| Show A dant saws D LIFE W BY HARLAN R ox s international PRESS association CHAPTER V DON T understand how you happened to cross that tough rough mountain in ia your route from the de pot said the elder brother rother li when the ibi family assembled that evening for C what miss field al ways denominated a sociable old fashioned tea which in uie the country was served at the town dinner hour could you obtain no conveyance at the station 9 none unless I 1 chose to wait sev oral era hours surmising at once that my letter had not arrived in season to no ur WY you of 0 my coming I 1 left my bag gage in charge of the station mater and set out on f foot oot I 1 pleased no belt self when I 1 was here two years ago with ith surveying an air line between jour our house and the nearest point of the i a I 1 road it if one does not mind some pt PUY steep hills he can save at it least two miles by availing himself of my topo graphical skill it was a pleasant va clety to me after six hours in a narrow car seat to stretch my limbs over the rocky pass and breath ethe fresh air of the wildwoods instead of smoke and cinders the mystery to me Is how and where you met mrs airs withers vivacious harriet do explain awas wa never so astonished in my life as when I 1 saw you two walking up the avenue talking together like old friends As we aie smiled edward at his slater aster in law she was sitting at he foot of a cedar near my projected road enjoying the prospect beneath her I 1 recognized her from her resemblance to the photograph you sent me while I 1 was abroad elnathan Ei nathan walked up to her like the impertinent fellow some people think I 1 am introduced myself and offered to escort her home you sheild have taken a servant with you constance aid her husband magisterially it Is not safe or proper for a lady to ramble alone in this thin ly settled neighborhood there are charcoal burners in the ma miss harriet interject 01 I 1 the most ferocious looking creatures with long beards and black faces I 1 saw one once when we were driving out and there aled u ed to be bears when the country was first sett ed and wolves and catamounts and nd red indians with no beards at all fin dished the younger withers warningly mrs withers let me advise you to take me along whenever you stir be yond the garden fence I 1 saw a rocky mountain savage once and last vear was one of a party that went out on a bear hunt in norway we saw nothing of bruin it la true but my instructions bow how to act in case he crossed my path were so minute that I 1 am confident I 1 should prove a valiant protector in time of need the invitation thus playfully given was renewed in earnest on oil the foll w ing day the brother and sister in law were excellent friends from the mo ment oje of their meeting the traveled member of the eminent banking firm of M withers bros was about 30 years of age and attractive in person rather from a certain grace and elegance of bearing and a frank int intelligent elligen pre sion than from regularity of tea fea ture he lie had read mich mt ch and een many lands and knew how to use u the knowledge thus gained tor for the enter tain ment of his companions A passion ate lover of music he was not slow in discovering constance s kin ired tastes his ilia coming gave a different complex on to life in the secluded country house there were horseback rides before breakfast and diligent practice with voice and instruments piano flute and violin berlles a couple of hours read ing in the forenoon then came the after dinner walk seldom ending un r til sunset in the evening elnathan nathan Ei withers dozed in his stuffed chair m ath h ie he tried to beat time to the duet going on at the other end of the room and harriet bolt upright in the middle of a sofa did wondrous things with a spool of cotton or silk and a crocket needle and took observations with her beady eyes abe was discreet as to the result of these for aught that could be gathered from her words or conduct she dp ap I 1 roved entirely ot the growing i itt macy between the married lady and the agreeable bachelor elnathan nathan Ei was not a man of fine feelings and strong affections he had made up his min mill 1 to marry because a stylish wife would add to his individual consequence and adorn his already princely establish ment constance romaine pleased his critical ri fye u and captivated whatever of fancy ancy d velt in his practical nature tet yet having wedded he trusted her hep she ille offended him sometimes he ile often wished that she were in terpe neti ate I 1 with something of harrieta harriets Harrie tp reverence tor for himself that she would put forth more effort to anticipate his wishes and conform herself in alii alli respects to his ideas of fitness in demeanor ceni eanor and conversation he was never harsh in his treatment of these deficiencies but his 1 pertinacious schooling his curbing and dictating the portentous shake of ot his head and solemn curvature of the brows irritated her to the extreme of forbearance edward had not been twelve hours in the house before he perceived this endeavor on his brother brothers s side to mold a mature woman into the likeness of his prim ideal and the effect wrought by it he had suspected it in the course of his initial interview with his broth er s wife upon the mountain lie lever told her that attracted by her singing he had stealthily neared the pot ft here where she sat and unseen by her been a witness of the tearful struggle between her real self and fate rate he had pitied her heartily then while comparatively ignorant of the reason for her editions emotion his corn com passion was ras more profound as be bet ter understood the relations between the ill matched pair had his personal liking fo his new sister been less de aided he would have pronounced her unhappiness to be the righteous pun sh ment of hert her crime time and tolly folly in having linked her destiny with that of a man whom she did not love he had known dozens of other women who did the same at the bidding ot similar motives and ild his sympathies had lain dermint but this one had heart and intellect and both were fam shing I 1 have said that mr withers senst sens were not lively nor his love in tense but of ill all people ieng this Ms ils only brother had most hold upon his heart most influence upon his judg ment he ma male ie much of him aate I 1 Is formal style male listened with obvious re and secret pride to his opi nimis ms and conceived the notion that his v if ite e was highly honored when edward fin ln aled her out as the object of his marked attentions and did not ois ais guise the pleasure he the lion of many brilliant acles took in her society this fallness of confidence in tham both and his unselfish regard tor for his nearest living relative might hae hane be gotten softer and kindlier sentiments toward h m in Cf instance s breant but for the palpable fact that he enczur aged the association not because it brought her enjoyment but as a means of prolonging edward a s stay with them you deem to amuse my brother be he said to his wife one morning as he che M as arraying herself tor for her ride his admiration for yoa ou Is highly campli I 1 trust you will leave no means untried to induce him to remain with us some weeks longer it gratifies me to see how amicably you get on to gether and the friendship is especially creditable to edward inasmuch as he was universally regarded as my heir prior to my marriage in that cas he deserves all the cour tes I 1 can show him mused con stance going thoughtfully down to her steed and cavalier I 1 do not kno v men who would be so complaisant to a stumbling block in the path to the conversation would have her off her guard had she ever 4 ver consid ered it prudent to be wary in an asso elation at once so natural and inno cent she had always liked edward and was growing to like him better every hour they were near the same age and being of harmonious temi teno ra arents they usually enjoyed the same things he was good IL nd and spright iv amused and interested as in ich as mr withers and harriet weaned her this was the reason why the sun sone s u one more brightly the breeze was more odorous her favorite exercise more inspiriting on that early midsummer r morn than these had ever been before I 1 can I 1 ardly believe that I 1 enter to day upon the third week of my sojourn in this region said edward wl en the steeply rising ground compel compelled ld t iem lent to slacken their speed Is it possible 9 the exclamation was not a polite and meaning ess tor for mula as constance brought her startled eyes around to his it seems a very little vail m I 1 alp ilp ago that you came to us you do not think of leaving us soon I 1 hope I 1 cannot say positive how long I 1 shall stay this visit is a welcome ex change for my long wanderings this my brother brothers s home is the only one I 1 have in america yet I 1 was di satis fled with it last year Ei El nathan nathau was often absent you know best anon 1 what business smiling and to bi candid with you our cousin harriet is not the person whom I 1 shou d voluntarily select as my only companion in a desert but for my gun and fishing rod I 1 should have commit led ted suicide or run away and left her to the ten ler mercies of the hibernian domestics and the bears I 1 would not be so communicative touching her to any but a member of the family but she Is one of my betea betes noires I 1 never aked her nor I 1 answered constance ner getic illy ally then my little sister you and I 1 should unite our forces to counteract her influence with my brother his disposition is in some respects barly guileless he believes bel leNes that har nets officious off cious regard for his comfort and deference def prence to his wishes and ions have their root in sincere attach ment for himself we know better 7 i know her to be as mercenary as she thinks herself cunning and that she clings to him as the leech does to him whose blood is fattening it I 1 lose all patience with her fawning and flat when I 1 recollect that these are the tricks by which she hopes to eala her living and at his decease a aiom om tor for table legacy CHAPTER VI S face was averted and screened from his I 1 view by her wil ull ed low plume her i voice was low and ul had in it an P amk jl 11 tion of mournful mouin ful 1 charity for the as Q sailed parasite or 17 an echo borrowed from some tul ful reminiscence she is a woman and poor she said A woman too whom society forbids upon penalty ct cf ban lehment from the circle in vh v h ch she rao a barn and bred L red to seek a ve lahood by manual labor it is easy for men to talk of freedom of thought and action the world is before them to them the bread of charity and depend ence mean one and the same thing the latter is the only nourishment of me mot t women from the cradle to the tomb I 1 wish the passage between the two was shorter tor for their sake I 1 never looked at the subject in that light before was edward a remorseful reply poor old harriet I 1 see now how much more she merits pity than contempt she is no worse off than thousands of her sisters said constance in harsher judgment content yourself with giving thanks that you weis born a man she had spoken out of the pain of a wrung spirit with no thought of plead ing her own cause she was too proud to murmur least of all to her bus band s brother but the conversation was a key that unlocked for her in his heart recesses of interest and sympathy which must else have remained forever barred against a woman roman who whatever were her virtues and fascinations had deliberately bartered her charms sni sal perjured herself in order to secure an and to do her justice she Is supe brior to the practice of theares the arts that make hainet acceptable to my brother and odious to everybody else he meditate ed she offers no profession of devo tion to the man she has married while she accords to hint him the respectful duty of a wife elnathan Ela athan seems satisfied satia sath fied fled perhaps he craves nothing warmer pray heaven he may never neter guess of how much fate has defrauded him in v ith holding from him the free glad affee eions of a true w woman oman it if there were any a ny changes in his be havi havior or to constance after this it vas to be discerned in a gentler address in unobtrusive regard for her kishis ex pressed or surmised and a prolongs pro longa tion of his stay in a house that held so few attractions chions for her that this ar ran gement was highly satisfactory to his brother was not without effect in shaping his conduct that harriet plied him with solicitations to remain before his decision was announced and was loudly voluble in her protestations of delight when the question was ettlel had not a straws v eight with ilm alm she annoyed him less than thala formerly however either as he explained it to himself because he had learned charity from constance s defense of the lonely s policy or because she kept herself more in the background than was her wont she seemed amiably disposed toward constance Cone tance too and he strove vo to credit her with kind intentions ti ons with regard to one whom most people in ill her situation would have hated as a usurper she abetted that hat over ever project of outdoor excursion or domestic recreation was proposed by him for constance s dit derolon der arsion slon offering herself as the wife s substitute in the sober phaeton drive on breezy afternoons that constance and edward might art as outriders and never failed to call the husband husbands s notice to her graceful horsemanship and the brighter bloom planted in her cheeks by the exercise mr withers never tired of chess and the indefatigable toad eater apparently shared his zeal on this point the board was produced nightly as the days became shorter and the evenings cooler and music reading or conversation upon art and litera ture was carried on for hours by the remaining two of the quartette aitho without ut interruption from the automata dut omata bent be nt over the checkered surface for harriet could be taciturn when need was a very lay figure in dumb ness as in starch whether she ever ceased to be watchful was another matter ITO TO BB BE |
