Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1905-06-17

in the coming years, for when she re
turned the spell would be broken, ant
all that remained would be to say goot
night and good-by.
When the door closed behind the
slim, white figure, Lettice Clayton rose
abruptly at the head of the table.
The girls looked at her in surprise
and inquiry. Would she propose the
toast at once? Not one but would have
waited Indefinitely for Delights re
turn. Nothing was complete without
Delight.
Lettice looked from one to another
with curious expression.
perhaps Delight Everett is the last
person competent to tell her own story
she said, with thrill in her voice
"If you are willing, should like to
tell you something of this quiet life
in Durham"
do tell us, Letticew urged Dorothy,
and the rest nodded.
Perhaps you remember that it was
the desire of Delights life to go into
settlement work with me-" Lettice be-
gan, "and l know of no one who would
be better fitted for the work. Besides,
she was an orphan, and seemed unus-
ually free to follow her wishes. But
the summer after graduation the aunt
who had made a home for Delight dur
ing vacations fell sick, and Delight
would not leave her. 1t proved to be
a lingering illness filed with intense
suffering, and through it all the poor
woman chung to Delight as to her only
hope and comfort. For three years
Delight devoted herself to this mission,
doing the housewOrk as well. for the
doctors bills were heavy and the fam
lily purse was shallow"
She stopped moment, and her eyes
grew tender, while the others waited in
silence.
II saw Delight once in that time"
she said, softly. "She was the same
dear Delight-no word of complaint,
no sigh for her deferred hopes, no
consciousness of sacrifice, just sun
shine in shady place. 1t was only
when she was listening to the stories
of my work she begged for, that
caught glimpse of her hope denied.
But If you could have heard what the
poor sufferer said one morning in her
absence! Girls"-she threw out her
hands ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS would not
give to have such things said of mep
Lettice stood turning a rose in her
fingers while she waited to recover her
poise, her eyes looking beyond the
dropping petals of the flower.
81 went to Durham again." she con-
tinued, "when 1 heard that the poor
woman was at rest. This time l ex-
pected to carry Delight away with me.
The work needed her-I needed her.
But 1 found somebody else had estab-
llshed a prior claim. 4 cannot leave
poor uncle she said to me, with her
bright, brave smile. He is so DESC
late and so helplessv
when l urged that there were 9TH
ers who might shoulder that burden,
she shook her head. "Uncle is pecul-
lar she answered, and If one did not
know him well, one might not under
stand, and might be inpatient
The narrator laughed ont suddenly.
"Peculiarw she cried. "He was a
wlzened little creature, but possessed
of cantankerous spirit quite gigantic.
Indeed, If Delight had not stayed at
the helm, doubt IL anybody could
have been found who would take
charge of that terrible old man. And
there our dear Delight has stayed car
ing for him as tenderly as If he had
been her father, and finding time, too,
to spend her love and sympathy upon
every needy creature in that little
town. And now, at last, Delight is
free, for her uncle died this spring,
leaving her the poor little farm as
a token that-somewhere in his gnarled
and twisted soul-he acknowledged her
loving service. And this is why De-
light has no story to tell Of the past
ten years"
Judith Graves looked across ut the
narrator with eyes that were sus-
piciously bright. "'She hath chosen
the better part" she murmured.
II have so often wondered that De-
light did not marry" sighed Rose ABB
bott. "She would make a wonderful
wife and mother"
Lettice opened her lips impulsively,
then closed them again. Not even to
her had Delight confded the full ex-
actions of her duty. But she remem-
bered the day when her cousin, DR..
Philip Clayton, had come to tell her
that he must go alone to complete the
in Vienna which should
make him more skilful in his beloved
profession.
"And she used to sing so charmingly,
not n brilliant voice, but wonderfully
touching" unused Cecilia Merton.
ooh, Delight still sings" said Lettlce,
"She leads and trains the
village choir, and every week she goes
to sing to the forlorn souls at the poor
farm-not trained voice, but they
enjoy It,"
"And now what will Delight do?"
asked Eleanor Day.
Lettice thought Of the letter with n
foreign postmark, which had reached
her that day, "She goes to Russell
House with me until somebody else
puts in a claim" she answered, with
inward wonder whether Delight would
recognize her right to listen to the
call TO happiness.
Mary Lowell looked thoughtfully up
at her. at seems to me that we shall
have no difficulty in deciding who is
worthy of our toast" she said, gravely.
"There is but one of our number who
has put aside her own hopes for the
good of others. No matter what the
rest of us have accomplished, 1t was
all in the line of our personal plans,
pleasures. Girls" she
looked about at the asserting circle