Year: 1876

AT last it was done; there were the
initials linked together deep in the
rugged bark; the crimson light from
the western sky shown full upon each
and all. Will put his knife back in
his pocket with click of determine
ton, gulped back his tears at once,
and for the last time, and taking Sal
ly from the ground, he smootbed back
her yellow locks, coaxed her into
quiet with the solemn promise of his
loyalty henceforth and forever to the
love between them. He declared
that the names linked there upon the
tree should never be separated while
life remained to HIM, and with many
VOW of fealty coined from the books
he had devoured among the lumber
IN the garret, and simple plants of
love brought up from the depth of
his little yelling heart, Will bade
little Sally good-by.


But, alas, for the inexorablc DEGREES
of fate and fashion! Seven long years
had passed and gone since the last
trysting time, and although the names
were still linked together upon the
old walnut tree, the two little lovers
had drifted far apart.


Young Master Randall went from
one place Of instruction to another
till he reached the sunana,tu 5onune
of veritable college. Taking ad-
vantage of the absence of their son
and heir, the big folks at the hall
went abroad; the house was closed,
and although many an apple and
bunch of grapes from the old place
reached Sally, with the rest of the
villagers, she never cared to taste
these luxuries from strange hands
Will spent his holidays away, and
Sally would not even have heard the
sound of his name had it not been for
the sojourn of Angelica Crane at
boarding school near the college
Perhaps Sally would rather not have
heard his name than thus from the
lips of Angelica, whose bump of rev.
crcnce was exceedingly small, and
who held the young squire pretty
much as she held evcrybody-im-
portant in the ratio that they contrib
utcd to her own pleasure.


The acres Of farmer Crane were
broad and wide, and outnumbered by
many score those that belonged to
the Randall family; it was whispered
that even the goodly property of the
old squire was heavily mortgaged to
the shrewd and forehanded country
man, and that match between Miss
Angelica and the young squire would
be a good thing for the latter On
the other hand, these plain folks at
the Crane homestead had spared no
pains to show their willingness to
further whatever plans were made for
the joining Of these two goodly cs-
tates.


Angelica herself had contided to
Sally that she had more strings to
her bow than one, but that she knew
which she preferred, and had often
tortured the poor little maiden, when
during Angelica's holidays they had
spent a night orOwo together, by
reading her, among other love-letters,
some productions from tho eloquent
and ardent pen of Will Randall, poor
little Sally's perfdious lover. Long
after Angellca's curl papers had
ceased to rattle upon the pillow, the
soft silken rings of Sally's yellow hair
were wet with tears of envy and girl
ish despair.


But as years went by, and old Time
softened the bitterness of those holi-
day stabs by dealing others of more
vivid and startling character, when
cares and griefs close at hand crowd
ed upon her and hemmed her in, she
became resigned to this one among
the rest, and even talked with Angel
ica OF her loves and lovers with
GOODNESS that astonished herself
There became a less and less griev-
ious similarity in the description of
the young squire to that shy, sweet
memory of Sally's of long ago. lie
had now, it appeared, an incipient
mustache, his hands were white, he
was more and more perfectly splen-
did," with every fresh confidence;
and this brilliant figure left the old,
simple, tender likeness all to itself in
SalIy's young heart, and it became
dead and buried like all the glad
things of life, along with her father,
the schoolmaster, and the pale young
mother she could just remember; and
as she turned the ice cream frcezers
that night i'll the cellar of Farmer
Crane, not one thought of jealous
spite or envy of the fair Angelica
came into her little head,


She dld listen to the music, and
heard the noise above, and it was ga
sort of nice" as Mrs. Crane had said;
and as she turned and turned one
freezer after another, Sally became
interested enough in her work to for
get more important trials close at
hand.


1t made the soul of the farmers
wife glad within her, when she went
down to taste the cream, to find it
beginning to be all that her fancy
painted.


cts prime" she said, smacking
her lips and holding the spoon to
Sally's pretty mouth. "Jest taste it,
and tell me if that amt fur ahead of
Towers stuff in town. 1t stands to
reason, Sally; there's real cream in
that ar-none O yer nasty skimmlns!
Now keep right on dear; be jest as
careful as you can, cause now's the
resky time when the hull thing kin
be spilled by mite o kecrless ness.
Jest turn and turn, dear, first one,
then t'other, this away and that
away. The idee of that pesky da'ter
o mine tellin' me only mint ago,
she knowed it'd would be lumpy and
soft! And, Sally, she's the most un-
fee,in'-"


"1t's only her fun" said Sally.


"Fun!" echoed the ycxed matron.
"Wa'al, it's mean kind O. fun, and
it'd serve her right if she came out
the small end o the horn yet. But
we'll take keer O. the cream, won't
we, Sally?"


"That we will, ma'am," said Sally,
warmly