News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1904-03-16
THE GIRL
OF THE
ORCHARD
By HOWARD FIELDING
9 CoPYRIGHT, 1901. by CHARLES W. HooKE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ming. This must be by way of suG
gcstion to me, and so l sang thu
strange little song, being inspired to
fairly creditable performance by thu
fitness of the theme. When | had fin
tShed, there came faint sound across
the water like the clapping of hands
Then the fire was scattered suddenly
almost as if there had been an eXplo
sion in the midst of it, and | saw for q
moment a dark figure, whether OF man
or woman ! could not tell but il
seemed not to be hers Darkness and
silence followed. The moon that had
shone in the earlier part Of the evening
was now obscured by a heavy cloud
though most Of the sky was clear.
l was at loss to explain the cessa-
ton of the music and the sudden eX-
tinguishing Of the fire. 1t could not
be due to any trausGroaSiCn of mine.
/ would have wished to prolong the
scene until midnight, for all these in
auences that arISe no man knows
whence and work upon hitherto I'M
known possibilities Of tie soul We're
strong with me. | would not know
how 10 give the feeling a name. a
man cannot love q voice nor give his
heart to a woman who is to him only a
gown seen at distance and Il gesture
of the hand. Indeed. in my case there
was no certa.Lt. tat tie voice, the
gown and the hand belonged to the
same w0I@l. Sc who 81. g upon the
rocks in the EVENINGS mi~It not be she
who sketclcd in the shadow of the big
umbrella by day. Perhaps it makes
no difference what | felt, nor for
whom. The point is that I felt it. My
eyes were fixed upon the faint glow of
the embers in the vain LOpe that the
goddess of the place might rekindle
the flame upon the sacred tripod.
A little whispering breeze, cold as
dead hand, touched my face. 1t came
from the shore, and Immediately the
boats bow began to swing outward. l
took up the oar to keep her head up,
but before l could dip it l was looking
straight out into the lake. And then
the moon touched the edge of cloud,
and l perceived a gray shadow which
l knew to be a boat. Beyond a doubt
the girl had seen it and had resented
an intrusion.
She was the queen of that land and
l was her navy. The fellow in the
other boat was worse than an enemy
he was a pirate. l put my paddle into
the water with great force. The pirate
bent to his oars with haste, but before
he could swing around and gather
Roadway l was almost alongside. The
moon Frightened, and l recognized
Scovel
what" he cried, ceasing to row. SIS
it you? l thought it was Derringer"
My friend" said I, this isn't a mat
ter to lhinh about at all Far less is it
matter to talk about"
The pirate promptly surrendered.
Upon delicate Matters" said he, Il
have long had a habit Of conyersing
exclusively with myself. And in the
present instance | won't even TO That
if you don't wish me to. Eut had 10
idea You've seen her, them
NO more than you have" l replied.
And let me repeat
Nov, seA here" he said, with ludi.
frous ea"nestness, YOU were nearer the
shore tLan | was, And you were max
ing a blasted noise, while | was quiet
as the night over our heads. If there
was any inuustqn"-
why did the fire go out" | inte--
pupted.
He pat the handle of an oar under his
4 -p
freed hand.
wasn't that curious?" he said. 81
was just getting near enough to see it
clearly, when. puff, the whole ting
went up into the air! Terry, there's
magic about this whole business. Now,
why" he continued, pointing a forensic
finger at me, why are you here? Why
am here? What subtle influence radi
ates from ~ unknown, unseen
stick to the point" said l. "Why
'j~~ you here? AS for my own case, it
S plain and entirely conventional.
was trying to entertain the lady with
song in a manner as old as the world"
"And l was here" he rejoined, ito
find out what presumptuous, roaring
rascal was destroying the lady's peace,
in violation of the statute in such cases
made and provided, by lingo"
My captive had rebelled.
"Scovel," said /, ''when fellow can
Ialk that way to another fellow who
weighs near a hundred pounds more
Ihan ne does he is all right. VIII you
have a fresh cigarY
We sculled the two boats together
and shared tobacco and matches, after
which ceremony we slowly pulled back |
10 the landing.
During the remainder Of the evening |
| thought hard upon the problem pre- |
scented by the musical miracle which /
has been described. Where did the girl |
get the song? Admitting that l had |
sung it to my father in New York, |
there was still no explanation. Though !
he sings WELL he is not one who
catches a tune" readily, and he could /
no more have carried such an eX- |
tremely difficult air in his head than |
ne could have carried the Witherspoon !
lake to Chicago in his hat 1t could not .
be he who had sung it to Sibyl This ,
is upon the supposition that Sibyl was .
the girl, but l could not see that .