Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-03
Fore-G Glimpse.
ri WOULD rather be an angel than
~ God!"
The voice of the speaker sound
Oh cloor fhro,Ipt, the hawthorn
Fore-Glimpse.

<<R WOULD rather be an angel than
The voice of the speaker sound
ed clearly through the hawthorn
tree The young man and the
young girl who sat together on the low
tombstone looked at each other. Ihey
had heard the voices of. the two children
talking. but had not noticed what they
said: it was the sentiment, not the SOUND,
which reused their attention.
The girl put her finger to her lips to
impress silence and the man nodded:
they sat as still as mice while the two
children went on talking
The scene would have gladdened
painters heart An old churchyard. The
church low and square-towered. with long
mullioned windows. the yellow-gray stone
roughened by the waste and stress OF
ages and tender hued with growth OF
lichens. Round 1t clustered many old
tombstOnes tilted and slanted in all direc-
tions: among them few stately monu-
ments. rising patrician fashion Behlnd
the church a line of ancient yeWS so
gnarled and twisted in their thick brown
stems. worn and broken and wasted
with time and storm. that one could well
imagine that long'ago from them came
the furnishing Of battle when the bow
strings twanged and the clOthyard shafts
Whistled on their deadly way.
The churchyard was full of fine cedars.
Here and there among the dotted tombs
and headstones many beautiful blossom
ing trees rose from the long green grass
starred with wild flowers. The laburnum
glowed in the June afternoon sunlight
like a glory of FURNISHED gold. The lilac
and the hawthorn and the clustering
meadowsweet. which fringed the edges of
the lazy stream. mingled their heavy
sweetness In sleepy fragrance, which
intensified the satisfying hum of myriad
insect life. Everywhere on the fringes
OF the place where culture had once set
cosmie beauty had manifested themselves.
The yellow-gray crumbling walls were
green In places with wrinkled harts-
tongues. dwarfed by the structure of their
roots and were topped with sweet will
liams and spreading house-leek and stone
crop and wild wallfiowerS of red-brown
and golden yellow. whose delicious pene-
tratfng sweetness made for the intoxicat-
ing drowsy repose of perfect summer.
But amid all that mass of glowing color
the two young figures seated on the gray
old tomb stood out conspicuously Both
were clad In hunting scarlet. The man
was in conventional hunting dress-red
coat. white stock, black hat, white
breeches and top boots. The girl was one
of the richest. most glowing and yet
withal the daintiest figures the eye of
man could rest and linger on. She was
in riding habit Of scarlet cloth, with the
shade of silk. Her black hat was tipped
forward by the piled-up masses of her
red-golden hair. Round her neck instead
OF 2 exgas white lawn scarf, made
In the Il ION Of a mans hunting stock,
close fitting round the neck and sinking
into the gold-buttoned waisteoat OF
snowy twill. The corner of dainty
pocket handkerchief peeped from the
of her jacket; in the buttonhole on the
right rever was a tiny bud Of white
moss rose. As she sat with the long skirt
across her left arm her tiny black top
leted gloves were Of white buckskin: her
riding whip was plated of white leather,
topped with ivory and banded with gold
at the joining.
Even In her fourteenth year Miss Ste
phen Norman was Of striking beauty;
beauty of a rarely composite character.
In her the various elements of her race
seemed to have cropped OUT The firm
set Jaw, with chin broader and more
square than is usual in a woman, and the
wide. fine forehead and aquiline nose
marked the high descent from Saxon
through Norman. The glorious mass OF
red hair. full. thick. massive, long and
nne, or the true fame color, showed the
blood of another ancient ancestor of
northern. race. and suited well with the
voiuptu0us curves OF the. full, crimson
lips, albeit their cutting showed that the
passionate instincts were. II reproduced
restraint unknown In the older type The
black eyes. deep blue-black, or rather
purple-black. the raven eyebrows and
eyelashes.' and the fine curve OF the nos
trils spoke Of the eastern blood Of the
far: ok wife @of the crusader. For the
rest she gave promise of a good height
Already she was tall for her age, with
something Of that lankiness which marks
the early development of really fine
figure. I.ong-legged, long-necked, as
, straight as lance from the crown of her
head to the sole OF her foot, and with
head poised on the proud neck like lily
on it's stem.
Stephen Norman as girl certainly
gave remarkable promise of splendid
womanhood. Pride. self-reliance domi-
nance and masterdem were all marked in
every feature: In her carriage and bear
Ing and In every twist and turn of her
ughtest movement.
Her companion. Harold An Wolf, was
some five years her senior. and by means
OF those five years and certain qualities
or ms nature had for a long time stood
IN the position of her mentor. He was
or fine stature, six feet four in height
deep-chested. broad-shoudered. lean
thanked long-armed. He was big-handed.
like Sir Beaumains I'm prince Arthur
called so from the size and beauty of
his hands"-signs of knightly breeding in
q chivalric age. when the biggest man
could wear the strongest armor and the
biggest hand coulo hold the weightiest
sword His eyes were gray-blue his
straight hair brown. The nose was fair
sized with sensitive nostrils: 1t was nom
aquiline rather than straight. The chin
and jaws were broad and ma ssive; the
lips. thick rather than thin. were marked
at the corners with an iron determine.
ton.
The two sat quiet. listening Through
the quiet hum of afternoon came the
voices OF the two children. Outside the
lirh gate. under the shade Of the spread-
ing cedar. the horses stamped Occasion
ally as the flies troubled them. The
grooms were mounted; one held a deli
cate-limbed white Arab, the other a great
black horse.
II would rather he an angel than Cod"
The little girl who made the remark
was an ideal specimen of the village
Sunday school child. Bie-eyed. rosy-
checked. thick-legged, with her straight
brown hair tied into hard bunch with a
morsel of much-creased cherry-colored
ribbon. Her printed cotton frock was
starched ont to show the needlework of
her own doing round the edge of the pet
ticoat. The white cotton stockings were
clean. and the spring-side boots. with
the inevitable tags sticking out fore and
art, were scrupulOusly blackened
Glance at the girl would have satisfied
The most skeptical as to her goodness
Without being In any way SNUG she was
radiant with self-satisfaction and we'll
doing a child of the people: a HELM to
her mother: good angel in the house; a
little mother to her brothers and sisters:
ceanly In mind and body; self-reliant.
full OF faith, cheerful. Before the truth