The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1908-07-16
VII.
A New interest.

race the world once more: her arm
had healed. her bruises had disap-
peared, and. more important still
from a feminine point OF view. she
had restocked her wardrobe and was
no longer under the necessity Of APP
pearing in borrowed plumes. Esther
had accompanied her In all her shop
ping expeditions to Falmouth and
Truro, while Clement had been avail
able for any expedition that involved
a long drive across the country
Marion treated him with frank
friendliness. In her eyes he was al
most a middle-aged man. And she
looked up to him as she would to an
uncle or to an elder brother. There
was not the ~faintest shadow OF coquet-
ny in her intercourse with him, no
breath Of sentiment stirred her heart.
He a a middle-aged man and she
was a girl, and that his friendliness
could ripen into any warmer feeling
never came within the circle of her
thoughts.
After a day or two Clement realized
how girlish she was--a woman in
stature, wise beyond her years, seri.
Gus in her outlook upon life-and yet
with a de ightful youthfulness that
scattered to the winds his early mis-.
giyjngs. There was no reason in the
world Why he should avoid her. He
would be quite safe in spending as
much time in her company as he
pleased. SO he threw caution aside
and gave himself up to entertaining
her, and in doing so found abundant
enlertsinment.
There was something very delight
full IN her frank enjoyment of every.
thing. She had got into a fresh EN-
vironment, and looked with wonder
ing and delighted eyes at everything
she saw. Moreover, she had eve
been taught to curb her enthusiasm
or bottle up her delight: when she
was happy everybody knew it.
Cne OF her first pleasures was in
being shown over the house. It
ed 10 mel like a medieval picture.
She had grown up In a country where
everything was new, where the
houses sprang up like mushrooms In
a night, and cities appeared as II by
magic. Here was a house that had
taken generations to complete, u
whose walls had echoed to the laugh
Ter OF children who had died two hun
dred years ago. II was like a fairy
tale. n she found herself weaving
ali sorts OF strange fancies and filing
the place with the ghosts of dead-and-
gone Mawgans.
After the house the grounds had to
be explored, and then the country be-
yond. she and Clement took long
walks on the cliffs and explored in
Vulnerable creeks and bays. He point
ed out to her the treacherous Beetles,
churning as always the green water
into foam; showed her the mar
row channel through which the boats
had come. and the rock TO which she
had chung when he and Grayton res
cued her.
she grew serious when she stood
amoHg the treacherous rocks In st.
Chloe bay, and the tears came into
her eyes more than once. She won
dered again Ii 1t would not have been
better II she had gone down with the
5 Nebraska. She was still ~dreading her
meeting with Mr.. Mayhem. still pain
fully apprehensive OF the future.
She did not talk to Clement, how
ever, of her fears. She felt It would
be ungratefui to do SO. He had been
so kind to her that her duty IA to
show her appreciation by a cheerful
disposition.
Her brightness acted upon him like
q toaic. He began to look at things
through her eyes. Some Of the en-
thusiasm of his boyhood came back
20 him. The world was not nearly so
dull a place as he had been proclaim
ing It. He was surprises at himself
occasionally. Those dreary Novem.
her days, which he always dreaded,
had become unaccoantabIy bright. The
long. duh. p~urposeless evenings brim-
med over with interest and charm,
Esther played and sang because there
was some one who appreciated her
efforts. and Clement turned his back
on the library and on his pipe be-