Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-02-11

III tue ueaTt OI tue CITY, anu WuuI OtueE
capital has advantages like that7 Next
winter the railway station is to have
new stove for the waiting room. Heav.
en- itself IL one Of our suburbs--it IL so
close that all one has to do is to die.
You insist upon my being French, you
see, and know you IRE fond Of non
sense. How did you happen to put
THE Walrus and the Carpenter at the
bottom Of q page of Tisbee's notes?"
WAS It? How were you sure It was
II"
I'm Carlow countyp'
HE might have written Il himself"
"Fisbee has never in his life read
anything lighter than cuneiform in.
scriptions."
Miss Briscoe"-
"She doesn't read Lewis Carroll and
II was not her hand. What made you
write 1t on Fisbee's manuscript
HE was here this afternoon.
teased him little about your heading
in the Herald-'I;usiness and the Cra-
die, the Altar and the Grave isn't it,
and he said it had always troubled
IL,
and you thought it good. So do I. He
asked me II could think Of anything
that you might like better ana put In
place Of 1t and wrote The Time Has
Come because It was the only thing
l could think Of that was as appropri-
ate and as fetching as your headlines.
He was perfectly dear about It. He
was so serious. He said he feared 1t
wouldn't be acceptable 7 didn't notice
that the paper he handed me to write
on was part of his notes; nor did he, l
think. Afterward he'put 1t back in his
pocket. 1t wasn't a message"
I'm not SO sure he did not notice.
He is very wise. DO you know, have
the impression that the old fellow
wanted me to meet you"
How dear and good of him. She
spoke earnestly and her face was suf-
fused with warm light. There was
no doubt about her meaning what she
said.
ut was" John answered unsteadily.
HE knew how great was my need of
n few minutes companionableness
with-with"--
mo" she interrupted. 1T meant dear
and good to me. I think he was think
ing Of me. 1t was for my sake he
wanted us to meet"
1t might have been hard to convince
n woman IL she had overheard this
speech that Miss Sherwood's humility
was not the calculated affectation of a
coquette. Sometimes a mans unsus-
picion Is wiser, and Harkless knew
that che was not flirting with him. In
| addition, he was not fatuous man;
he did not extend the implication Of
her words nearly 30 far as she would
have had him.
But l had met you" said he, "iong
ago"
What" she cried. and her eyes
danced. "You actually remember?"
Yes. Do you" he answered. 81
stood in Jones' field and heard you
singing, and remembered. 1t was
long time since had heard you sing:
II was a rufier Of Flanders
And fought for n horin's hire.
You were the dame OF my captain
And sang to my hearts desire.
"But that is the balladists notion.
The truth is that you were lady at
the court Of Clovis, and was q heath.
en- captive. heard you sing a Chris.
tian hymn and asked for baptism"
She did not seem overpleased with
his fancy, for, the surprise fading from
her face, "Oh, that was the way you
remembered" she said.
Perhaps 1t was not that way alone.
You won't despise me for being mawk-
ish tonight?" he asked. IL haven't had
the chance for SO long"
The night air wrapped them warmly,
and the balm Of the little breezes that
stirred the foliage around them was
the smell Of damask roses from the
garden The creek splsshed over the
pebbles at their feet, and n drowsy
bird, half Weakened by the moon, Groom
ed dangerously in the sycamores. The
girl looked out at the sparkling water
through downcast lashes. "Is II be-
cause 1t Is so transient that beauty is
pathetic" she said, because we can
never come back to it in quite the
same way? l am 4 sentimental girl.
If you are born SO it Is never entirely
leased out Of you, is it? Besides, to-
night is all dream. It isn't real, you
know. You couldn't be mawkish"
Her tone was gentle as caress, and
it made him tingle to his finger tips.
How do you know?" he asked.
II just know. DO you think I'm
very bold and forward:" she said
dreamily.
ut was your song l wanted to be
sentimental about. am like one who
through long days OF toil'-only that
doesn't quite apply-'and nights devoid
Of ease but l can't claim that one
doesn't sleep well here; it is Plattville's
spccialty-like one who
Still heard in his soul the music
OF wonderful melodies"
Yes" she answered. "to come here
and TO do what you have done and to
live this isolated village life that must
be so desperately dry and dull for
man of your sort, and yet to have the
kind Of heart that makes wonderful
melodies sing in itself-oh," she cried.
Il say that is fine"'
you do not understand" he return.
ed sadly, wishing before her to be TN
mercifully just 10 himself. II came
here because l couldn't make living
anywhere else. And the wonderful