Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1906-05-05

school,
Poor John Renton!
Ever since Miss Julia's return frol
the school things had seemed to go "a
| Wrong"s hatu,anr ~, ON, 40 Ia o eHPre5se
it.
In the first place he had looked horr
fed at the peculiar style of dressin
her hair, after the style of the jar
anese ladies, with a tower above he
eyebrows. He mad expressed himsel
disrespectfully in regard to certai
other fashionable vagaries in whic
she INDUCED; and in the last place, hi
GROWING sin of omission or commits
sion had been good-natured willing
ness to take up their old boy-and- cir
courtship just where it left off, whel
she was sent to Madam Fleuri's school,
without the least idea that Miss JUL,
now required to be wooed and won IL
a more romantic way.
| So things went on, from bad <
worse, each saying at times mucl
more than he or she really meant ant
each being far too proud to take it al
back" and ask to be forgiven.
And now, on the eve of Johns de
parture for "the woods"-where he
was to stay, cutting down timber will
gang of twenty men under his orders
until the deep SHOWS of the winter
gave place to the clearer roads OF
spring-now that only a few hours OF
.companionship remained to them, they
had quarreled so sharply and so thor.
oughly, that Julia at last drew the
little turquoise ring off her finger, that
she had worn there ever since her four.
teenth birthday, and placed it on Johns
broad palm without word.
He looked down at it, as if scared by
dts sudden appearance.
do you really mean it, Julia?" he
asked, at last.
II do" she answered, firmly.
Three years ago bought it for you
with the first money I ever earned. I
was proud enough when I saw it OH
your finger, dear. And now you say
everything is at an end between u.s."
Everything" ....
Julia felt that her voice trembled as
she spoke, for his allusion to their
childish troth-plight had touched her.
She felt, too, that he was watching
her eagerly.
Did he think then that she cared so
much that she could not see him go
with dry eyes and n quiet heart?
She looked up at the stars and made
some casual remark about their bright
ness, to show her perfect compOsure.
John uttered an exclamation that
sounded almost like an oath, and dart
ed away.
at is all for the best" thought Julia,
as she went into the house. If he Is
so harsh and so violent now, what will
he be when l am once his wife?"
And she went about her usual task
the next day, trying to persuade her.
self that she was happy in her release.
John would be nothing better than a
"down-east farmer" all his long life.
And she had learned--or thought she
had learned-to love the city better
than the cOuntry-to pine for city
sights and city amusements whenever
the country's loneliness seemed too
hard to bear.
The weeks went on, and nothing was
heard of the men who were camping
out in the forest fifteen miles away.
No news was good news, however,
in their case. No one felt the least
anxiety about them.
Not even Julia Bennett, who was
making ready for a months visit to a
school friend in Brooklyn, who was
the cousin and intimate friend a GER
tain dashing young lawyer whose ad-
miraton of Miss Julia in her schoolgirl
days had been subject of remark
among her immediate companions.
Herbert bids me say that he looks
forward most anxiously to the day Of
your arrival" the city girl had written
at the end Of her letter.
And the country girl read the fatter-
ing reminder with vain toss Of her
pretty head, and an unspoken wish
that John Renton could read 1t, too.
"He would understand, then, that
there are others in the world who care
for me, and who don't take things
quite so much for granted as he does"
she thought.
Yet, during her preparations for the
journey, Julia's thoughts ran oddly and
continually, not OH the dark-eyed law
yer, with the city airs and graces, but
on the brondshouldered, hard-handed,
florld-cheeked Renton, with his blue
eyes and healthy bronZed face, and
his snow-white forehead, shaded by
thick chestnut curls.
"He would make two of Mr.. Egerton,
and yet he is so clumsy" she thought,
half laughing and half crying.
But all the while her heart was very
sore.
On the night before her departure,
Julia visited the postoffice, and also the
telegraph Office, TO give notice to her
friend in Brooklyn of the hour of her
arrival on the next day.
She found the telegraph clerk wrest.
ling with an unusually long message
and waited at the door until he would
be at leisure.
An OK team slowly rounded the
northern corner of the village street
and proceeded at more leisurely
crawl than usual past the telegraph
Office.
mot much like Lawyer Egerton's
trotting bays and shell-shaped cutter,
thought Julia, smiling contemptuously
at the homely vehicle.
''Brt something must be wrong there
/ can see two men lying on the sled
wrapped up in buffalo robes, aud the
driver is surely Sam Paine; and, oh
.dear they are stopping at Mr.. Rem
toms gateV
Julia's heart seemed 10 stand still.
Sam Paine had been for the last cen