The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-02-14

trays. though 1t intends to conceal annoyance.
 sne did not speak. hut merely re- sumsd the work she had been doing and kept her head bent over it Curing the rest of the time while he was in the room. There is a perverse state of mind in some natures which fs soothed rather than irritated by mis- construction All the reserve in her. as we'll as her English pride and stub- bornness. united against the least Ia. ciination to recall herself to her old friend in her subordinate position.
 Yet she had intense feelinEs about was now. llftle as she spoke. cold as she looked. there was In her soul a passionate longing such as the volatile Continental women around her could not feel She told herself that for such a present as she had it was best to be stoicai: and about such a future as waited for her it was best to be dead. Gtudiously sshe tried Co suppress all her thoughts into sort of cata- iepsy--a wenaan resigned to hopeless ness,
 Sometimes she longed achingiy for something to tear her Out of thst ex- istence and lead her onward ahd up- ward. But she told herseIf sternly that such iongings must be Killed. and she did as JaeI did to sisera. She drove a nall through their temples; only, un- like sisera. they did not die. They were merely stunned and would turn on the nail at intervals with a rebel iious wrench thai made her brain thrill to it's cole.
 All th@ teachers in turn had made advances toward friendship, but she found In each some trait that was un- sympathetic to her. Instead of joining A. A a..f.. kt.. prevailed In the pensionat when the day's work was done. Miss Shove walked in utter ionelness in the old garden that remained In the rear of the pensionat as a relic of the time when the building had been a convent. That, however, had been generations ago. and many of the alleys and walks had become owergrown and wild. SO that they made perfect eoncealment. Lucy snowe's favorite walk was q tangled alley that stretched along the rear. under the high walls Of a coi- lege.
 There went a tradltIon that during convent times something had happened on this site. There was q whispered tale of q black and white nun who haunted the place At the foot of an aged pear tree one could get glimpse | of q slab, smooth, hard and black. be- l tween some half-bared rootM It was believed that this was the, portal of . vault in which the nun had been buried alive for some sin against her VOWS iong before the tree had sprouted. Miss Snowe had prosaic British | mind and did not give the nun . thought, save to smile in irony at the superstitious tendencies of the Cont pent. If. however, she saw no 6host, she saw something else. Sine discov- cred that Colonel de zafnal had in some way obtained access to one of | the college buildings and from this l strategic point wae. wont to toss notes Into, the pensfonat garden for Misa Fanshawe. pr. Brytton discovared ( it at the same time and besonght Miss | Snowe to watch over the innocent trusting young creature.
 ''She is so young, 50 thoroughly art leBs," said he sShe ia under An H. | luslon. fear, regarding this De Ha1lai | Her pure, chiid-ltke young heart must not be played with by one like him" ! Miss Shove was on the verge of say ing something sharp about the artiess and innocent Gtnsvra, but she looked ct the mans face and saw pain and trou- ble in lt. Instantly she choked back the truth and spoke hopefully and cheerfully to him. Then she turned away to grieve that he should feel | pain, and pain from such cause. She ionged to be able to give him hearts I ease.
 A reception at which both men were guests gave an opportunity to her to speak to Ginevfa. She bade her com pare them-the colonel Count, under- T sized, with little hands and feet, pink and white complexion and an Insnf- | ferable dandy's smile. and the big doc- Cor. "A mere iackey for Dn Johnr' cried Miss snowe. "A doli, puppet, q manikin. who might be footboy or valet for the doctor. Ia it possible that fne.> generous gentleman, hand 1 some as vision, offers you his honor- able hand and gallant heart, promises
 to protect your fi1nsy person and Him. sier mind, and you can hang back"
 But Mlss Ginewra Faushawe ran | away, half crying and half laughing. After the reception came the long
 vacation. and Miss Shove. who did not care to go anywhere, was left alone in the great house. Each day it be-
 came more vast and more void. The weeks went bys black and heavy. At
 last her nerves could not bear the si- | lenee or the gloom of her thoughts
 strange, desolate thoughts for one who
 was barely twenty three; for they were
 the thoughts of age from which all
 expectation has long departed.
 There came night when ahe could
 
 Each night 1t was as if cup, black
 strange. bitter. drawn from no we'll
 were forced to her lips. One less nor.
 bid than she would have sought a phy.
 slcian. She struggled through 1t like
 some self-hattng fiagellant of the Mid.
 de Ages
 j The end was inevitable. It came on
 Q night of storm. when the north west
 wind thundered strong and horizontal
 driving rain like shot across the earth
 Tingling in all her nerves with the
 thrill of the gale, she went out. long.
 ing for wings to fly with it. She not.
 ed not how far or whither she walked Suddenly she seemed to pitch headlona
 down an abyss and knew no more. When her life-machine resumed if,
 regular working she saw objects
 around her that she knew must be un. real. She was in & room that she ney.
 CT had seen before; but in that room were pictures and mirrors, and even N furniture. that she knew at once. TheI were all objects that had been familiar to her childhood in the house of heI l godmother.
 She hardly had opened her eyes be.
 fore that godmother herself stood by her side-very little changed tall, wei attired, with her comedy face which goodness and character made beautiful Mrs. Breton discovered at once what her son had not perceived. and Lucy Snowe had to confess her identity al
 last.
 Once she had yielded, she was as. , tonished what delight 1t gave her tC , ind that she still had frIends-foI friends they were, and they took hei to their hearts as they had taken hel long ago. They insisted on keeping