Year: 1875

1t was towards the end of August


when | received II long, loving let


ter from Cousin JOY, inviting me to


spend the balance of my vacation


with her ut her fathers country.


house in Pennsylvania. My vaca.


ton had already lasted three weeks,


and as school did not open till the


end of September, l had still about


five weeks in which might recruit


myself after my long and weary


period of teaching, broken only by


those three weeks of hot, dusty


New York.


l was wearied out, body and soul ;
and l could hardly express sufficient
thankfulness at the prospect which
now opened before me of country
air and fare, mountain stream and
rural rambles, health and relaxation.


OF course l accepted the invita-
ton at once, and equally of course
Charlie Cartwright knew all about
it the same evening.


Charlie and | had been engaged
now about a year, afIcra courtship
which | think lasted only as long.


We were to be married in the win
ter, when Charles uncle was to take
him into partnership; and l did
really wish for an opportunity to
gain little health and a little flesh
OH my bones, and not give him such
a skeleton for a wife us looked then
after my season of grinding at tie
daily routine of teaching; for was
to 60 back to the school, though it
would be only for two months, and
then good.by to it forever!


How Charlie ever came to care
for me l could not imagine.


l was such little, freckled thing;
80 diffident when out of my daily
walk of life; and knew so little
that seemed to interest him. Yet
he certainly professed to love me
very devotedly; and his atte ntions
to me had been nnrcmitting. He
was such great, handsome, stal.
wart fellow, that suppose he mis-
took the protective interest he felt
in me for love; any way, l did.


Well, told of my invitation, and
he was delighted at the opportuni-
ty it gave me to recuperate. He de.
lighted me, too, by promising to
come and pay me visit after had
got fully settled; and so l started
off-watched him from the carriage
as he waved his handker-
chief after me-and wondered if
Cousin Joy was as big a flirt as ever
and whether Charlie would run any
risk if he really kept his promise
and came to see me at ''Mountain-
side"-as Joy Hatfield's father had
prettily named the summer home'in
the country.


Mr.. Hatfield was veal thy city
merchant who had married my aunt.
and Joy was their only child.


She and had been playmates to-
gether years before, and close cor
respondents ever since and both
from my personal knowledge OF her
and my letters from her, l knew she
was, as l said before, big flirt.


Indeed, she dctested the summer,
because, instead of being taken to
the various watering places, where
her coquettish instincts could have
had full swing. she was, as she in
sisted on putting it, "dragged off in.
to the Pennsylvania wilderness, to
vegetate with the ground hogs and
chipmunks"


1t did seem rather hard, for she
was lovely, giddy creature, only |
eighteen years old, and seemed only |
6tted for the gOssamer life Of the
ball room. But Mr.. Hatfield insist
ed that she had enough of that
through the long winter, and that |
in the summer she must retire to
the mountains and "build herself
lp," a favorite expression of his.
Just as it," she would say, 81 were
! church, or a barn, or some other
,difice."


However, Mr.. Hatfield always
lad his way, and a very sensible,
pretty way l considered it, when on
hat dry, dusty evening the wagon
rom the town of Sarsfield stopped
before the low w-rOOfcd house he called |
6 Mountainside." Right Oh the
it was, too; and be-
lind it the gloomy forest rose thick |
and green extending high up in the
distance, while beside it trickled |
gently down the slope IA ripping |
brook, that became torrent before
t wandered down to the big river !