Year: 1859

count OF hester, and her earneStness as she II


cited prosaic lesson in Latin Grammar upo


that first day Of their acquaintance rather plea


ed bim. As have said, she did not remembe
e him long, but he watched her climbing tn


mountain, eyes bent on book, yet Just as seeur


of foot as mountain goat, and could not hel


smiling little to himself to think that his eve


would follow her so persistently He couI


not help thinking of her long after the windin


Path concealed her from his view; and in th
two or three days that intervened between tha
first meeting and his cali upon her he SURPRISE


his good uncle not a little by asking him if b
did not wish to send his pupil Hester SOM
books. Mr.. Center replied that she came afte
her Looks when she wanted them, which repl,
made Paul ask, "How oftenl" "When shl
gets time" was the answer; whereupon Mr.
Brownlow thought he should do a very kinc
thing if he carried her one. So the afternoon
have told you of, he started with volume o.
Woodstock, and during the course of his hard
walk came to the conclusion that he was doing
a decidedly foolish thing He changed his
mind after he heard the Joyous exclamation,
and saw the bright eyes sparkle as she took
the book. and all this time he was seated upon
the old log, looking at Hester If the pages
had been open before his own eyes he thought
he could not have told more clearly what She
was reading, for flushing cheek and ever-chang-
ing eye told him how imagination possessed
itself of the fascinating story.


| think Hester must have felt his gaze, for
she looked up after time and seemed to be
aware Of her incivility.


81 am very sorry have left you sitting upon
the stump SO long. Won't you walk into the
house and rest yeu!"


Paul thought he could not stop, but found he
1-kcv~ L., - f..I- l.


of "Marmion;" and as she told him, he did not
fail to notice the freshness of her ideas, even
of her forms ofexpression. She had not read
the book-she had lived it; she was no unmov-
ed spectator; in very deed and truth she had act
ed her part in those deeds of chivalry. At
length with half smile, she resumed her long
neglected employment of chip picking, her quick
sense of the ridiculous telling her that particu-
lar moment how amusing it was for bare
footed girl like herself to pass SO much time
amidst the stately revelry of palaces, with
knights and high-born danes for her companions.
Paul saw it too; and although she was much too
honest and noble to think herself lowered bv
her surroundings, he could not help pitying her
as the quick blood crimsoned her cheek when
she saw him glance almost unconsciously at her
bare brown feet Timidly, yet most earnestly,
for she was very thankful for the book, she
pressed him to stay and share their supper of
bread and milk, and, wondering at himself he
at last consented. Poor Hester, she has never
forgotten how happy she was that father and
brother were sober that night. It was not the
last bowl of milk he drank in that little house,
for month after month went by, and still he dal-
lied at his uncle's and when autumn came he
could no longer deny that Hester Grahame's
smiles and words were the dearest things on
earth to him that to have and hold that simple
girl would be the most precious possession that
life could give him. For the first time in his
life he found apart of himself which he could
not master. And how was it with Hester! She
hRs hsr to0f OF e @e siRee amid tears even. that no sum
Mr.. Brownlow did almost everything toward
making her what she afterward became how
he taught her, read to her, and more than all,
saw what none had seen before that by-and-by
this young girl would find in herself power of
utterance that would place her high in the world
of authors. She has told me how a sense of
rest came to her through him how his calm
ness strengthened her, and that his keenly felt
appreciation became the dearest part of her
Iife.- And vet, close to womanhood as she was,
she did not dream that she loved Paul Brown
low other than as a friend She had read of
love and of lovers but it was grand thing
for poems and for plays, suited 20 gallant knights
and courtly women, but it was altogether above
her simple life. And Paul saw it-saw that she
was as free and unresLrained in her intercourse
with him as she would have been with dearly
loved brother; and to his honor be it spoken,
not by word or look did he try to draw away
the screen from the pure heart He could not
marry her then; (oh, how he longed for the
money that he had thrown away upon himself!) y
be had only his brains and his hands; he could
not tell yet if there was force enough in item
to support himself; and Hester herself was
fastened at home, for her father had been grow
| ing inhrm all summer, and now scarcely ever
left the house 1t was very hard for him to leave
her there He saw what her life must be, and
he lOnged to take her in his arms and give her
rest and leisure by his own toll but be could
not do it then. FAtleast, +" be said 81 can wait
one year before | tell her this she does not
dream Of" So one night he walked up the
mountain and tried to say "Good-by" simply,
as friends say it; but be made poor dissembler,
and if Hester had not been so unconscious, if
81 had not trusted him so entirely, he never
would have kept the promise he made himself
He would have taken her little form very close
t9 his heart, and in wild words, such as he,
calm man, never thought of before, would have
told her what he she was to him But her sim
plieity checked him; so he only told her that he
should write to her very often, should send her
books, and think of her many times each day
he told her how his letters and her answers
would pass through MS uncle's hands; then re-
leased the hands that had been hidden in his al
most ever since he came, and pressed hiR lips to
the brow that he hoped you'd lie on his bosom
for many year. then went away; and many
white hairs mingled with his dark locks ere he
saw Hester again. The parting was not to her
as 1t was to him. Tor she was young and igno-
rant OF the worlds ways, and never thought but
he knew best. He said it was right for him to
go; that took away the sting for her, still she
was very lonely. She did not try to disguise
the fact to herself, and many places whose
beauty attracted her were shuuned because they
brought to her so many memories of him. The
letters came and went, almost the only events
OF her life. The minister was old and feeble,
and did not Try to teach her now, so she worked
On herself, learning more each day than the
student of many college does in year. Her
tact and diligence did much for the farm; SO
that matters were rather looking up with them
when her Oldest brother was attacked with fe-
yer, and after weeks of suffering died,


While she was watching him, her old friend,
Mr.. Center, died by reason Of years, and when
she found time to think, she mourned his loss
deeply; but not for many years did she know
that with him she had lost the great blessing Of
Paul Brownlow's love. Upon the same day
that Mr.. Center was seized with paralysis, a
letter came from Paul to Hester telling her that
he was obliged to go to France for client, that
he was succeeding in his business as he had
never red-hope he should, and then in words
as true and manly as great love could make
them, be told her what she was to him, and be-
sought her if she could indeed love him, to wait
aud trust him until he could take her to the
home that would certainly be theirs at last.


But Hester never received that letter. Itwas
probably overlooked among the mass Of papers
Ar. Center had accumulated; SO that Paul wait