THE BISHOP'S LOVE STORY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11825, 23 November 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BISHOP'S LOVE STORY.

(by amy a. spotsu-'jOd.); . He was a man of great determination; one had only to look at the firrajaw: and -long- fore-joint of ihe i,bntr>b \ to know thia for a certainty. Hs was.] quite young, and fall of dreams f.odideaW, bat this was' all before tip _ period, of Jiis bishopric. In tbose old timea.he hold the cute of a large asdy rambling, parish. Long days 'werespent in the saddle ; one serace after another, -with -niSes-i^twfeo, lil)e<i : njh : his Sundays.. In Jhe secoruLyesr of hi? ■cure,.he.madehi3 -hops for two winter mOnt j)i ;with" '.the C great A nstraliso squatter, James, Dor veil. „ _ It was those -two .months t.i&£ d.id-1 the mischief, The squatter bad l fef daughter who' rnled bis nompUndrhw f iearK .. Kitchen and daiuty r rawing j room alike core the impres3 of E'er f&u- ,- fingers. Beautiful, did. you ask ? Well, that dependß npon opinion. Soma folks would say decided It, 'No !' Sse* was stately, although so yoou>? ? barely j nineteen ; her.jjyes were bright and | deep ; one wilful curl strayjd always \ down the middle of the white fore;nhead. \;*.'r y ■ .•«• j^' ; - Tt is bard to sflf whie^'bAur toe Reverend' Frank found most entrancing 1 , whether -it were that quiet time yt^jtn, the lights were low and tbailrelight ov« aH, and a.gt|jioiw"ypVin^fi3:are saiona low stool, by the bcsr^UfS'Hng in "a "voiced sweet- as an 'aaxel'sj some poet's, lore from an oIJ and.wejl-thanibed volume ; or whether it were' that ;bour when, the maids safely away at .tke; dairy, the fair mistress kneaded £he dough for bread. It must be understood- that IST- bad managed, to make^ ' -himwlf welcome, at this "time, iqft- " where' he wished, th«re would he find his way. . r ' And sttph a -wondrous, charm he seemed to' 'find in watching the white, dimpled arms, with the sleeves rolled well away from the elbow ; every tarn of : the^ lissome figure spoke grace, and bright, waß the/yoiing face, rich-hued r Ironajth^, vigorous exercise. ."Irmly" aloe was fair to, look upon, and " Tronic found her different to any ideal %a bad formed in the past, and infinitely * etter - , t For-one sweet month be revelled in his newly-found Paradise ; for one iweet month- he dreamed dreams that were beautiful, with awakenings, that were more po; ibr one sweetn' month he gloried in the fact of Hying; in being within reich .of her jiand, and the light of hit smile. At the-. beginning of the,, second „%ioisli,bis -calling forced/itself npon v '"Hum! ' ' Something must be amiss,<he .argued, if, upon hia bended knessj.the ~.iwoti<&}gn pi* jfajrof sweei^avea w%>ufd * ealT"his fchpoghta away ; if, in place of the * Magnificat/ the refrain of a favorite song would course thrpuglihia brain. , it4h«[.;,i6ach. .of.tHe 3lble grew dearer because a fair hand had l&iiup.on"it ; ' ' and. because his attention we nld^warider from the service to .'the church door, .looking for tb© advent of a girlish ; •figure. : . , ". ' ;He must give pne.up, he aeoided; .would it be his lore or his work? Tbrsßgb 4be Jong watches of night he thrashed the question onty and according to* bis light it was death tb his love -and life to his work : the one was of -ear^h,. tbc other; of Heaven, and they couia''jitffc > ,8O He believed, wpjrk together. , He was yonng ; Ihia was bis first ■love, and be did not stop to realize that in the gt^at; scale of the ,uni verge man and woman were placed side by side for the , feetiss& o! '#<* > ;S* ,^o Q g ht that-by- ' crucifymg the' affections that he wpul3 do the work in, the: Mastet'a vineyard Jthe,J)e'tfcerj Hft cofcld;' nol} 1 >«*rlbat in ' tfce. future, his,, mind, regain f&f ' ' balance; and that' th' ess two things, ft*-' tween Which he was now choosing, would Jrork together in perfec^ unity. > Mistaken youth, mistaken ■ !*'fsP.' iJi.4 ".cqmtnnntpn of (> souls,., in the * twilight W«V Vas the bcigbt picture in rth.fl-dear ,-oid wes lodked *t no Wger, eaccepb one day. at the end of-tho second montb, -• tW'^mptation Wing, too, great, ho r «ntefed :t the' PAnct vtra v -^",' the lfijtchen, where he found Dofrttf '^Durven 1 , the pjady pi bis'^aoj?^ yigo.orrmaly kjneais ' ing. Oio for -the „cqmjnff« I ,b»king. Only her back wa3 visible. How hard

she was working. At last she wouud "up with a vigourous slap-, which was more than the dough deserved. The action geerned born of impatience and jawarJ tfimpeat, for presently the pretty boad' wentdbwn on the fair, ancorered j arm j whi'e the quiet of the kitchen was disturbed by a sob— that waa^all, but it was enough. . "" When a woman, weeps,. -it usually' moves a. man • bnt whed/ihe woman wbo r Wepjr 'i$ the qnV he lbvesfJlhen in all probabOfty he- will be drawn to her side. J£e that as it -may,., however. -onr iero-/ 'with: one "strtdej 'wa3'ben'dm"g bverjthe d romping, headf, h'ls'Tong Jrain of YeaSm-i i og^oiffl 'lo;"tfie:jiintttfsL?w.^bout knowing it ; one anfi-was round her waist, aril }»,ti)o other 'lifting- her-iace;. towards his licrwtu :. ; ■ •'" ' r%; darling, what-ails you;? Why •' do yoa weep ? -Look up, tell roe., , j J3at l hffsby, eyes would not unfrioge ib^mgelvos, ah4T 'o&i struggled to be free. ' i . » ■■' r '■?-?, • Nothing, nothing/ she faltered. ' I am not welt this niorning. Let me aioae, leave mo to myself '—-the la9t words almost impatiently. ~ ! But he held her more clo3_e|y than before, scarce knowing what he did ; the magnetism' of his gaze drew her eyes upward at last. Like twin stars tjwy looked, into his, own ; the lips 'were parted —those ~lip?, "botv nesr his own ; the whole cbarm of her presence filled h> being, biit at : last, wltfr a strong sbujJer he pulled himself 10/ getbfr,'TO,urro"qrinfir"with hard breath i",!\ "* ' r t>od fortlt^ and may' God forgiver ,His hands, fell like dead tjungar beside him^ and 'with *one turn on the heel be was gone, *fra?d to. stay , -afraid even to, look-baefe : P^rvertea reason, Weakftfesa in strength 1 " * r"-Tr "-T

The next scene opened in ( a" piclnre gallery ; the fair Dorita the centre of a little army of admirers,, more brilliant, more fascinating, many would think her, than o r f old. A clerical figure moved in the distance from picture tb picture, seeing little save the group in the opposite direction. He noted how merry was her laagh, how free her face from pain. | His searching eyes was bent on one ! whose eyes spoke a tale well-known and unmistakable, who. was in close attendana*, who was smiled upon and encouraged. ! Easily she managed her group or admirers yes, actually jßirting— with each" in tutn. How the lonely being in the long black cloak hated that word and action. He remembered the long discourse they had held upon the subject one morning over -the^ breadniaking, and" how unlike thejoccupation she had ever seemed. - At-lafst he had Jotrod his long line of reasoning a huge mistake, and now,t whence had come r t6 town expressly to finish the scenp Hetad begun in the kitchen J six months before, now, when all might tjaVeVo^gn. well, aid he.ljehoid Jber & . to all appearances entirely happy — the past erideatly forgotten, and her name and another's linked tpgs£her by al the ! gossip vendors in the ciljfo '- A sudden turn brotigw^tßem face to face. She looked' at^lrffc J for" a full half minjate, a dawning ligtit' ? up'on her face ; tken with a careleas \ ljltle, handshake, she said, coolly : / «Mr Travers, is it not ? ..You must excuse me, bufc I have auch'arternble memory for faces, and having seen so . many new faces !ate|y, ' one, is apt i o I'forset. " j „ | The world grew grayer and colder to tbe Rev. Travers. He ventured several r marks, and was answered calmly and collectedly- in, each.. Piuajly^with a careless lMle . nod Vaad" gm% k ,s}ie left him and rejoined her companionß. : . ■ »•- - ° * '"*/" Of the three bcenesjeft jp^ne was s»jt in a cathedral ' dim and vast ;' one in, the glare of the footlights ; one in- the light of the street-lamps }_ and all ten years after the events last narrated. The Un»b of expectation was upon tb<^ congregation whichjfille^^ the- cathedral almost .to oveiflowing ; "the occasion was a farewell sermon by a newly appointed bishop to o-e i f the groups of islands that stuji the Sontb. "Pacific: ;; " ;!"; i*,.. 1 "'.!:^ % .V-! .',. Among| -the congregation was the face of one. fajniiiar in 'the past, the earne deep eyes, the same wilful curL oa the white forehead, the same t inde-

fiaable charm that forever marked the face of Dorita Dmven. She hai come to bear the famous Bishop Travers who had been making a name for hiingelf, and wai now visiting Melbourne, prior to the departure for the theatre of hia \vo?k. Trie deep eyes watched, unobserved, the speaking face — noted how lines of "sadness ha j gathered around the month, how the countenance bore the'unmistakable impress of having missed something in tho years gone by. The speaker .was powerful in expres iuq, in .thought, broad in mwid. - ; - The listener heeded <i* tv word, the while she thought o f the tale that jtfossip6 toltt bf a life t*»ai h»-* had » deep disappointmeut. Tbe di^d>ar^e jya? consummate work of brsin »»d heart, and \ she, rri-«.i»Bsui&f i.he key to -the past, liste led, aai r**ad .bacwreii the lines: ; ' . The ni'xt scen.^ op"ned npon Dorita Qurven'a triumph us a singer. AH Melbourne was at ber fee^, ba'f ,by roasoA of her gift of song, half by ber wondrous charm. She stood in tbe glare of the footlights — a thing of beauty — the- wonderful eye* upraised, and'ttw glorious voice carrying all "hearts with it. Whfen at' lantf'she bad finished, trte house literally stormed' b 4r t fea^k". th answer she sang one of the~ old" songs which she used tp. eiiig when the day was not, nor the nighty btttjuatths. sweet .between. ', * - - •". WV never thiugat A tibe word was wide — ' ■ < a Tbat friends woujd fail, sad fate divide ; c . For,- like a river, at oar feet, Life danced along so lair and sweet.-' Singing tbese word-) rose the vdfa?, tbe dear voica of loDg~ ago, bat richer, deeper, and infiaitily tnor^ beautiful." A quiet figure sat listeuing, drinking in the liqaid notes, scanning tbe loved fase from afar, and dreaming once again tbe sweet old dream of the fire -side which be bad wilfolly thrust uside. She knew not that he was there ; now was sbe singing with aching heart the' wild refrain : Farewell ! farewell ! we walk apart, A river flows between ; Ah me ! the distant d-iys, dear heart ! And all, and all that might have been ! With those last words her eye 3 were drawn as by strong magnetism to those other eyes, and soul spoke to soul. • © ° She found him awaiting her la tor, and they agreed to send the carriage home and walk the distanca. ' Child/ he said, • we are both as we were when last we met, o^ly ten years older ; will you let me begin where f left off f ' You left off at the picture gallery ; we can't very well go there at this time of night.' 'You know where I mean well enough. The morning I found yon in tbe kitchen crying.' ' Don't. It makes me ashamed of myself. It sounds so weak. • It was I that was weak, weak in the head I think. What would you think of a man who held that a strong human love and tbe service of God could not go hand in hand ?' ♦ I'm afraid I would think him not tery clever.' *■ Will yon believe me when I say I was that man ?' * I must of necessity believe *\\s cloth, thoagh how cau I tbink y.m wanting in brains, whom all the world considers a marvel.' * Nevertheless I was an unmitigated ydbtig ass ; and little oue, will you let me begin again ?' The particular part they were traversing was very qaiefc, and he- did begfti agaia. And this time it had a better ending, although the consequence was tbat she had to go oat with her -bishop 7 and dwell among the savages. And o'er tbe hills, and far away utmost purple, rim, Beyond ih;e nighi, across tbe?daj, v T.fairojigbh all the world ~B»e]iolloWt?d ■S/'taai, . ■„. ' ■ .' c , ; .. •

' itabel doesn't believe in'long pnrgflgements.' ♦iTe.B ; f anderatooi M-ibel's yoang_ man had a good deal of money.