng
/ did not say Of what kind. The old
lady remarked that an usher's was q
very genteel sort of employment. Alto
gether she seemed very well satisfied
with me.
In the evening Mrs. Wilson brought
her sewing up into the parlor, and pro-
posed that / should read to them. And
so the evening glided on, oh, so rapidly
until / could no longer see in the dark
ening twilight, and then we all sat near
the window; Mrs. Wilson chatting, and
Clara silent. She gazing into the street
with that absent look so common to her
I watching every motion of her face. as
it grew more and moro indistinct lie the
deepening shadows Lights were brought
and then we went down to supper, and
tnen it was time to go.
aYou will come and see me again
won't your? she said, as she gave nae hel
hand at the gate.
1 wanted no pressing, and arranged
that would come again on Monday. She
wished me good night, and went N and
closed the door, and the day was ended
the day whose blissfui memories will
never fade from my heart.
That day was the precursor OF many
like ones, until, in a short time, could
perceive that she looked forward to my
coming with expectancy, and that my
presence had become thing almost nee
essary to her. She looked for me to hand
her the painting materials, to grind the
colors, to select her skeins of wool, t.
sit at her feet and read to her some
pleasant book; while, between the lights
she would sit at the piano ard impro
wise STRANGE weird, plaintive melodies
1t was a strange communion, ooFs. III
it We lived only In the present moment
We never spoke Of q past or II . fu
ture, for we wished to be hapEy; and
to both. the past was hidcous, the fu
ture ominous- Thus l knew nothing OF
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