Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9660, 14 June 1882, Page 4

a , HER LIFE II BLOOM ''•,;A.iSEQUEL; TO, "LENOX ; DA BE." — ' - f -r i »3 : " ! ..;Bt VIBGINIA F.' '.TQT^NSEND. f - . ,■ 1- ■■ 1 :!.-•;•■ ' ' ! '«'Qiowbldaloiig witiiinbl ■«'!" ■ r-:, i !■!''' (The best is yet to be ; "" ' ... '. The last of life for which the first wns made ; Oar times are in His hand ■ - ■>'.■" -, . ■ -'Whosaith 'A whole I planned." ' ■ Tooth shows but half : trust Gocl ; see all, nor he irjiarriiar •= -• ' -<i "."'' " ' ' ■ ' .-,,;.,,.,;•,(• , <■'.'< \j .Bobebt.Bbowhiho. i*< : ■■•'< - CHAPTER Xlll.— GmiMnuedi ': \ .TN a moment' be .broke out eagerly : :!," JL . i "i. ls 'the, swiii g, thereT' '.'.'■' . •'; -The swing is there, Joe." !',.-,.)< Thelboy save- a. littlp cry of delight, i , -He had not been, trained' in drawing■j^iirciomi manners. -■ Yet there was sopiething pathetic in the- way his childhood. f asserted its eternal right to hsppiaess. Hatch s.tood— orphaned, home- ■ .:less, , outcast, without a friend in the ' world, save the man. whom he had on ly met once, for, a half hour or so, in his ! "life.' -Yet, despite all the.'.poverty,. and *■ stiamo, Alia'-loiielines's of his lot, his little childish' heart trembled for joy j .. , i! lie was ns happy at that moment as it ;;' ; was possible -for boy to be, because he had learned '• the swing was there." 1 •I'-fj 'All this tim^ Lenox hod sat perfectly ••. silent watching; this scene, Her guest felt now that some explanation was due ■'/. her. He Baid to Joe : " Will you tell this lady— Miss l">are — who has been so ",". .Kind as to'allow, us to meet here, liovr i you and 1,- Joe, first came toJknow each ;.. .other?" , ."' .'. • Then Joe became conscious of the \: -.lady's preaencp. He turned "now and :.-. stared at her with the solemn, ci'rious :-j ■, eyes- of childhood. She smiled on him. 11 Won't you tell me, Joe?' 1 she asked. .!",;.< Hc.drew' a deep '.breath," The rod, „-i| stu.bby: fingers plucked nervously at IU , at tbe cap. i!ln- avinoment ; tho words camel (iaLteoken-. sentences : "It was — ;:ever so;l<>pg ago ;. ;I,got insidetlie gate. ,'.' '., There, was. a swing^there. ;H r e come up '''softly behind, .and- /see me a. standin' 1 "' l 'kii'd.,watoein*.it: I ;'vFirst.'l knew he had cotcii'ed me up^ in his .arias and was a ■ i :--tos'Jin' me "up'and- : dowh in the air. Oh •-■it was jolly'! ji Then" we, hao a. swing. L jiilihitthetree 1 each ; -time:'- Then a man :i!s"i'.ißain'e 'along, "andtliey, 'talked, and— and — the man took me into the' house, and „; , ■I l had.some.new(^ci6th'es, and such a ■ :,'/ .breakfasfcli It:was all high jinks!. Then Yu :>t grew/ still, and 'nobody came/ aDd when I got tired of eatin'l went to th« - -.-; door and looked round.-and couldn't see ■ '.'"nobody.'' r Theri. I' found my father a '•}. 3 sittiii' behind , the .hedge,. and he told me ,'„ ', : he'd heard and seen fill tl.at went on the ','" ''ptlicrsidi!,', Then, he' said as how he'd • ina'diMip his mind-.it" ,giye mo to the geiitliman, and we won tup totlie. house ' ' agin ; but llie wommi Wouldn't let us "in, and said her master was gone." : ''" When Joe finished th> re was a little • silence: Donald, standing all this time in tbe hall, came forward now Bnd ; apologized, for; .being absent so long. \,. They liad waitedat the hospital for. Mr. i, Beresford before .setting out home [.'„.„ again... .-. : .•■ '■!"• = ■ ; ?Ji •:.'- Then Lenox and her guest- learned, to ..-!.?* their samszemeht, that' their interview V Hh'ad lasted,! more than two hours. - — ■ • ii'.-tsAVßeresford rode away with Joe in front of him, be thought of what Goethe . :',;hadsaid, of Bahel. ton' Ense : "She is . one of those sou's whom I love to call 1 beautiful!'"- ■':. ~ . . ■ ■ > ' „ CHAPTEB XIV; ■ Lenox Dare stood on the piazza, and : .'•watched the "pair ride away. She 'had '.'' 'not'Bßked her gufst to call again.' She ■■'"' had not even, thought of.it. Yet Bhe had a feeling that this was not their last .;,..ii mpetirg. She walked acioss tbe piazza '.'. » in tbe hot. sunshine, for it waa now a • " little past midday, and not a leaf of all :■■ .-.the. climbing vines about her stirred in •■; the sultry :siillnesS. ; It seemed-' as though the very world was holding its ,-. breath. Even. her thoughts moved in a- :.' . vague, sort of revorie. JEvery few '""niiiiutcs the noble head, the grand presencoi won id rise before her, bo :■:•;• strange yet so familiar. Of course it •;• 'was all a mistake, that fancy of hers, i -1 she -kept saying,' until at last she made [ioT herself believe it. 'When Hachel came to tell her lunch was ready, sho seemed -. „to wake out of a dream. >-'-...';„" For. a -fortnight Kobert Berepford, in i -,;;■, hisjinlervals of-. leisure, uaunlly found himself thinking of Lenox D-re; , He — rwas haunte 1 by a gre 't cur : o>ity regard- . ;' ' in'g'her. She' Beemed to have left some ° fine' aroma in his memory. That could " _' I! n6t be the 'effect simply of her beauty, , ■, powerfully 'as that had impressed bis -, ■■ -artist-6ense. He said to himself often : . ... /"I 'must see that'wbman again !" • : . ■■■'■ This was a very easy, thing to ' do. !■' rThey'had already spoken 1 o F nmtual ac■v quaint an ces. ' Bereßford could have sought Lenox Dare with the proper letters, of introduction. But this, seemed ' tohimnow too conventional a way of ap- ' ' pTpchingher. He could not even bring liimself to make a single inquiry re- _. _garding her. --— —■-„-. .. ' : '- : ; Lenox was right; Boberf Beresford■•'■y : did come '' again.' One .morning she, (; '■ entered the library, and- most unex- ■-■-•■- pectedly found him awaiting, her there. Shehad'cbirie in from oul-doors, and had not yet heard of his arrival. He . " was standjngby the. mantel, "over which *) ( hung a little t marine picture — a bit cf "; Fan'dy beach, ; and". huge green waves ■'" crested' with foam, while, in tho west flamed a red bar of sunset "cloud Be •- was lookiag at this when Lenox came in, ' the pale roses in her cheeks a little brightened by her walk. "I beg your pardon, Miss Dare,'' he - . . said, for Uis manner and speech, with • their perfect courtesy, were alway simple and direct , " for calling again without . your permission. I have; not- even . brought the letters of introduction which "■••i perhaps ought to have don?."' . " . "I am very glad you. felt, there was no -need of letters, Mr. Beresford," ; . answered the sweet-oadinc-rl voice, and 'he lady gave him her hand, « ith a wel- " come in her eyes; '• If all this sounds very odd aDd unconventional, I can only say that you must remember the kind of man and woman these were, and that each had already recognized iv the other a nature touched to fine issues. After this informal greeting, the talk followed naturally. It opened ever into wider vistas And always the thought and speech of the one stimulated and . allured that of the other. > It was talk free and natural as suiilight. It was such lalk, too, as could only take place belwee a pure, noble, ideal man and woman. In such, rare, delightful intercourse, hours go almost like minutesRobert Bereßford found, that he had barely time to reach the 'next train, and bejreed Miss Dare's pardon for staying so long. It ueed not be said that ho cauio again. I cannot trace here, step by slep, tiio acquaintance as it i;r««- betweuu liiis man imd womiiu. The more they saw of ea;:K other, ihe dji>vi: their sympathies — intellectual, artistiL 1 , moral- cumo to liiriit. What Mrs Charles Kingsley. in lu-i lie oJ licr hnsband, lus heautiiully Said, was true also of this other pair: " and gradually the new friendship, which yet seemed old — from the first more of a recognition than an acquaintance — deepened into intimacy." {To he continiLcd)