The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1909-01-21
CHAPTER |.

There are conflicts IN most l1ves-rea
hand-to-hand combats, that have to be
fought, not with any Heshly weapons, but
with the inner forces of the being-bat.
ties wherein the victory is not always tc
the strong where the young and tho
weak and the little ones may be found
ebiding nearest TO the standards.
Such conflict had come to Alison
Merle, breaking up the surface of her
smooth outer life, and revealing possible
shoals and quicksands, in which many OF
her brightest hopes might be wrecked.
ut is hard. | do not know that even
If Aunt Di think it right 1 shall ever
have the heart to do it," murmured ALI
son, talking to herself in her agitation,
after the manner of older folk II have
just rooted myself in this dear place, and
the soil suits me. | could not flourish
anywhere else and" finished Alison,
with a quaint little smile, Sticky plants
are worth nothing"
To any ordinary spectator the interior
of that little room would have presented
picture of perfect serenity and abso-
lutte comfort Even the young creature
comfortably seated in a chair by the win
dow, with an open letter and a cluster
of deep red roses lying among the folds
of her white gown, presented no disturb
Ing image, though the cheek had lost its
wonted fresh color, and the dark, dreamy
eyes had a look of doubt that was al
most pain in them.
Two years ago-she had been sixteen
then, and, oh, how disconnected and i'll
and unhappy she had been. 1t was not
only the loss of her mother, it was her
own incapacity for responsibility, her
morbid dislike to her surroundings, that
had fretted all her fine color away
Change of air would do her good, and
then Aunt Diana had come down upon
them with the freshness of a moorland
breeze
You must give your eldest girl to me,
Ainslie," she had said to Alison's father /;
'she wants care and cherishing more than
Miss Leigh has time to give her." And,
of course, Aunt Diana had her way.
Instead of the whir of machinery-for
her fathers sawmills were just behind
their house-Alison had now only to
listen to the soft flow of the river that
glided below the green lawns and shrub
berries of Moss-side; instead of waking
up in the morning to look across the dusty
shrubs and trees to the vast wood piles
and masses of unsawn timber, that SEEM
ed endlessly between her and the blue
sky, Alison's eyes had now the finest
one shaded garden seemed to
run into another. and when the willows
were thinned or bare in winter time. what
a view of the river and green meadows on
The opposite side!
The moral surroundings were almost as
much changed Instead of Miss Leigh's
dry method of instruction. Aunt Diana
had placed within her reach many a
pleasant short cut to knowledge, had sug-
gested all sorts of enviable accomplish
ments; money was not stinted where Ali
sons talents could be turned to account.
In this pleasant but bracing atmos-
phere Alison had thriven and grown. She
was still tall. slim girl somewhat youth
full in look, but with plenty of warm life
and energy about her; and though the
lark eyes had still their old trick of
dreaming, they seemed to dream more
happily, and the shadow did not lie so
June afternoon. when Alison sat signing
md visiby disturbed with her lap full OF
roses. 1t was evident at last that she
'ound her thoughts too painful, for after
mother half hours intense brooding she
jumped up from her seat, scat
ering the flowers where they lay unheed
ID on the Indian mating, and walked
abruptly to the door She had dropped
Ter letters. too; but she went back and
picked them up, not replacing them in
heir envelopes, and then she went out
nto the passage.
A dark oak staircase led into little
quare hall, fitted up with bookcases like
: library, with harmonium on one side
glass door opened into a conservatory,
trough which one passed into the gar
len.
Alison turned the handle of a door just
opposite the staircase, and stood for a
hesitating on the threshold.
What a pleasant room that was, half
tudio and half drawing room. full of
ross lights, and artistically Uttered with |
n odd tumble of medieval and modern
chairs and cabinets, bas-
etwork longes, tiny tea tables, hit Tor |
4iliputian princesses. and hanging cup |
cards of quaint old china that gave warm
oloring to the whole. Alison's eyes were |
till fixed on a lady who stood with her |
ack toward her, painting at an easel.
well. child. what now?" The voice
Tas nicely modulated, clear and musical,
ut the manner slightly abrupt.
Alison came forward at once and In /
pected the picture. st is very pretty,
Iunt Dr. she said, forgetting her own
-orries in moment 1T is one of your
est. think l see what you mean, but
D me it is all beautiful; that old man
pensioner, is be not? and that poor,
ired sheep, that seems to have dropped
own by the way, left behind by the
ock, is so suggestive of the title, Noon
de Rest. !