Year: 1876

By AN OLD CONTRIBUTOR.


CHAPTER XII. ID. %..


My birthday arrived Rudolph had taken
pains to arrange quite Jste for its celebra'
ton, notwithstanding some remonstrance on
my part I had little taste for gayety, and
was only reconciled to the large number OF
guests invited, by the thought that Olive
would be among them, and that without this
celebration, I should probably not have had
the happiness of seeing her at Lyndon.


felt very nervous as the time for their ar
rival drew near. had not been so shaken
for years, and was surprised at my own trep-
idation but then had much at stake, for l
had resolved to find out before she left wheth-
er could hope to prosper in my suit or not


Only small portion Of the company had
been invited to sleep at Lyndon, and none
were to remain over the one night, so that l
would have Olive for nearly two days to my
self That is, as far as could venture to do,
without monopolizing her too conspicuously !;
for was shy Of betraying my hopes until l
could discover what chance they had of being
fulfilled.


I pass over the FIRST day and its attendant
festivities. was upgratefal enough to find it
very tiresome, and to be heartily glad when
it was aver. did not care about dancing,
and the weather was warm. Feasting had no
charms for me, and games I detested. Yet l
had to exert myself to partake Of all these,
and to make myself as agreeable as could
to our friends and acquaintance assembled
in my honor. Rudolph was an excellent
host. He looked carefully after the wants of
every one, and was so genial and good-humor-
ed that bis very presence among them seemed
to inspire hilarity and enjoyment. ..


Show odd it seems, Phil" said an old
schoolfellow Of ours, "that all this merry.ma-
king should be going on in your honor. Any
one would suppose you were the master here,
to have such rejoicing about your coming Of
age. Why, nobody even knew when Ru'
dolph's twenty-frst birthday came round"


1"He was alone at the time" I replied, lit.
tie coldly, for felt vexed at the observation.
s'He is making up for the deficiency then by
his enjoyment of the present occasion.


Olive looked radiant on this day. l had
not imagined that she could light up as she
did, or that such rich bloom could take the
place of her ordinary palor. She was more
beautiful than ever, and I noticed jealously
that she received unbounded attention and ad-
miration, and seemed to receive them with
pleasure. Her eyes sparkled with animation,
and her joyous laugh was frequently heard.
She danced like sylph, and was besieged
with aspirants for her hand. felt myself at
--.-.s;:..a-e~4.e.,..-Ihs had
among my gayer companions, and the old
moody feeling came back, though knew that
it was no time to betray it.


II. was more than thankful when laid my
weary head on my pillow that night; and
doubly SO again the next day when the last
carriage-fall of those who had stayed all night
drove away, and only Olive and Miss Storr
remained. But Olives animation had left
her, and observed that her half'shy, half:
constrained manner had returned. She kept
constantly near Miss Storr, as though reluc.
tant to be left with either Rudolph or myself; !;
and when Rudolph asked her to ride out with
him, declined on some pretext or other, to his
undisguised annoyance and surprise.


"You used to be so fond of riding, Olive!"
he exclaimed.


81 like it now, sometimes" she replied,
blushing; "but 1 do not care for it to-day"


sYou are tired, perhaps, my DEAR" kindly
said Miss Storr. "She had quite an exciting
day Yesterday, you know, Mr.. Lyndon"


eyes, that's true-no doubt you are tired,
Olive. OF course you must prefer resting"
assented Rudolph. Olive neither confirmed
or denied the statement. But did not be-
lieve that her refusal had arisen from over
fatigue. f - - E.....


In vain, for some time, I watched for an
opportunity ofgetting private interview with
her. At last, however, it came. Rudolph
was out. We three were sitting in the parlor,
and presently Miss Storr rose and left the
room in search of some misplaced article ap-
pertaining to her work, without which she
never vent anywhere, at least for any length
of time. I noticed that Olives glances fol-
lowed her uneasily, and that she halfmade
a movement as if to follow her, but restrained
herself. I resolved to make bold effort and
profit by the occasion.


"Won't you come out on the lawn, Olive,
and let me show you new rose we have just
imported?" I asked, handing her at the same
time her straw hat, which lay on the table,
where she had thrown it on coming in some
time before. ut is just out here, near the IL
brary window"


She arose at once-indeed, she could not
we'll have found an excuse for refusing-aud
we stepped out through the open French win
dow upon the porch, and thence descended to
the lawn. I led her to the rose-tree in ques-
ton, and we stood before it minute or two,
and descanted on its merits, and on the quail
tiles and perfections of roses in general. and
then I moved off toward another plant, and
then another, she having no choice but to &C,
company me, as constantly appealed to her
for an opinion, until we were at some distance
from the house, and quite out of sight Of the
parlor windows. My nervousness had left me
now, and I was quite firm and composed, as
people often are when critical moment is at
hand, toward which they had long looked in
timid anticipation. knew I had not very
much time to lose and, almost abruptly,