Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-05-26

l Then came short prayer, hymn I read in full but abbreviated little by l Please omit the third and fifth | stanzas, and droned in long metre by
 the assembled sufferers, and after that
 the long prayer in which the worthy l parson not only recited what the Lords
 plans were, but his theories in refer
 ence to them, together with surfeit l of advice. At last Amen" was reached ! and then came general clearing of ] throats.
 At this juncture the cid ladies usu- l ally nibbled fennel or fiagroot.
 | Of the sermon that followed, also in
 long meter, the least said the better. l Few understood it as anything perti- l nent to their daily lives or followed it l beyond "tenthly," and when the inevit-
 able collection, closing hymn, and ben l ediction ended the two hours of gloom,
 the young people at least were glad to
 escape.
 l As he expected, Martin, when he at 1 tended church the first Sunday, was l stared at slyly, and when services 1 were over a few of the elderly ones l halted in the porch to greet him, for l T. ol had spread the news that he | wa now quite rich and might take l up his residence in Greenvale.s Aunt l Comfort was one of these, but Angie | merely bowed and walked on with 1 Hannah. As their path was the same, l Martin had half expected the two
 families would walk homeWard to-
 gether and thus give him chance to chat with Angie; but it did not occur.
 When the greetings were over, how ever, he walked away with Aunt | Comfort
 When evening came, Martin was in | somewhat of quandary. Ite had met Angie three times, and on each occasion she had shown no more than ordinary courtesy and no vestige of any deeper feeling. Then to walk on ahead of the rest, as she had that 1 morning, seemed almost snub. But a certain dogged determination | inherent in him conquered indecision,
 and when the evening bell called and l she appeared, he boldly advanced and l in the most polite manner offered l his company churchward.
 l Now 1t is we'll understood social custom in Greenvale that, when a 1 young couple of marriageable age
 walked to church together, they were l engaged, or willing to be so consid l cred, and hence, when Martin walked up the aisle that evening and faced
 about to let Angie enter the pew l first, levery eye in the church was
 upon them and her face was very red. Full we'll she knew what all were
 thinking and what a tempest of gos-
 sip would follow. It did not occur to 1 Martin, however, until service was. over, and as he opened the hymn book,
 found the place and stood up, he was l quite proud of himself. But on the
 way home species of frost seemed 1 to fall upon Angie and her Wont
 you come in?" when the gate was
 reached, was so chilly he came near
 refusing it. The old custom had re-
 cured to him by this time, however,
 and he felt he owed her an apology.
 But 1t must be delayed, for Aunt
 Comfort and Hannah sat upon the l porch, and for an hour chatted of
 commonplaces and the evening" which I was one worth talking about, for the
 moons full light glowed in the naples
 and fell checkered through the lat l ticed, vine-hid porch where they sat, l the syringas in the dooryard mingled l their odor with the new mown mead
 Ows, and the low murmur of the Mizzy falls whispered in the balmy air-an evening when Cupid should be abroad. But Angie was decidedly out of har-
 mony with it. She would not have
 gone to church had she dreamed that
 Martin would have intruded his com l pany upon her. She could not refuse
 it without affront, and thus caught, l had gone on to feel herself spectacle for all eyes and a target later for all
 tongues, and this, in the face of her,
 'termined effort, so far, to avoid his
 tentions. Something of this came to
 m by degrees, however, and when
 they were left alone together his first l words were humble
 T owe you an apology, Angie,' he
 said, quite meekly, land realize I've
 put my foot in it, tonight; I didn't
 until saw that we were stared at,
 and hope that you will pardon my I blunder"
 "Oh, it was nothing" responded
 Angie, quietly, land no harm has been
 done" It was the least she could
 say.
 I've been away so many years, he
 continued, eve forgotten Greenvale's social laws, and how they will gossip
 here. I won't make another such
 blunder, assure you" Then, as she
 made no further response to this, per-
 force he had to speak of something,
 and launched into recital of the
 incidents of his recent trip with Dr.
 Sol. It was ancient history to her,
 but she listened and commented with
 simulated interest. It was forced, as
 Martin soon felt, and a gradual sense 1 of his own failure to interest her grew
 upon him. Beyond that her chilly re- ception of him upon all occasions, added to the changes he had found in
 his old haunts, now rendered him
 gloomy. He had tried his best to be
 agreeable, he had spoken all the
 pleasant words he could, pertinent to bo facnaciNu. ho chnWp hfc dn-