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jones s and such was the fury of the gale that only a of the ship s passengers remained perpendicular and mr was on his beam end by severe and expecting to become in the great secret bitterly did he lament his hard lines in venturing upon the black water to be oflf in the flower of his and never again to behold the beloved of his relations so were his tears and groans that they moved all on board and to cambridge mr who was returning on leave kindly came to inquire the cause of such what is the matter began the in paternal tones why are you kicking up the of such a deuce s own because sir responded mr i am in lively expectation that waters will rush in and my vital spark said mr this is only the of a gale and there is not the slightest danger having received this assurance mr s natural courage revived and coming up on deck he the tempest with the cool composure of a all his fellow passengers that they a from were not to give way to panic seeing that death was the common lot of all and though must die once it was an experience that could not be repeated with much philosophy of a similar kind which astonished many who had supposed him to be a the remainder of the voyage was and soon after setting his feet on british territory mr became an and of the of cambridge i shall not attempt to relate at any great length the history of his career because being myself a of university i am not of course in the customs and of any rival and should probably make one or two trivial slips which would instantly be to cambridge upon and held up for derision by critics so i shall content myself with mentioning a few leading facts and incidents mr very soon himself into the good graces of his fellow college boys and his principal was a young high spirited entitled lord jack jolly the only son of an earl who had lately been promoted to the dignity of a lord jolly and mr were soon as inseparable as a and and though no to in filthy mr gave frequent to his friends who were delighted by the elegance of his hospitality and the of his conversation unfortunately the fame of these a from soon penetrated the ears of the college and mr s sent for him and severely him for to study for his degree and his immense abilities and talents on mere whereupon mr shed tears of embracing the feet of his and promising that if only he was restored to favour he would become more in future and did he fulfil this for he became a most burning his midnight candle at both ends in the endeavour to his mind with but he was assailed by a temptation which i cannot forbear to chronicle one evening as he was over his learned to who should arrive but a of prominent cambridge and to entreat him to accept a stroke oar of the university eight in the race with oxford college this all will agree was no small compliment particularly to one who was so totally in the flashing oar but the authorities had beheld him a boat with marvellous dexterity by dint of a and taking the length of his foot on that occasion they had divined a and desired him as a mr was profoundly moved college and friends he said i welcome this invitation with a joyful and thankful heart as an honour not to this poor self but to young india nevertheless i am a from compelled by to return the polite negative gladly i would help you to inflict crushing defeat upon our foe but i see a hand you cannot see that me away i hear a voice you cannot hear that not to day in other words gentlemen i am now engaged in the struggle to floor it is glorious to obtain a victory over rivals but there is an enemy it is still more glorious to and that enemy is the then withdrew with falling though unable to refrain from admiring the firmness and fortitude with which a mere native student had an invitation which to most european youths would have proved an irresistible attraction to cambridge g nor did they cherish any resentment against mr even when in the famous inter race of that year from to cambridge was and oxford won in a common i chapter ii how mr delivered a from a cow oh cow in hours of mental ease thou beneath the trees but ah when madness thy brow an awkward customer art thou nature poem furnished to order by young english friend mr s diligence at his books was rewarded by getting through his with such that he was admitted to become a and further presented with the greatest distinction the vice could bestow upon him the title of a wooden spoon but here i must not omit to a somewhat startling catastrophe in which mr figured as the god out of machinery it was on an afternoon before he went up a from a from to pass his and since all work and no play is apt to render any jack a dull he was himself by a solitary in some fields in the vicinity of cambridge when suddenly his startled ears were to perceive the blood sound of loud female on looking up from his reverie he was by the spectacle of a young and maiden being vehemently pursued by an cow whose reasoning faculties were too obviously in the words of like sweet bells or in other words non and having rats in her upper story the young lady possessing the start and also the advantage of superior had the of the cow by several	44
the cow yards and attained the shelter of a tree stem behind which she awaited the arrival of her as he noted her jewel like eyes hair and panting bosom mr s of flesh was by love at first sight the intelligent reader will please understand that the foregoing to the maiden and not at all to the cow which was of no excessive but i am not to be responsible for the of the english language there was not a moment to be mr had just time to recommend her earnestly to remain m before setting off to run a in his heart a from the direction whence he had come the distracted animal the female in distress immediately commenced to cry after our hero who was compelled to cast behind him his cap like tub to a whale the savage cow the cap on one of its horns and then resumed the chase mr for his full value but with all his incredible activity he had the misery of feeling his alternate heels by the fiery of the then he stripped from his shoulders his student s robe it to the tender of his while he surmounted a gate the cow only delayed sufficiently to the ihe cow ment into innumerable fragments after which it cleared the gate with a single hop and renewed the chase after mr s stem till he was forced to his umbrella to the animal s destroying fury this enabled him to gain the walls of the town and reach the where the whole population was in consternation at witnessing such a shuddering race for life and made themselves conspicuous by their absence in back streets mr however ran on until perceiving that the creature was bent on running him to earth he took the flying leap into the shop of a cheese merchant where he cleverly himself behind the receipt of custom a from with the headlong of a the cow followed and charged the barrier with such fury that her horns and head were in a large tub of butter at this our hero judging that the wings of his formidable foe were at last boldly forth and a gave the animal into as a of the peace by such coolness and in a distressing emergency he acquired great in the eyes of all his fellow students who regarded him as the conquering hero alas and when he repaired to the field to receive the thanks and praises of the maiden he had so fortunately delivered he had the mortification to discover that the cow author s note on illustration no i as i feared a tolerably keen eye will detect almost at a glance that my young native though gifted has httle or no personal acquaintance with the english surroundings he so to very curiously he has succeeded just where i should have expected him to fail and vice for the students are quite correctly represented in their caps and robes whereas the police is furnished with far too excessive a of weapons nor do in england to my knowledge wear in their or chest embroidered with the e r but it is in the of the cow that mr the most ignorance the merest could have informed him that animals of this type are very objects in saxon h b j the ed cow she had vanished and left not a wreck behind her nor with all his could he so much as learn her name condition or whereabouts but the remembrance of her manifold charms rendered him with the tender passion and notwithstanding his success in the most difficult his bosom s lord sat tightly on its throne and was not to jump until he should again if ever his mysterious having emerged from the shell of his under the warmth of his mr next proceeded as a full b a to the metropolis and became a candidate for honours at one of the legal temples lodging under the elegant roof of a matron who regarded him as her beloved son for rs a from per week and attending lectures with such that he soon acquired a nodding acquaintance with every branch of and when he went up for bar he displayed his to such an extent that the lord begged him to accept one of the best seats on the judges bench an honour which to the best of this s knowledge and belief has seldom before been offered to a raw and never certainly to a young indian student however with rare modesty mr declined the offer not considering himself sufficiently ripe as yet to lay down laws and also desirous of gathering roses while he might and mixing himself in first class english societies i am painfully aware that such incidents the cow as the above will seem very and to most readers but i shall request them to remember that no hero can achieve anything very striking while he is still a and that i cannot like some popular insult their by cock and bull which the smallest exercise of ordinary must show to be totally incredible by and by when i come to deal with mr s experiences in the upper tenth of london society with which i may claim to have rather a profound familiarity i will boldly undertake that there shall be no lack of excitement therefore have a little patience indulgent chapter ui the involuntary please do dot me with unwelcome attentions since to respond i have no intentions your charms are deserving of honourable but previous attachment these an unwilling to his original poem by h b j mr was very soon enabled to make his d hut as a for the sent him as thick as an autumn leaf in and having on one occasion to a youth who had an elderly matron mr s eloquence and pathos melted the jury into	44
the duke greatly agitated replied that he was obliged for the caution and requested to depart at once and remain an for the future which our friend cheerfully undertook to perform and in taking leave of the her with an eloquence that moved all present to abandon her and and adopt a more becoming to her exterior the reader would naturally imagine that she would have been grateful for so friendly and well meant a hint but oh dear it was quite the reverse for from a loving friend she was transformed into a bitter and most a from enemy as we shall find in chapters truly it is not possible to the of the feminine disposition chapter iv a kick from a friendly foot she is a radiant with features fair and fine but since to bosom s friend she never can be mine original poem by h b j mr s bosom friend the lord jack jolly had kindly undertaken to as his and steer him safely from the to the of the london season and one day lord jolly arrived at our hero s apartments as the bearer of an invite from his parent the to partake of at their abode in which accepted arrived at the interior a numerous of a from and gilded mr of his hat and umbrella and ushered him into the hall of audience my dear old said lord jack i have news for you i am engaged as a and am shortly to matrimony with a young good looking female the princess jones my lord replied mr suffer me to hang around your neck the of my humble congratulations my dear responded the youthful peer of the realm i regard you more than a brother and am confident that when my your countenance she will conceive for you a similar lively affection but hush here she comes to answer for herself princess permit kick from a friendly foot me to present to you the best and finest friend i possess mr mr modestly lowered his as he with grace and it was not until he had resumed his perpendicular that he recognised in the princess jones the charming unknown whom he had last beheld engaged in the assault of a distracted cow their eyes were no sooner crossed than he knew that she regarded him as her and was consumed by the most ardent affection for him but mr repressed himself with heroic for he reflected that she was the of his dearest and that it was contrary to bon ton to another s jam so he merely said how do you do it is a very fine day i am delighted to a from make your acquaintance and turning on his heels with a profound he left her with mortification but those only who have compressed their souls in the shoe of self sacrifice know how it and mr s grief was so acute that he rolled incessantly on his couch while the radiant image of his divinity danced before his vision eventually he became calmer and after plunging his body into a foot bath he showed himself once more in society assuming an air of to conceal the worm that was busily his and so successful was he that lord jack was entirely deceived by his and invited him to spend the kick from a friendly foot autumn up the country with his respectable parents mr accepted but when he knew that princess was also to be one of the de la he was greatly concerned at the prospect of her love by his and thereby the cup of calamity on his best friend willingly would he have imparted the whole truth to his and him to the princess s visit until he himself should have departed but ah me with all his virtue he was not a roman that he should resist the delight of with the radiant queen of his soul so he kept his tongue in his cheek however when they met in the ancient and rural castle he constrained himself in a from a from conversing with her to upon the of lord jack what a good gentlemanly fellow he was and how certain to make a best quality husband princess jones listened to these with tender sighing while her soft large rested on mr with ever increasing admiration no one noticed how after these efforts at self denial he would silently slip away and weep salt and bitter tears as he on a nor was it perceived that the princess herself was become thin as a with disappointed love being the ardent mr sought to drown his sorrow with pleasures of the chase he would sally forth alone with no other kick from a friendly foot author s note on illustration no m if a story is to be judged by the style in which it is illustrated then truly will all professional fox after beholding this picture jump to the conclusion that the author has foolishly undertaken to write upon topics concerning which he is the total but if such critics will only do me the ordinary justice to refer to the printed text they will find that i am not responsible for such a childish blunder as representing that any english would run a fox to the earth mounted upon a nor am i to blame because mr with characteristic native conceit has chosen to a british episode as place in scenery of an oriental character however to give the devil his due my has drawn other parts of the picture especially the attitude of mr with considerable spirit and fidelity to the author s h b j kick from a friendly foot than a rifle and endeavour to the wild which the s and sometimes he had the good fortune to slaughter one or two or he would take a rod and hooks and a	44
few worms and angle for or else he would stalk and once he even assisted in a when he easily all the dogs and singly confronted master who had turned to bay savagely at his nose but descended from his horse and drawing his hunting dagger so dismayed the beast by his determined and ferocious aspect that it turned its tail and fled into some other part of the country which earned him the thanks from his fellow naturally such of arms as these a from only served to the of the princess to whom it was a constant that mr did never even in the most style allude to the fact that he had saved her life from miserably on the pointed horn of an enraged cow she could not understand that the native temperament is too modest to its deeds of heroism those who are au in knowledge of the world are aware that when there are concealed in any domestic interior there is always a person sooner or later who will contrive to blow them off and here too the serpent of mischief was waiting to step in with and play the very deuce it so happened that the oc kick from a friendly foot i the adjacent to that of jolly and his lady with whom she was hail fellow well met and this female set herself to the confidence of the young and innocent princess by the praises of mr what an admirable indian how many and had he laid low that week truly she regarded him as a favourite son and that any youthful feminine could prefer an ordinary peer like i jolly to a native who was not only a university b a but had passed bar and so forth and so on the princess readily fell into this trap and confessed the violence of her attachment and how she had to mr with her sen a from but was rendered ite by can you not then slip a love letter into his hand inquired the responded the princess sadly seeing that he never approaches near enough to me to receive such a and i dare not it to one of my maidens why not to me said the he will not refuse it coming from myself moreover i have influence over him and will soften his heart towards thee accordingly the princess a rather impassioned love letter in which she assured mr that she had divined his secret passion and fully it also that she was the total indifferent to lord jack with much other similar matters kick from a friendly foot having obtained possession of this what does the next but deliver it into the hands of lord jack who after it was overcome by wrath and summoned our hero to his presence here was the pretty kettle of fish but i must reserve the for the next chapter chapter v the to the death the ordinary only works at those rare intervals when peril there is a courage far and stranger which nothing can but danger original by h b j no sooner had mr obeyed the summons of lord jack than the latter not only violently reproached him for having the heart of his chosen bride but inflicted upon him sundry severe from behind threatening to the proceeding unless agreed to meet him in a mortal combat our hero though hurt did not abandon his presence of mind in his a from tight fix himself upon a so as to any repetition of such treatment he thus addressed his former friend my dear jack that anger is an form of insanity do not let us fall out about so mere a trifle since one friend is the equivalent of many females is it my fault that me with affections let us both remember that we are men of the world and if you on your side will overlook the fact that i have fascinated your i on mine am ready to forget my but lord jolly violently rejected such a give and take compromise and again declared that if mr declined to fight he was to receive further upon this demanded time for reflection he the to the death was no but he reasoned thus with his soul it is not certain that a bullet will hit whereas it is impossible for a kick to miss its mark so weeping to find himself between a deep sea and the devil of a kicking he accepted the challenge feeling like imperial caesar when he found himself compelled to climb up a after having burnt his boots being naturally reluctant to kick his bucket of life while still a mr was occupied in the of providence when he was most unexpectedly relieved by the entrance of his lady love the princess jones who having heard that her letter had fallen into lord jack s hands and that a encounter would shortly had o a from cast off every rag of propriety and sought a interview she brought the gratifying intelligence that she was a with his s mr who was to load the deadly weapons and who at her request had promised to do so with from which the bullets had previously been such a piece of good news so mr that he immediately recovered his usual serenity and all by his perfect it was arranged that the affair should come off in the back garden of jolly s castle immediately after breakfast in the presence of a few select friends and neighbours among whom needless to say was princess whose lamp like beamed the to the death i encouragement to her indian champion and the of who was now the of those malice and jealousy at breakfast mr partook freely of all the dishes and rallied his for declining another fowl egg rather suggesting that he was becoming a the company then to the garden	44
and all who were non took up positions as far outside the of fire as possible mr was rejoiced to receive fi om the above mentioned mr a secret intimation that it was the put up job and little piece of which him to make the rather spirited proposal to his that they were to fire not at the distance of one hundred paces as a a from originally suggested but across the more space of a this dare devilish proposal occasioned a universal of horror and admiration mr s a young poor hearted chap entreated him to his plan of campaign while lord jack and mr protested that it was downright however remained game to his if he said my friend prefers to admit that he is inferior in physical courage to a native indian who is commonly with a heart let him otherwise as a i am the master of the ceremonies i do not insist upon the exchange of more than one shoot but it is the non that such shoot is to take place across a the to the upon which his became green as grass with being unaware that the had been carefully but his courage to the point he said be it so you little beggar and may your be on your own it is always barely possible retorted mr that we may o i miss the and he made a secret motion to mr with his superior that he was to remember to omit the bullets but as poet sings the best laid schemes both of men and in the mouse department are liable to gang aft and so it was in the present instance for s wink and with the a from tion of a feminine divined the presence of a rather suspicious rat accordingly on the pretext that mr was looking and she insisted on applying a very large smelling jar to his organ whether the vessel was charged with of or some i am not to inquire but the result was that after a period of prolonged mr became on a bed of thereupon perceiving that he had lost his friend in court said i cannot fight an who is with a and will wait until mr is but the honourable and this arrangement in the bud it would be the to the death a pity said she that mr s fiery should be cooled by delay am capable to load a and will act as lord jolly s our hero took the objection that as a feminine was not qualified to act as in mortal the would be rendered and void and appealed to his own to confirm this the latter was a poor who was in excessive fear of offending the and gave it as his opinion that sex was no and that the of w is fully competent to load the weapons provided that she knew how whereupon she regarding mr with the malignant of a did a from not only deliberately fill each pistol barrel with a bullet from her own bag but also had the additional to extract a miniature exquisitely with cherry blossoms and to say please fire across this i am confident that it will bring you good luck and mr recognised with emotions that description the very of the nose handkerchief which she had flung at him months previously at the fashionable water ball now was our poor miserable hero indeed up the tree of embarrassment and there i must leave him till the next chapter chapter vi lord jolly is satisfied ah why should two who once were bosom s friends present at one another pistol ends till one off to dwell in death s abode all on account of honour s so called code thoughts on by ii b j many a more than our unfortunate friend might well have been frightened from his propriety at the prospect of fighting with genuine bullets across so a as that which the had furnished for the but mr preserved his head in perfect it is true he said that i proposed to shoot across a but i am not an female that i should employ such a a from and concern as this as a i claim my constitutional right under to provide my own and as even my lord jack admitted that this was correct mr produced a very large handsome in coloured this he tore into narrow the ends of which he tied together in such a manner that the whole was to an incredible length then tossing one extremity to his and retaining the other in his own hand he said we will fight if you please across this or not at all which caused a working majority of the company and even lord jack jolly himself to burst into enthusiastic of the ingenuity and dexterity with which mr lord jolly is satisfied had contrived to himself from the of his fork the however was knitting her brows into the pattern of a for she knew as well as himself that no human pistol was capable to achieve such a distance the commenced his and mr each removed their upper their arms and taking up a weapon awaited the momentous command to fire it was pronounced and lord jolly s pistol was the first to ring the with its horrid bang the deadly whistling as it went for want of thought entered the door of a neighbouring pigeon s house and fluttered the mr reserved his fire for the a from tion of two or three seconds then he too pulled off his and after the explosion there was a loud cry of dismay the bullet had a large circular in s hat who by this time had returned to self consciousness i could not bring myself to snuff the candle of your s existence said mr bowing	44
but i wished to convince all present that i am not to hit a mark and he proceeded to assure mr that he was to receive full compensation for any moral and intellectual damage done to his said hat as for his he was so overcome lord jolly is satisfied author s note on illustration no iv the incident has already been found fault with by certain superficial on the alleged ground of its at so modern a period as the present i will only reply that i am not to describing even in fiction manners and customs of which i have had no personal experience and also drop a hint that some such may actually have taken place in london not so many years ago though of course under a rose without the presence of any and that a native gentleman shall be nameless may possibly have figured as hero on that occasion i have not many remarks to offer on this illustration which is sufficiently true to nature to pass muster are not usually permitted to be present at these but it is quite that the one in the picture was a particular pet of s and therefore the only i am strongly of opinion that she would have ordered him off the line of fire for fear that he might receive his from some stray bullet mr ought not to have been drawn in a he wore of course the more covering of chimney pot pattern but poor mr could not perhaps be expected to know this h b j lord jolly is by mr s that he shed copious tears and warmly embracing his former friend entreated his forgiveness that in future their affection should never again be by so paltry and trivial a cause as the of a feminine moreover he bestowed upon the blushing hand of princess jones and very heartily wished him joy of her now the princess was the solitary of a very wealthy merchant prince sir monarch jones whose proud and were situated in the most fashionable part of town sir jones in spite of lord jack s resignation did not at first regard mr with the paternal eye of approval but rather advanced the objection that the colour of his a from money was practically invisible my daughter he said is to have a of on her have a of was tempted to make the rather reply that he had indeed a lack of at the present moment sir monarch however like too many english gentlemen w as totally incapable of the simplest indian des and merely replied unless you can me your of you cannot become my beloved son in law so as mr was a confirmed he departed in severe however fortune favoured him as always for he made the acquaintance of a certain scotch whose was lord jolly is satisfied alexander mc and who kindly undertook to lend him a of for two days at interest which was the mere bite of a having thus acquired the root of all evil took it in a four wheeled cab and triumphantly exhibited his hard cash to sir jones who being unaware that it was borrowed readily consented that he should marry his daughter after which mr restored the to the scotch the interest which he found it inconvenient to pay just then i am under great apprehensions that my gentle readers on reading thus far and no will remark then we are already at w seeing that when a hero and heroine are once for a from a from bliss their further proceedings are of very interest let me venture upon the respectful caution that every cup possesses a slippery lip and that they are by no means to take it as granted that mr is so soon married and done for remember that he still possesses a rather formidable enemy in who is determined to a in his wheel of fortune for a woman is so constituted that she can never forgive an individual who has once treated her advances with contempt no matter how such contempt may have been no if you offend a feminine you must look out for her readers are humbly requested not to toss this fine story aside under the im lord jolly is satisfied that they have exhausted the cream in its there are many many incidents to come of highly startling and character i j t chapter vii the adventure of the when lightning is pent in the polished hoofs ot a and his neck is clothe with thunder then beware of the bolt from the by h b j in accordance with english mr being now engaged to the fair princess jones did dance daily attendance in her company and she being passionately fond of he was compelled himself to become the and act as her servant on a which was furnished throughout by a west end livery fortunately he displayed such marvellous dexterity and skill as an that he did not once sustain a single reverse i i a from truly it was a glorious and noble sight to behold clinging with calmness to the saddle of his as it and in so spirited a manner that all the made sure that he was inevitably to slide over its tail quarters but invariably he returned having suffered no further inconvenience than the of his tall hat and the heart of princess was uplifted with pride when she saw that her in addition to being a b a and was also such a rough rider it is de in all societies to encourage matrimony by rewards upon those who are about to come up to the scratch of such holy estate and consequently splendid gifts of carriage tea of fish jewels l he io cases cigar lights and pin cushions were poured forth upon mr and his partner as if from the horn of a last	44
but not least one morning appeared a leading an of the complexion of a chestnut and bearing an signed paper stating that said horse was a gift to mr from a admirer our friend was like to throw his bonnet over the mills with excessive joy and could not be persuaded to rest until he had made a trial trip on his gifted horse while the amiable princess readily consented to become his companion so on a and afternoon in spring when the i a from and other fowls of that were engaged in and on the foliage of innumerable trees and bushes and the blooming flowers were blowing proudly on their beds mr made the of his and by the side of his into the row the observed of all the observing masculine and feminine but he had not very many yards when the came to a halt and adopted an mr inflicted punishment upon its with a golden headed whip at which the rebellious beast erected itself upon its hinder legs until it was practically a although at the extremity of his wits to preserve his saddle by his firm i the io author s note on illustration no v once more i stand before the self confidence with which mr sets out to scenes and requiring the most familiarity with west end london habits if the artist is to escape the ri sum of a there is scarcely any of park who could not point the finger of scorn at some howling piece of in this representation of mr on his the figure of the hero himself is correct though i may hint to mr p that no rider in rotten row who belongs to the hon ton would wear golden attached to his riding but how am i to excuse such a as the figure of the mounted upon a cow it is true that was so upset at having to pay sheep money that he rode a cow but not all his social influence could so a as a successful with the and more spirited horse and consequently it has long been as the beast of pleasure even by of the and as before mr has represented only with far less a monkey as occupying a prominent situation on the scene of action i can only conjecture that he is under the impression that ladies in the social position of princess jones take horse exercise accompanied by such readers of course will not hold the writer responsible for these grotesque but the pity of it that an ambitious young native should be employed to make a fool of himself in this public manner will not that are guided by economical motives h b j the hold on the bridle rein aimed a blow at the head and front of the offending animal which returned its to but elevated its latter end to such a degree that our hero very narrowly escaped sliding over its neck by cleverly clutching the next the executed a leap with its back like a bow and our poor friend into the air like the arrow though by luck and management on his part he descended safely into his seat after every repetition of this dangerous all things however must come to an end at some time and the at last became weary of leaping and no a from securing the complete control of his bit did a bolt from the blue was mr compelled to accompany it upon its mad career while all witnesses freely the conjecture that his would be rather speedily terminated by his being left behind and i will presume to maintain that a less practical would long before have become an ordinary but although both were and he was compelled to hold his s mane by his teeth and nails nevertheless remained triumphantly in the on on he rushed making the entire of the park in his wild and when the galloping horse once the ill more reappeared and mr was perceived to be still snug on his saddle the spectators were unable to refrain from joy a second time the round the park on his thundering great hoofs and still our heroic friend preserved his but ho i have to sorrowfully relate that on his third circuit it was the different pair of shoes for the animal from motion in a rather too abrupt manner mr over its head with excessive into the elegant interior of a victoria carriage he alighted upon a great dame who had been enjoying the spectacle of his but who now was forced to experience the crushing of his a from tu for such a forcible collision with his person caused her not only two blackened but damage to the leather of her nose the beauty of her features was while mr thanks to his landing on such soft and yielding material remained and able to return to his in a four wheeled cab beloved reader however thou be thou wilt admire with me the inscrutable workings of when thou that the great lady was no other than the of and what is still more wonderful that it was she who had presented him with such a fearful gift of the the i i as an and truly as poet shakespeare there is a divinity that rough our ends however we may endeavour to preserve their a from o chapter a for mr at a sudden your love warfare is your dress is changed your address is changed your express is changed your mistress is changed at a sudden your funny fair is changed a so ig sung by before dr rain of those who are ate in the of the feminine disposition will hear without astonishment that so far from being and softened by the circumstance that the curse she had launched at mr s head had returned like an to upon her own	44
nose and destroy its was only the more bitterly against him instead of the that had a from flown back as if it were that the she was in a greater than ever and resolved to leave no stone to trip him up but what trick to play seeing that all the honours were in mr s hands she could not as to him in the affections of his since the princess was too severely to give the loan of her ear to any from a snake in grass how else then to hinder his match at this she was seized with an idea worthy of himself she paid a complimentary visit to the princess arrayed in the garb of a friend and contrived to the conversation on to the vexed question of into surely she suggested the a i i q at such a momentous epoch of her existence had of course not neglected the sensible precaution of consulting some competent respecting the most day for her with the accomplished mr what had she omitted to pop so important a question how fortunately there was yet time to do the needful and she herself would gladly to accompany the princess on such an errand princess fell a ready victim into the jaws of this trap and inquired the address and name of the for it is matter of that london ladies are quite as superstitious and to working the as their native indian sisters i a from the replied that the royal was a at uttering a and accordingly on the very next day she and the princess after themselves set forth on the summit of a to the temple of where after first the prophet by they were ushered into a darkened inner chamber although they were strictly he at once informed them of their genuine and also told them much concerning their past of which they had hitherto been ignorant and to the princess he said the long and silvery hairs of his beard my daughter i foresee many which will inevitably befall thee thou marry before the day on which the bride a i i author s note on illustration no vi i cannot refrain once more from natural annoyance at the excessively careless fashion in which my are being by this mr surely if he was ignorant of the costume of so exalted a as the british royal he could at least have taken the trouble to up the uniform in some work of reference at a public library in any case a little reflection would have shown even mr that such a could not be correctly represented in a most probably on so special an occasion he would have assumed his full dress cap adorned with such would perhaps be of importance if they occurred in the illustrations to a work of ordinary fiction but in the present case of a novel which depends chiefly on its of london high life it is much to be that some more observant and experienced artist could not have been selected i would respectfully remind my friends the that many a stately vessel has become a total loss owing to ill judged in the tar department and i humbly recommend them if not too late to adopt measures by throwing mr overboard and handing the job over to the president of the royal academy of arts who from his tip top position would be most likely to execute same in a competent manner and to the general satisfaction of the public h b j a groom wins a certain contest called the with a horse of his own the gentle departed melancholy as a cat since mr was not the happy possessor of so much as a single racing horse of any description and it was therefore not that he should become entitled to wear the of the turf in his on his with many sighs and tears she imparted her piece of news to the horror stricken ears of our hero who earnestly assured her that it was contrary to and to attach any importance to the mere of so a as the royal who was utterly incapable except at very long intervals to bring about even such a simple a from as an which was visible from his own however the princess being a feminine was naturally more prone to and very solemnly declared that nothing would induce her to kneel by mr s side at the torch of until he should first have distinguished himself as a mr perceiving that the date of his ceremony was become a dies non in a did his in a bath of tears alas he was totally unaware that it was his enemy the who had thus upset his apple cart of felicity but so it was for by a bribe she had the royal a poor weak very old a i chap to out such a disastrous some heroes in this hard plight would have thrown up the but mr was with materials he swore a very long oath by all the gods that he had ceased to believe in that sooner or later by or hook he would win the race though entirely destitute of and very ill able to afford to purchase the most here some sporting readers will probably object why could he not his among and so the on the of her own to which i reply too clever by i the in question a from was of too ferocious a temperament though swift footed ever to become a favourite with judges secondly after mr it had again taken to its heels and departed into the unknown nor had mr troubled himself to ascertain its private address but fortune the brave it happened that mr was one day down the road when he was passed by a white horse drawing a milk chariot with and even butcher	44
carts in its progress which was by any hand for the milk himself was pursuing on foot his natural in affairs a l enabled mr to infer that the which could cut such a record when with a chariot would exhibit even greater speed if in and that it might even not carry off first prize in the race so as the milk ran up with anxiety to learn the result of his horse s mr stopped him to inquire what he would take for such an animal the rather foolishly taking it for granted that horse and cart were gone concerns thought he was making the good stroke of business in offering the lot for a twenty pound note i have done with you cried mr sharply handing over the purchase money a from which he very fortunately chanced to have about him and galloping off to inspect his bargain which was like buying a pig after once it in the ribs in what condition he found it i must leave you to learn my dear readers in an chapter chapter ix the dark horse a from full many a mare with coat of is in dark coal mines full many a s born to blush unseen and waste her swiftness on a cab lines to order by a young english friend who they are original but i regard as an unconscious from poet young s of a country h b f it is a gain a precious let me gain let me gain oh oh the shower of thine secret shoe dust oh oh dr ram of we left mr in full pursuit of the horse and milk chariot which he had so purchased while still en route after running a mile or two he was rejoiced to find that the a from had come to a and was still in prime condition with the exception of the which had made its escape from the however was not disposed to weep for long over milk and had the excessive to restore the chariot and to the merchant who was beside himself with gratitude then mr with a heart having detached his purchase from the shafts conducted it in triumph to his it turned out to be a mare white as snow and of marvellous and partly because of her origin and partly from her complexion he her by the of way although a complete the dark horse i in the art of a horse to win any contest mr s told him that the first step was to his rather too pupil with com and similar seeds and after a prolonged course of he had the gratification to behold his mare filling out as plump as a as he desired her to remain the dark horse as long as possible he concealed her in a small at the end of the garden to her wants with his own hands and conducting her for daily several times round the central grass patch for some time he refrained from mounting fain would he climb but that he feared to fall as poet once scratched with a diamond on queen anne a from window but at length reflecting that if nothing nothing is certain to win he purchased a saddle with and surmounted way who far from regarding him as an appeared gratified by his arrival and did her utmost to make him feel thoroughly at home the next step was of course to obtain permission from the who rule the roast of the club that way might be allowed to in the approaching now this was a more delicately matter than might be supposed owing to the circumstance that the said are such warm men and so well endowed with this world s riches that they are practically the dark horse i fortunately mr as a in english composition was a in drawing a petition and sitting down he constructed the following to those most in control of club personages this petition humbly i that your is a native indian cambridge b a a and a most loyal and devoted subject of her majesty the queen that it is of excessive importance to him for private reasons that he should win a race a from that such a famous victory would be eminently popular with all classes of indian natives and increase their affection for british rule that for some time past your has been diligently training a which he fondly hopes may gain a victory that said is a member of the fair sex that she is a female horse of very disposition but being only recently extracted from shafts of chariot is a total in racing that your may direct that she is to be kindly permitted to try the dark horse her luck in this world famous competition that it would greatly encourage her to exhibit speed if she could be allowed to start running a few minutes previously to older that if this is unfortunately contrary to then the judge should receive secret instructions to look with a favourable eye upon the said female horse whose name is way and her first prize even if by any chance she may not prove quite so fast a as more professional and your will ever pray on knees that so truly magnificent an institution as the a from course may never be suppressed on grounds of encouraging national vice of gambling and so forth signed c the of the above proved mr s profound acquaintance with the human heart for it attained the desired end the returned a very kind answer readily to receive way as a candidate for honours but that it was to her a few minutes start and that she must start with a scratch in company with all the other horses was not in the least degree cast down or depressed by this refusal of a start since he had	44
not entertained any sanguine hope that it would be granted and the dark horse t i had only inserted it to make doubly sure for he was every day more confident that way was to win even though obliged to step off with the rank and file chapter x trust her not she is thee as the sunset flames most fiery when out by sudden night as the swan its till about to hop the as the s head biggest just before he does his bite so a feminine smiles her sweetest ere she gives her dig by h b j now that our hero had obtained that the name of way was to be inscribed on the golden book of his next proceeding was to hire a practical to assume supreme command of her and this was no simple matter since practical are usually hired many a from weeks beforehand and demand handsome wages for taking their seats but at last after protracted mr had the good fortune to pitch upon a perfect treasure whose name was and who for his riding in some race or other had been a whole year s holiday by the who had observed the of his no sooner had way than he was quite in love with his stable companion and assured his employer that with more regular out of door exercise she would be easily competent to win the on her head whereupon mr consented that she should be galloped after dark round the inner circle of s park which is chiefly at such a time by male and female trust her not i but in order to pay s charges and also provide a silken and cap of his own racing colours which were cream and sky blue mr was compelled to borrow more money from mr who as a scotch the rather interest of sixty per it out in some manner that way was a coming favourite and the property of a native young indian whose entire fortunes depended on her success and soon immense multitudes in s park to witness her trials of speed and cheered to behold the fiery sparks from the stones as she the inner circle in seven boots a from lo a from mr of course that she was a very sort of mare and that he did not at all expect that she would prove a but nevertheless long odds upon her success and himself though not a did put on the pot himself upon the golden egg which he was so anxiously one evening amongst those who were gathered to view the exercises of way there appeared a feminine spectator of rather sinister aspect in a thick and a victoria carriage it was no other than who had somehow learnt how mr was endeavouring to fulfil the royal s and who had come to ascertain whether his mare was in trust her not deed such a of as had been represented the very first time that way past with the gait of a streak of lightning the with a sinking heart that mr must succeed at the unless he was prevented but how to achieve this her womanly instinct told her that was far too inexperienced to resist for long such mature and charms as hers even though the latter were unfortunately by the accidental nose so lowering her veil till only her eyes were visible above she waited till he passed once more then flung him such a liquid a from and flashing glance from her and now no longer that the young who was of an excessively susceptible disposition all but fell off the saddle with emotion like a very bird under observation he is mine said the laughing up her sleeve at such a proof of her mine mine she had too much intelligence and mother wit however to take any steps until mr should be safely out of the way and how to accomplish his removal as an acquaintance with the she was aware that he had advanced large to mr trust her not and so she laid her plans and her time there soon remained only one day before that of all sporting the day and formed the prudent resolution to avoid any or by putting way into a railway box and her to on the previous afternoon under the of who was to engage suitable lodgings for her in the vicinity of the course but just as approaching the hole of victoria to take a horse ticket lo and behold he was on the shoulder by a couple of who inquired whether his name was not he replied that it was and that he was a from the lucky proprietor of a female horse who was destined to win the and that he was even now proceeding to purchase her travelling ticket but the insisted that he must first discharge the full amount of his debt and costs to mr mc who had commenced a law suit it is highly inconvenient to pay now replied our hero i will settle up after receiving my we are sorry said the but we have instructions to you until the amount is up and anything you say now will be taken down and used against you at your trial mr remained and as he was being led off with upon his trust her not i wrists like the whom should he behold but the of like all truly first class heroes he was of a generous confiding nature and his head was not for a moment entered by the suspicion that the could still cherish any ill feelings towards him i am sincerely sorry he said with good humoured gallantry to observe that your s nose leather is still in such bad repair i was riding a rather muscular that afternoon and could not thoroughly control my movements she responded that she was proud to have been	44
the means of breaking his fall not only my fall but your own nose retorted mr a sad pity fortunately at your time of life such a from are of no consequence i myself am now in the pretty and he explained how he had been arrested for debt at the very moment when he had an appointment to meet his mare and and see them safely off by the train do not trouble about that said the hand me your purse and i myself will meet them and do the needful on your behalf i have interest with this mr and will that you are let out immediately mr kissed her hand as he handed over his said purse this is indeed a noble return for my he said and i am even more sorry than before that i should have involuntarily so exquisite a nose l her not pray do not mention it replied the with the of a and mr departed for his vile with a mind totally free from chapter xi stone walls do not make a cage oh give me back my i cannot ride alone or tell me where my beautiful my four l bird has flown twas here she arched her glossy back beside the fountain s brink and after that i know no more but i came off i think more so called original lines by young english friend but i have the shrewd suspicion of having read them before somewhere h b j and now oh gentle and sympathetic reader behold our unfortunate hero confined in the darkest of the old for the mere crime of being an yes in spite of all your boasted love of liberty and fresh air imprisonment for debt is still part of the law of the land a from how long will you your ears to the pitiable cry of the as he for the order of his discharge perhaps it has been reserved for a native indian to the elbow of so called british and call its attention to such a shocking scandal mr found his prison most dull some prisoners have been known to their by making or out of most materials for instance and mr met an abbey in his who gave him a tip top education mr watered a flower the prisoner of made of his chains while as is well known succeeded in a spider to climb up a thread and fall down seven times in succession stone walls but mr had no spider to amuse him and the only flowers growing in his were which do not require to be watered nor did there happen to be any abbey confined in the old at the time nevertheless he was preserved from despair by his native for was not way a dead set for the and when she came out at the top of the pole would he not be the of sufficient gold to pay all his debts besides winning the hand of princess he was waited upon by the head s daughter a of considerable by the name of who at first regarded him as a but on learning from her parent that his l o a from sole offence was her tender heart was softened with pity to behold such a young gentlemanly indian captive in and soon they became thick as thieves like all the inhabitants of great britain her thoughts were entirely engrossed with the approaching race and she very innocently how it was matter of common knowledge that a notorious to wit the fashionable of had backed heavily that way was to fail like the flash of a pan whereupon mr that he had actually his invaluable mare with her to the mercy of this self same was with sudden by shrewd cross questions he soon stone walls l l that mr was a of the which she had herself admitted at the victoria and thus by dint of penetrating instinct mr easily the tangled of a hideous conspiracy which caused him to beat his head vehemently against the walls of his cell at the thought of his utter like all who were privileged to make his acquaintance miss was with passionate adoration for whom she regarded as a gallant and innocent and resolved to assist him to cut his lucky to this end she furnished him with a file and a silken ladder of her own knitting but unfortunately mr having never before undergone was a total in his escape by such a from ii a from dangerous and which he firmly declined to employ urging her to the paternal and let him out at daybreak by some back entrance and not to crack the wind of this poor story while rendering it as short a possible she yielded to his entreaties and contrived to restore him to the boon of liberty the next morning at about a m oh the of finding himself once more free as a bird it was the dawn of the day and mr himself to his dwelling intending to array himself in all his best and go down to where he was in hopes of his horse what was his to see his approach with stream stone walls ing eyes fling himself at his master s feet and him to be merciful how comes it sternly inquired mr that you are not on the heath of instead of like this on my shoes i do not know was the response then pray where is my favourite way demanded i cannot tell out the then after prolonged pressure he confessed that the had met him at the station and on the plea that there was of spare time to book the mare easily persuaded him to accompany her to the of there she plied him with a ii a from which are unable to resist brandy in such profusion that he promptly became in	44
a comer when he returned to neither the nor the mare was perceptible to his naked eyes and he had been searching in vain for them ever since it was the time not for words but deeds and mr did not indulge in futile but sat down and composed a reply wire to the clerk of course in these simple words have you seen my mare after the suspense of an hour the reply came in the form of an abrupt negative upon which mr thus addressed the abashed even should i my mare in time you have proved stone walls yourself unworthy of riding her strip off your racing coat and cap and i will engage some more the lad over the which stuffed being of very fine silken into his coat pocket after which he hurried off to victoria in great agitation to make inquiries there the officials treated his modest in very off handed style and he was becoming all of a with anxiety and humiliation when all of a sudden his ears were by the sound of a and he the beloved voice of way but whence did it proceed he ran to and fi o in excitement endeavouring to the sound there was no trace of a horse in any of the waiting a from rooms but at length he discovered that his mare had been locked up in the left luggage department and a porter mr had at last the indescribable felicity to embrace his favourite way chapter a race against time there s a certain old you ve got to be keen if you d beat him although he is bald and he carries a clock and a machine on the he s called written to order by young english but i fear copied from poet ah with what did mr caress the neck of his precious horse how carefully he searched her to make sure that she had sustained no internal or other thank goodness he was unable to detect any flaw within or without the probability being that the did not dare to commit such a breach of decorum to poison a favourite nd a from thought to accomplish her fell by leaving the mare as lost luggage and destroying the ticket receipt but old time had already lifted the glass to his lips and the contents were rapidly running down so mr approaching a railway politely requested him to hook a horse box the next train what was his surprise to hear that this could not be done until all trains had first themselves with passionate he pleaded that if such a law of and was to be insisted on way would arrive at several hours too late to in the race in which she was already morally victorious until at length the official and to a race against time i i do the job for valuable consideration in hard cash after all his pockets our unhappy hero could only fork out enough for third class single ticket for himself and he accordingly that his mare might travel as baggage in the guard s van i am not to say whether the officials at this leading were all in the pay of the since i am naturally reluctant to advance so serious a charge against such industrious and parties but it is con that mr s very reasonable request was in highly offensive dried fashion and he was recommended to walk himself and his horse off the platform fair e how was it a from for any horse to win the race without putting in an appearance and how was way to put in her appearance if she was not allowed access to any train a less wilful and individual than mr would have certainly under so much red but it only served to s monkey how far is the distance to he inquired fourteen miles he was answered and what o clock the race about one p m and it is now just the middle of the day exclaimed very well since it seems way is not to ride in th railway she shall cover the on a race against time author s note on illustration no vn i earnestly my benevolent to suppress at all events this illustration as much for the sake of mr who if it appears will be the stock of every cultivated young indian with any acquaintance at all with english life as on my own poor account i ask anyone endowed with could there be a more grotesque than this of such a well known scene as the annual pilgrimage to the race it is true that i wrote every description of conveyance but how was i being non to anticipate that mr would interpret the phrase as including such as a cab by a and a kind oi borne by two members of the caste he further his colossal ignorance by the introduction of a snake a character who even that he ever made his d but on a london would be speedily run in with all his for traffic moreover where is his authority for representing an bird as an ordinary london fowl time and patience fail me to indicate the countless and howling which mr has achieved in the space of this single picture but i say once more it is possible to provide a novel of this with congenial and appropriate drawings by an artist who is acquainted with what is what it is infinitely to dispense with illustrations altogether than to such a work with and pictures h b j a race against time i s mare for i will ride her to in so courageous a determination loud cheers from the who cordially advised him to put his best legs foremost as he mounted his crack and set off with broken speed for i must request my indulgent readers	44
to excuse this humble pen from the horrors of that wild and desperate ride suffice it to say that the road was full with every description of conveyance and that mr was haunted by two terrible apprehensions that he might meet with some shocking upset and that he should arrive the day after the fair as he urged on his headlong career he was constantly inquiring of the occupants a from of the various if he was still in time for the and they invariably to him that if he desired to witness the spectacle he was to buck himself up mr himself up to such good purpose that long before the clock struck one his eyes were by beholding the summit of grand stand on the distant hill tops leaning himself forward he whispered in the shell like ear of way only one more effort and we shall have preserved both our but alas he had the mortification to perceive that the legs of way were already becoming tremulous from he hi h ic a race against time i and now beloved reader let me respectfully beg you to imagine yourself on the course immediately prior to the grand event what a marvellous human all classes together with with counts with with and so on through the entire some spectators in carriages others on fir ma flags flying bands blowing innumerable refreshment tents their heads proudly into the blue gazing with smiling countenances on the happy multitudes when not engaged in running them in now they are conducting the formality of weighing the horses to see if they are qualified as for the gold a from a from cup and each horse as it steps out of the scales and is declared eligible to upon the green turf n b the writer of above description never been actually present at any race but has done it all entirely from of sporting this is surely deserving of recognition from a generous public now follows a period of dismay for way the favourite of high and low is suddenly discovered to be still the dark horse the only person who gratification is the who makes her entrance into the most fashionable ring and a leading cries in accents i will bet a million to a monkey against way a race against time even the himself is appalled by the of such a stake and earnestly counsels the to substitute a more economical but she scornfully his well meant advice and with a trembling hand he the bet in his book no sooner has he done so than the bell breaks forth into a joyous and the crowd is by indescribable emotions they shout welcome to the missing favourite and three cheers for way the had turned as pale as a witch for galloping along the course she mr of his tall hat and covered with perspiration and dust on the very which she fondly hoped had been among the left luggage chapter a struggle is it for sordid that horses race or can it be the glory that they go for neither they know the that shows best pace will get his all the sooner over reflection at a h b j the seeing that her plot was by the unexpected arrival of mr made the frantic endeavour to hedge herself behind another bet of a million sterling to a monkey that way was to come off conqueror but in vain since none of the would such very long odds so her features in a veil of feminine she advanced to meet mr how lucky that you a from have arrived on the neck of time she said and you have ridden all the way from town tell me now would not you and your dear horse like some refreshment after so tedious a journey madam said mr bowing to his saddle bow while his remained fixed upon the with a withering glare we are not taking any from hands this crushing sarcasm totally the who perceived that he had penetrated her schemes and crept away in discomfiture after this incident way was subjected to the ordeal of trying her weight which she passed with honours for very fortunately as it turned out the twenty four hours starvation which she had endured as left luggage had reduced her to the pre a struggle i number of which she would otherwise have exceeded since mr being as yet a in training cracks had allowed her to acquire a superfluous thus once more the of the had only the very individual they were intended to injure but it remained necessary to hire a practical since w is still in dust and ashes at home so mr ran about from pillow to post endeavouring to borrow a rider for way owing probably to the s he encountered nothing but and of previous engagement until at the end of the of his patience he said since my mare cannot in a rider a from less condition i myself will assume command and steer her to victory upon which gallant speech the entire air became darkened by clouds of hats and shouts of but upon this the lodged the objection that he was not in correct and that even if he still retained his tall hat it would be contrary to etiquette to ride the in a frock coat where are his racing colours she demanded here cried mr pulling forth the cream and sky blue silken jacket and cap from his pockets and his frock coat he assumed the of a in the twinkle of a i protest then cried the against such cruelty to animals as a struggle racing an mare so soon after she has galloped from london your is just oh humane and distinguished lady responded the judge who had conceived a violent attachment to way and her owner and i will willingly	44
the race for an hour or two until the horse has recovered her breeze quite unnecessary said my mare is not such a as you imagine and will be as fit as a after she has one or two champagne bottles and his was literally fulfilled for the champagne soon rendered way playful as a mr ascended into his saddle the other horses were drawn up in single rank the his i a from flag and the curtain rose on such a race as has perhaps never been equalled in the annals of the the rival cracks were named as follows brandy bell british and smell the was even on the field was a large tall horse with a tail but excessively on the contrary was a small of habits and to be constantly pricked bell was a of goodly proportions and smell was of same sex as way though more in character not long after the start mr was to discover that he was all and he almost of a struggle any of his fore moreover he was already oppressed by painful due to so constantly coming in contact with the saddle during his ride from london but in for a penny in for a pound of flesh and he on and soon had the good luck to some of his lost ground it was the old anecdote of the hare and the first of all was tripped up by a rabbit s hole then smell leaped the barrier and joined the spectators while his ankle gradually mr passed brandy cut and british until on arriving at court corner only bell and remained in the running bell became so discouraged by the near approach of way that he a from his pace to a paltry trot so mr was easily enabled to defeat him after which by efforts he urged his mare until she and were cheek by for some time it was the race between a hammer and still as the their way on refused to give place and way began to drop to the rear seeing that she was utterly to her speed and therefore in imminent danger of being defeated had the happy inspiration to make an appeal to the best feelings of the rival whose name was he in an whisper i am a poor native indian totally a struggle in riding show me some action and allow way to take first prize but mr responded that he earnestly desired that should obtain said prize and applied a rather severe to his willing horse my mare is the favourite pleaded mr by her you will land yourself in the bad of the oi have you considered that s only reply was to administer more but consider my hard case if i am beaten i lose both a and the pot of money if on the other hand i come in first at the head of a from the winning pole i promise to share my entire fortune with you upon this the kind hearted and warmly protesting that he would rather be a and second fiddle than deprive another human being of all his earthly felicity and accordingly he in his impetuous with such skill that way ahead by the length of a nose thus they past the grand stand and as mr gazed upwards and the elegant form of the princess standing upon the roof he was so exalted with that he elevated himself in his and waving his cap in a salute cried out hip hip hip i am in a struggle then i hear the reader exclaim it is all over and way is victorious please my friend do not be so premature i have not said that the race was over there are still some yards to the judge s bench and it is always on the racing cards that may prove the after all such inquisitive curiosity shall be duly satisfied in the next chapter which is also the last a from chapter xiv a grand finish a j i happy is a happy hip hip hip hip i dr ram of on the summit of the grand stand might have been observed groups of spectators eagerly awaiting the finish conspicuous amongst them were princess most attired and her parent merchant prince jones and close by duke and following the classic contest through glasses will prove to be the no it is way they are neck or nothing it will be a deceased heat exclaimed the excited a from and the was as if seated upon the of suspense since mr s success was a no i to their union suddenly came the glad shout the favourite takes the cake with a and became pallid with anguish for rich as she was she could ill afford to become the of a cool million the shout was strictly for mr was ruling the roast by half a head and was behind made cried princess in the silvery tones of a highly bred bell while she violently agitated her sun umbrella oh my beloved do not fall behind at eleven o clock and as though in answer to this appeal which he did not she beheld her a grand finish triumphant the of his soul with uplifted cap it was the fatal piece of politeness since to avoid falling off he was compelled to moderate the speed of his while performing it and either his good nature or unable any longer to restrain the oi was carried first past the winning pole mr following on way as the bad second at this the princess a scream like freedom which as some poet us when a gentleman fell and suspended her animation for several minutes while the grinned a horrible ghastly smile as described by poet milton in paradise lost at mr s a from shocking defeat and her own gain of a million though all true present deeply	44
with our hero that he should be thus wrecked in sight of port on account of an ordinary act of courtesy to a female but mr preserved his as as though he possessed the hide of a sir said he addressing the judge i humbly beg permission to claim this race and lodge an objection against my on what was the naturally astonished on the grounds deliberately replied that he did pull his horse s head was too to reply to the accusation and several spectators a grand finish i came forward to testify that they had personally witnessed him his and it being contrary to the non of turf etiquette to pull at a horse s head when he is winning was very plucked by the s club the made the desperate attempt to argue that if was a pot mr was a kettle of equally dark complexion since he also had up before the goal but was able easily to show that he had done so not with any intention to his but merely to salute his whereas had pulled to prevent his horse from the conquest so to mr s delight the cup full as an g with golden sovereigns was to him and the a from notorious blue ribbon was pinned by the judge upon his proud and heaving bosom but as he was highly elated to the side of his beloved amidst the of the multitude the had the audacity to pluck his elbow and demand the promised pro for what service inquired in amazement why did you not promise me the of your fortune sir was the reply if i allowed you to be the mr was of an mild just disposition but such a piece of as this aroused his indignation and rendered him cross as two sticks oh contemptible he said m w s m y a grand finish author s note on illustration no after having been compelled to pluck so many with mr i would gladly if i could commend his final attempt without reserve and i cheerfully allow that he has rather cleverly succeeded in both the modest of mr and the paternal benevolence on the but and mr of course was fated to the of into some portion of what might otherwise have been a correct of a very simple episode surely even a native artist might have known that the judge who such an open air affair as the race does not assume his wig and gown for the purpose nor is he necessarily even a member of the legal profession moreover if such a judge in tobacco in any form as to which i express no opinion then he would not employ a pipe of a pattern which only an oriental could puff without severe internal i am sorry now that i did not take the precaution of supplying my with a few photographs of ordinary english characters as i actually proposed to do only unfortunately my young english friend earnestly assured me that mr p would be as right as rain provided that i left him a free hand and these are the free hand drawings which have resulted all i can say is that if my persist in including them in the volume they must be prepared to take the consequences should this novel fail to secure the brilliant which i anticipate for it don t blame me h b j a grand finish in terrific tones my promise as thou well was on condition that i was first past the winning pole whereas owing to thy i was only the bad second do not attempt to hunt with the hare and run with hounds depart to lower regions and into obscurity with fallen benevolent and readers this tale is near s owing to his brilliant success at the mr was now rolling on cash and as the of the royal was fulfilled there was no longer any objection to his union with the princess jones with whom he accordingly contracted holy matrimony and now lives in great splendour at shepherd s bush since all his earnestly o a from him that he was not to return to india he therefore himself as a full blooded british and further adopted a coat of arms from the family herald with a splendidly lofty crest and the motto et not being myself i do not reproach others with said failing translation but what of the wicked i have to record that being unable to pay the her bet of a million pounds she was solemnly pronounced a and by a striking instance of the for of fate in the identical old cell to which she had consigned and in her case the s fair daughter miss did not exhibit the same soft mr and a grand finish his princess bride being both of highly for some time visited their foe in her carrying her fruit and flowers and sweets of qualities but were received in such a cold style that they soon such as for way she is still hale and flourishing though she has never since displayed the speed of her first and probably her last race she may often be seen in the vicinity of shepherd s bush to a small basket chaise in which are mr and mrs and some of their blooming here with the public s kind permission we will leave them and although this trivial and romance can claim no a from merit except its fidelity to nature i still venture to think that for sheer excitement and brilliancy of composition c it will be found by all candid judges to compare rather with more and by english end of a from n b i cannot recommend the indulgent reader to proceed any further for reasons which should he do so will be obvious h b j the of freely rendered	44
may be a soft spot in the most quarters even alexander the great who spent the blood of his troops like pocket money is recorded to have wept at a review on suddenly reflecting that all his soldiers would probably be deceased in a hundred years it is barely possible that may have been a spectator of this incident h b j a certain was herself upon having become a member of the anti sporting league softly friend said a old cock for should this league of thine succeed in its object every man s hand would be against us both by day and night whereas at present our lives are protected all night by and spared all day by our owner and his guests who are incapable of shooting for nuts the of note this is a glaring non and i myself have never shot for nuts but it does not follow that any would remain after i discharged my rifle barrel h b j it is not what we look that said the it is what we are note true enough but the moral would have been improved by the saying to some insect of more character than a perhaps this is so in the original for as i have said i cannot repose faith in my young friend s version h b j i have composed the most pathetic poem in the world declared the poet how thou be sure of that he was asked because he replied i it to the and she could not refrain from shedding tears a from it is gratifying to find appreciated at last said the when the cigar merchant him as a don t talk to me about the contemptuously to the stuff call it no for real and delicacy give me a pair of the accommodation might be more luxurious it s true remarked the philosophic mouse when he found himself in the trap but after all it s not as if i was going to stay here long i people tell me he can shine when he chooses said the of the candle the of all know is he s positively dull whenever he s with me there was once a musical box which played but one tune to which its owner was never weary of listening but after a time he desired a novelty and could not rest until he had exchanged the barrel for another however he of the second sooner than of the first and so he exchanged it for a third which he liked not at all accordingly he commanded that the box should return to the first tune of all and lo this had become an unto his ears nor could he conceive how he had ever been able to endure it so the musical box laid upon the shelf and the owner procured for himself a cheap mouth organ which could play any from air that was suggested to it and thus became an established favourite note this is apparently designed to illustrate the of the musical character h b j z o come in snapped the severed s head to the ship s cat as you perceive i am carrying on business as usual during the alterations the had no sooner finished her song than the began to make apologies for having left his music at home to a machine the penny and the tin are alike note surely not if an official is looking on h b j my said the converted the of reverently to his wife and family as they sat down to their baked missionary do not let us omit to ask a blessing there is but one singer whom it is futile to and that is a dying swan i am doing a series of notable nests for society said the serpent on finding the at home and i should so much like to include you you are very kind said the in a flutter but i can assure you that there is no more in my poor little eggs than in any other bird s that may be replied the serpent but i must live somehow i no there only just their own particular set said the when a from is a from he came home after having been to tea with the birds of paradise the elephant was dying of starvation and a kind hearted person presented him with an drop note it is nigh incredible that any philosopher should be so ignorant of natural history as to imagine that any elephant would accept an add drop even if it was on its last legs for want of the conclusion of this anecdote would seem to be either lost or unfit for publication h b j there was once a famous who his mistress every evening performing the most divine upon his instrument but all the while she was straining her ears to listen to a piano organ round the comer which was playing good bye gray the of the performing kisses her on the mouth but only in public the candle complained bitterly of the of seeing so many in her vicinity i have taken such a fancy to thee said the hawk to the field mouse that i am going to put thee into a really good thing and he opened his there are persons who have no sense of the fitness of things like the who insisted on putting the up for the club is a from the cat scratched the dog s nose out of sheer but she had no time to explain after all it is pleasant to be at home again said the eagle s feathers on the shaft that pierced him but the eagle s reply is not recorded note poet this incident h b j	44
a certain painter set himself to a lovely landscape see he cried as he exhibited his canvas to a passing stranger doth not this my picture resemble the scene with since thou to know was the reply thou to me to have nothing but a heap the of and am to blame exclaimed the indignant painter if a heap chanced to be immediately in front of me before a man a woman he to describe unto her all his doings even the most unimportant but after marriage he that such talk may too much of note this is very very shallow i have never experienced any such with my own wives h b j i shouldn t have minded so much said the bee with some bitterness just before breathing his last in the honey pot only it happens to be my own make is the white rabbit beautiful some one inquired of the rat a from she might be enough replied the rat but for one most distressing she has pink eyes when the ass was asked about his cousin the he said do not speak about him for he has disgraced us all never before has there been any in our family the full blown to have forgotten the days of his will you allow me to pass said the courteous garden to the had anyone met the red in the sea and foretold that he would one day be pursued by hounds across a difficult the of country the would have accounted him but a vain yet so it fell out note i suspect that my young friend has made the rather natural mistake of the word red for flying fish it is not absolutely incredible that one of the latter department should fly inland and be chased by dogs but even should be aware that no could pop off in such a way h b j an perceiving a well alight promptly extinguished her by means of a convenient watering pot had you refrained from this for interference said the justly bird i should by this time be rising from my ashes instead of presenting the ridiculous appearance of a partially fowl note i can offer no explanation of this except to remind the reader that the is the notorious symbol for the fire h b j a from alas sighed the learned pig while from of the brain brought on by a laborious endeavour to ascertain the sum of two and two why w iy was i cursed with intellect i shall know better another time gasped the fish as he lay in the a certain merchant sold a child a sharp sword thou hast done wrong in this remonstrated a sage since the child will assuredly wound either himself or some other i shall not be responsible cried the merchant for in selling the sword i did recommend the child to protect the point with a cork the of a certain grain of fell out of a sack in which it was being carried into the city and was soon trampled in the dust i am lost cried the seed yet i do not so much for myself as for those countless multitudes who deprived of me are now doomed to perish miserably of starvation i have given up dancing said the for they no longer dance with the elegance and grace that were universal in my young days but for the mercy of providence said the fox to the goose whom he found in trap that had been set for him j a self our respective situations might now be reversed she really sang quite nicely remarked the after she had been to hear the one evening but it s a pity her range is so sadly limited the insisted on making his will but what hast thou to leave when thou cried the as much as the richest he replied for when i die i leave the entire world note this is if not translated a grotesque and the t is aware that when a the of his existence he leaves more behind him than a mere h b j forgive me said the to the the of t swallow but although you may not be aware of it you are flying on totally false principles am i said the swallow meekly i m so sorry do you mind showing me how you do it i don t fly myself said the with an air of superiority i ve other things to do but i have thoroughly mastered the theory of the art then teach me the theory said the swallow willingly said the my fee to you will be two worms a lesson i can t bear to think that no one will weep for me when i am gone said the sentimental fly as he flew into the eye of a money a from note cf poet tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark our coming and look brighter when we come h b j a certain feeling inclined entered a mother s meeting bent upon making himself agreeable but was greatly to find himself but coldly received women are so particular about trifles he reflected bitterly i know i said good afternoon with my mouth full but as i explained i had just been at the infant school i want to be useful said the as she sat down and set a for a decayed a traveller demanded hospitality from the of fourteen who were occupying one small tent enter freely said the but we must warn thee that thou wilt find the atmosphere exceedingly unpleasant for by some we have our boots from a jar of of roses note once more i do not entirely the s meaning unless it is that such a	44
sideways keenly the almost invisible house with an ii est which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from to create yes that s lord s he yet again after a while as he still looked in the s direction what be we going there no j as i have told you i thought you m t have altered your mind sir a have stared that way at nothing so long o no i am interested in the house that s all most people be as the saying is not in the sense that i am o well his family is no better than my b how is that and by rights but once in an times one of em when he was at work changed with king charles the second and saved the king s king charles came up to him like a common man and off hand man in the frock my name is ch the second and that s the truth on t will ye lend me clothes i don t mind if i do said and they changed there and then now mind ye charles the second said like a common man as h away if ever i come to the crown you come to knock at the door and say out bold is king second at home tell your name and they shall in and you shall be made a lord now that v nice of master very nice indeed well as the saying is the king came to the and some years after that away went i knocked at the king s door and asked if king ci second was in no he t said charles the third said et xv a pair of blue eyes g a young fellow standing by like a common man only he had a crown on my name is charles the third and i really fancy that must be a mistake i don t recollect anything in history about charles the third said the other in a tone of mild remonstrance that s right enough as the saying is he was a rather queer tempered man if you remember i very well go on and by hook or by was made a lord and everything went on well till some time after when he got into a most terrible row with king charles the fourth stop i can t stand charles the fourth upon my word that s too much why there was a george the fourth wasn t there certainly well be as common as tis perfect madness to break up a man s story in the way you do there isn t a man in england would put up with charles the fourth even from the lips of his dearest friend i only took charles the third out of civility to you now look here take charles the third and say no more about it and i ll knock out charles the fourth gather there that s fair ah well as the saying is tis the world ever i lived in upon my life tis ah that such should be oi the dusk had into darkness while they thus an conversed and the outline and surface of the mansion disappeared the windows which had before been od as black on a lighter surface of wall became and were into squares of light on the dark surface of the night landscape as it absorbed the yo outlines of the edifice into its gloomy monotony er not another word was spoken for some time and they climbed a hill then another hill piled on the summit of the an additional mile of from which could be two on the coast they were on the horizon with a calm lustre of and was reached a little i a feet towards which the driver i angle and descended a steep a i lo a fair of blue eyes der the trees like a they sank lower and lower is inside here continued the man with the reins this part about here is west lord s is east and has a church to itself pa son is the pa son of both and backward and forward ah well tis a funny world a b there was once a where this house stands the man who built it in past time scraped all the for earth to put round the and laid out a little paradise of flowers and trees in the soil he had got together in this way while the fields he scraped have been good fo nothing ever since long has the present incumbent been here maybe about a year or a year and a half t years for they don t him yet and as a rule parish begins to the pa son at the end of years among em familiar but he s a very nice part ay pa son d know me pretty well from driving over and d know pa son they emerged from the bower swept round in a and the chimneys and of the became dark visible not a light showed anywhere they the man felt his way into the porch and rang the bell at the end of three or four minutes spent in waiting without hearing any sounds of a response t stranger advanced and repeated the call in a more c manner he then fancied he heard footsteps the hall and sundry movements of the door i nobody appeared perhaps they at home sighed the and i promised myself a bit of supper in pa son s court s kitchen lovely mate and ke and and drops o cordial that they do keep here all right be ye rich men or be ye men that ye must needs come to the world s end time o night exclaimed a cracked voice at this in and turning their heads they saw a round from the back door with	45
a horn dangling from his hand a pair of blue e yes time o night a b and the clock only gone even of em show a light and let us in william worm o that you robert nobody else william worm and is the visiting man a come yes said the stranger is mr at home that a is sir and would ye mind coming round y the back way the front door is got stuck wi the wet s he will do sometimes and the can t open en i now i am only a poor man that ill never pay he lord for my making sir but i can show the way in ir the new arrival followed his guide through a little door a a wall and then a and a kitchen long which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance n horror of forbidding him to gaze around that formed the back side of the household entering the hall he was about to be shown to lis room when from the inner of the front entrance thither she had gone to learn the cause of the delay sailed the form of her start of amazement at the of the visitor coming forth from under the stairs proved bat she had not been expecting this surprising flank which had been originated entirely by the in of william worm she appeared in the prettiest of all feminine that s to say in a dress with plenty of curly hair down about her shoulders an expression of pervaded her countenance and altogether she scarcely appeared woman enough for the situation the visitor removed his hat and the first words were spoken meanwhile looking with a great deal of interest not with awe at the person towards whom she was to do the duties of hospitality am mr smith said the stranger in a musical i am miss said i her was over the great contrast between reality she beheld before her and e l v a i elder of business who v ad e fc a man with clothes ir g oi a pair of blue t i sallow from want of sun and talk with was such a relief to her that smiled almost laugh in the new comer s face smith who has hitherto been hidden from by the darkness was at this time of his life but a appearance and barely a man in years judging from look london was the last place in the world that would have imagined to be the scene of his si a face surely could not be nourished amid smoke and n and fog and dust such an open countenance could ne even have seen anything of the weariness the fever j the fret of the second his complexion was as fine as s own the p of his cheeks as delicate his mouth as perfect as cup i j bow in form and as cherry red in color as hers j i curly hair bright sparkling blue grey eyes a boy s and manner neither nor moustache little light brown fur on his upper lip deserved the title this composed the london professional man prospect of whose advent had so troubled hastened to say she was sorry to tell him f mr was not able to receive him that even i and gave the reason why mr smith replied in a v boyish by nature and manly by art that he was very i to hear this news but that as far as his reception concerned it did not matter in the least was shown up to his room in his ab j stealthily glided into her father s i i he s come papa such a young man for a bi man o indeed his face is well pretty just like mine h m what next i nothing that s all i know of him yet it nice is it not well we shall see that when we know go down and give the poor fellow something tc drink for heaven s sake and when he has do say i should like to have a few words with him if mind coming up here i r y glided c o s va i i tt a pair of blue eyes young smith s entry the letter referring to his visit bad better be given i mr to mr sir we are thinking of restoring the tower and aisle of the in this parish and lord the patron of the living mentioned your name as that of a whom it be desirable to ask to the work i am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps however the first is that should you be as lord you are disposed to assist us yourself or some member of your should see the building and report thereupon for the satisfaction f and others the spot is a very remote one we have no railway within miles and the nearest place for putting up at called a town merely a large village is two miles farther on so hat it would be most convenient for you to stay at the i am glad to place at your disposal instead of pushing on to he hotel at and coming back again in the morning any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will ind us quite ready to receive you yours very truly mr to mr place cross rev sir agreeably to your request of the i th instant liave arranged to survey and make drawings of the aisle and tower of your parish church and of the which have been suffered to with a view to its restoration my assistant mr smith will leave london by the early train to morrow morning for the purpose many thanks	45
for your proposal to accommodate him he will take advantage of your offer nd will probably reach your house at some hour of the evening you may put every confidence in him and may rely upon his in the matter of church architecture trusting that the plans for the restoration which i shall prepare m the details of his survey will prove satisfactory to yourself and i am rev sir yours faithfully walter chapter iii melodious birds sing that first in was a very agreeable one to young smith the table was spread as had suggested to her father with the materials for the meal called high tea a class of welcome to all when away from men and towns and particularly attractive to youthful the table was prettily with winter flowers and leaves amid which the eye was greeted by chicken pie etc and two huge overhanging the sides of the dish with a cheerful aspect of abundance at the end towards the fireplace appeared the tea service of old fashioned and behind this arose the slight form of attempting to add dignity to the movement of pouring out tea and to have a and concerned look in matters of hour ey and cream having made her own meal before he arrived she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him she asked him if he would excuse her finishing a letter she had been writing at a side table and after sitting down to it with a sense of being rude however seeing that he noticed nothing personally wrong in her and that he too was embarrassed when she attentively watched his cup to it she became better at ease and when he accidentally kicked the leg of the table then nearly upset his just as did si felt herself mistress of the situation and could talk well in a few minutes and a common ten of years all recollection that they were strange just met began to wax e oc ow slight experiences connected o i m a fair of blue eyes and she having no experiences to fall back upon with much animation stories that had been related to her by her father which would have astonished him had he heard with what fidelity of action and tone they were rendered upon the whole a very interesting picture of sweet and twenty was on view that evening in mr s house ultimately had to go up stairs and talk loud to the receiving from him between his a great many apologies for calling him so to a stranger s bedroom but continued mr i felt that i wanted to say a few words to you before the morning on the business of your visit one s patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden of one s enemy new to me though for i have known very little of as yet however he s gone to my other toe in a very mild manner and i expect he ll off altogether by the morning i hope you have been well attended to down stairs perfectly and though it is unfortunate and i am sorry to see you laid up i beg you will not take the slightest notice of my being in the house the while i will not but i shall be down to morrow my daughter is an excellent doctor a dose or two of her mild will fetch me round quicker than all the doctors stuff in the world well now about the church business take a seat do we can t afford to stand upon ceremony in these parts as you see and for this reason that a civilized human being seldom stays long with us and so we cannot waste time in approaching him or he will be gone before we have had the pleasure of close acquaintance this tower of ours is as you will notice entirely gone beyond the possibility of restoration but the church itself is well enough you should see some of the churches in this county floors rotten ivy the walls dear me o that s nothing the congregation of a neighbor of mine whenever a storm of rain comes on during service open their and hold them up till the dripping ceases from the roof now if you m i a r papers and letters you see i how far we have got l a pair of blue eyes crossed the room to fetch them and the seemed to notice more particularly the slim figure of his visitor i suppose you are quite competent he said quite said the young man slightly you are very young i fancy i should say you are not more than nineteen i am nearly twenty one exactly half my age i am forty two by the way said mr after some conversation you said your whole name was and that your family came originally from since i have been speaking it has occurred to me that i know something of them you belong to a well known aa county family not ordinary in the least i don t think we have any of their blood in our nonsense you must hand me the landed gentry now let me see there smith he lies in st mary s church doesn t he well out of that family sprang the and came general sir smith of yes i have seen his monument there shouted but there is no connection between his family and mine there cannot be there is none possibly to your knowledge but look at this my dear sir said the striking his fist upon the for emphasis here are you smith living in london but born at here in this book is a tree of the of you may be only	45
a family of professional men now t am not inquisitive i on t ask questions of that kind it is not in me to do so but it is plain as the nose in your face that there s your origin and mr smith i congratulate you upon your blood blue blood sir and upon my life a very desirable color as the world goes i wish you could congratulate me upon some more j quality said the younger man sadly no less than mo y i nonsense i that will come with time you are young all your life is before you s ax i o a fair of ue e yes i the mists of antiquity ray own family of have a root here you see he continued turning to the page is the one among my ancestors who lost a because he would cut his joke ah it s the sort of us but the story is too long to tell now ay i m a poor man a poor gentleman in fact those i would be friends with won t be friends with me those who are willing to be friends with me i am above being friends with beyond dining with a neighboring incumbent or two and an occasional chat sometimes dinner with lord i am in absolute solitude absolute you have your studies your books and your daughter o yes yes and i don t complain of poverty well mr smith don t let me detain you any longer in a sick room ha that reminds me of a story i once heard in my younger days here the began a series of small private laughs and looked inquiry o no no it is too bad too bad to tell continued mr in of grim mirth well go down stairs my daughter must do the best she can with you this evening ask her to sing to you she and sings very nicely good night i feel as if had known you for five or six years i ll ring for somebody to show you down never mind said i can find the way and he went down stairs thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the in comparison with the reserve of london i forgot to tell you papa was rather deaf said anxiously when entered the little drawing room never mind know all about it and we are great friends the man of business replied and miss will you kindly sing to me to miss this request seemed what in fact it was point blank though she guessed that her papa had some hand in it knowing rather to her cost of his way of z t benefit of dull at the same x was too frank to provoke ta s a pair of blue eyes little to inspire fear she was ready not to say pleased to selecting from the some old family that in years gone by had been played and sung by her mother sat down to the and began twas on the evening of a winter s day in a pretty voice do you like that old thing mr smith she said at the end yes i do much said words he would have uttered and sincerely to anything on earth from glee to that she might have chosen you shall have a little one by de that was given me by a young french lady who was staying at house je i ai plants je i ai ce beau ou les etc and then i shall want to give you my own favorite for the very last s when the lamp is shattered as set to music by my poor mother i so much like singing to anybody who really cares to hear me every woman who makes a permanent impression on a man is afterwards recalled to his mind s eye as she appeared in one particular scene which seems ordained to be her special medium of throughout the pages of his memory as the patron saint has her attitude and in illumination so the sweet heart may be said to have hers upon the table of her true love s fancy without which she is rarely introduced there except by effort j and this though she may on farther acquaintance have been observed in many other phases which one imagine to be far more appropriate to love s young miss s image chose the form in which she w beheld during these minutes of singing for her attitude ot to s eyes his and waking hours in after days the is seen c young woman in a pale grey silk dress with swan s down and opening down to a point in front li the cool color admirably with the warm bloom of her neck ce the candle on com a pair of blue eyes in a line with her head and half invisible itself forms the accidentally hair into a haze of light surrounding her crown like an her hands are in their place on the keys her lips parted and forth in a tender the closing words of the sad o love who the of all things here why choose you the for your cradle your home and your her head is forward a little and her eyes directed keenly upward to the top of the page of music her then comes a rapid look into s face and a still more rapid look back again to her business her face having dropped its sadness and acquired a certain expression of mischievous the while which lingered there for some time but was never developed into a positive smile of suddenly shifted his position from her right hand to her left where there was just room enough for an to stand between the piano and the corner of	45
the room into this nook he squeezed himself and gazed wistfully up into s face so long and so earnestly gazed he that her cheek deepened to a more and more crimson tint as each line was added to her song concluding and pausing motionless after the last word for a minute or two she ventured to look at him again his features wore an expression of unutterable happiness you don t hear many songs do you mr smith to take so much notice of these of mine perhaps it was the means and vehicle of the song that i was noticing i mean yourself he answered gently now mr smith it is perfectly true i don t hear much singing you mistake what i am i fancy because i come as a stranger to a secluded spot you think i must needs come from a life of bustle and know the latest movements of the day ut i don t my life is as quiet as yours and more solitary as death the death which comes from a ol ft a j air of blue eyes seriously i can quite see that you are not the least what i thought you would be before i saw you you are not critical or experienced or much to mind that s why i don t mind singing airs to you that i only half know finding that by this confession she had vexed him in a way she did not intend to she added i mean mr smith that you are better not worse for being only young and not very experienced you don t think my life here so very tame and dull know i do not indeed he said with it must be delightfully poetical and sparkling and fresh and there you go mr smith well men of another kind when i can get them to be honest enough to own the truth think just the reverse that my life must be a dreadful bore in its normal state though pleasant for the exceptional few days they pass here i could live here always he said and with such a tone and look of unconscious revelation that was startled to find that her had fired a small in the shape of s heart she said quickly but you can t live here always o no and he drew himself in with the of a s emotions were sudden as his in but the least of woman s lesser love of admiration caused an disposition on his part so exactly similar to her own to appear as in him as modesty made her own seem in her chapter iv where the turf in many a mould ring heap for reasons of his own smith was stirring a short time after dawn the next morning from the window of his room he could see first two bold sloping down together like the letter v towards the bottom like liquid in a appeared the sea grey and small on the brow of one hill of rather greater than its neighbor stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations the lonely edifice was black and bare cutting up into the sky from the very tip of the hill it had a square tower neither battle ment nor and seemed a termination of one substance with the ridge rather than a structure round the church a low wall over the wall in general level was the not as a usually is a fragment of landscape with its due variety of but a mere against the sky with the outlines of graves and a very stones not a tree could exist up there nothing but the monotonous grey green grass five minutes after this casual survey was made his bedroom was empty and its had vanished quietly from the house at the end of two hours he was again in the room looking warm and glowing he now pursued the artistic details of dressing which on his first rising had been entirely omitted and a very pretty fellow he looked after that mysterious morning his mouth was triumph of the it was the q s v up mouth of william p ut as ie tes v a pair of blue eyes or little known bust by a mouth which is in itself a young man s fortune if properly exercised his round chin where its upper part turned inward still continued its perfect and full curve seeming to press in to a point the bottom of his lip at their place of once he murmured the name of ah there she was on the lawn in a plain dress without hat or bonnet running with a boy s to a lightness after a tame rabbit she was to capture her of words with desperate rushes so much out of keeping with them that the of such expressions was but too evident to her pet who darted and in the scene down there was altogether different from that of the hills a thicket of shrubs and trees enclosed this favored spot from the without even at this time of the year the grass was luxuriant there no wind blew inside the protecting belt of wasting its force upon the higher and stronger trees forming the outer margin of the grove then he heard a heavy person about in slippers and calling mr smith smith proceeded to the study and found mr the young man expressed his gladness to see his host down stairs o yes i knew i should soon be right again i have not made the acquaintance of foe more than two years and it generally goes off the second night well where have you een this morning i saw you come in just now i think v yes i have been for a walk start early yes very early think yes it was	45
rather early which way did you go to the sea i everybody goes sea ward no i followed up the river as far as the park wa you are different from your kind well i a wild place is a and so tempted you c a pair of e e yes not altogether a novelty i like the place you must you must to go cock watching the morning after a journey of fourteen or sixteen hours but there s no for taste and i am glad to see that yours is no after breakfast but not before i shall be good for a ten miles walk master smith certainly there seemed nothing exaggerated in that assertion mr by daylight showed himself to be a man who in common with the other two people under his roof had really strong claims to be considered handsome handsome that is in the sense in which the moon is bright the and valleys which on a close inspection are seen to its surface being left out of the argument the face of a tint that was not deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead but uniform throughout the usual salmon color of a man who well not to too well and does not think hard every pore being in visible working order his was that of a highly improved class of farmer dressed up in the wrong clothes that of a firm standing perpendicular man whose fall would have been backwards in direction if he had ever lost his balance the s background was at present what a s background should be his study here the ends all along the chimney piece were ranged bottles of horse pig and cow and against the wall was a high table made up of the fragments of an old oak upon this stood stuffed specimens of divers and and over them of wheat and ears with the date of the year that produced them some cases and shelves more or less laden with books the prominent titles of which were dr brown s j on the dr smith s notes on the and dr robinson s notes on the and just saved the character of the place in spite of a girl s standing above them a marine in the window and s hat hanging on its corner business business said mr after breakfast he began to find it necessary to act the part of a fly wheel to the somewhat o v n js they prepared to go o e n s a pair of blue eyes second thoughts mounting his coal black mare to avoid his foot too much at starting said he should want a man to assist him worm the shouted a minute or two after a voice was heard round the corner of the building ah i used to be strong enough but tis altered now well there i m as independent as one here and there even if they do write squire after their names what s the matter said the as william worm appeared when the remarks were repeated to him worm says some very true things sometimes mr said turning to now as regards that word why mr smith that word is gone to the dogs used on the letters of every who has a black coat anything else worm ay the folk have begun again dear me i m sorry to hear that yes worm said to i ve got such a noise in my head that there s no living night nor day tis just for all the world like people fish all day long in my poor head till i don t know r i m here or yonder there god a mighty will find it out sooner or later hope and relieve me now my said mr is a dead silence but william worm s is that of people fish in his head very remarkable isn t it i can hear the pan a as as life said worm yes it is remarkable said mr smith very peculiar very peculiar echoed the and they all then followed the path up the hill bounded on side by a little stone wall from which gleamed fragments of and blood red apparently of value in their setting of brown with the dignity of a man close to the horse s head won stumbled along a stone s throw in the rear and wa nowhere in particular yet everywhere sometimes in sometimes behind sometimes at the sides hovering the procession a butterfly not definitely engaged a pair of ue e yes travelling yet somehow in at points with the general progress the explained things as he went on the fact is mr smith i didn t want this bother of church restoration at all but it was necessary to do something in self defence on account of those d i use the word in its meaning of course not as an how very odd that such should be necessary said odd that s nothing to how it is in the parish of both the are there i won t say what they are and the clerk and the as well how very strange said strange my dear sir that s nothing to how it is in the parish of however as to our own parish i hope we shall make some progress soon you must trust to circumstances there are no circumstances to trust to we may as well trust in providence if we trust at all but here we are a wild place isn t it but i like it on such days as these the churchyard was entered on this side by a stone over which having you remained still on the wild hill the within not being so divided from the without as to the sense of open freedom a delightful place to be buried in that delight	45
can accompany a man to his tomb under any circumstances there was nothing horrible in this churchyard in the shape of tight with sticks which shout imprisonment in your ears rather than whisper rest or trim which only raise images of people in new black and white handkerchiefs coming to tend them or wheel g which remind us of and mourning or bushes which make a parade of sorrow or boards and bones lying behind trees showing that we are only lease of our graves no nothing but long wild grass the forms of the it covered themselves shaped with no eye to effect the impressive presence of the old mountain that all this was a part of bein i excluded by art outside s x old similar grass and then the ta s c v pa r of blue eyes ble to a width of half the horizon and meeting the eye with the effect of a vast like the interior of a blue vessel detached rusty rocks stood upright near the shore a collar of foam their repeating in its whiteness the of a countless multitude of hovering about their tops now worm said mr sharply and started into an attitude of attention at once to receive orders and himself were then left in possession and the work went on till early in the afternoon when dinner was announced by unity of the kitchen running up the hill without a bonnet did not make her appearance inside the building till late in the afternoon and came then by special invitation from during dinner she looked so intensely living and full of movement as she came into the old silent place that young smith s world began to be lit by the purple light in all its worm was got rid of by sending him to measure the height of the tower what could she do but come close so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot and ask him how he was getting on with his sketches and set herself to learn the principles of practical as applied to irregular buildings then she must ascend the pulpit to re imagine for the th time how it must seem to be a preacher has the reader ever seen a girl in a pulpit perhaps not nor has the writer but he knows somebody who has and who can never forget that sight over the side don t you tell papa will you mr smith if i tell you something she said with a sudden impulse to make a confidence o no that i won t said mr smith staring up well i write papa s sermons for him very often and he them better than he does his own and then afterwards he talks to people and to me about what he said in his sermon to day and forgets that i wrote it for him isn t it absurd how clever you must be i said i mate a sermon for the world a pair of ue e yes o it s easy enough she said descending from the pulpit and coming close to him to explain more vividly you do it like this did you ever play a game of called when is it where is it what is it no never ah that s a pity because writing a sermon is very much like playing that game you take the text you think why is it what is it and so on you put that down under then you proceed to the first secondly and papa won t have sa s they are all my eye then you have a final several pages of this being put in great black writing opposite leave this out if the farmers are falling asleep then comes your in conclusion then a few words and i have done well all this time you have put on the back of each page keep your voice down i mean she added herself that s how i do in papa s sermon book because otherwise he gets louder and louder till at last he shouts like a farmer up a field o papa is so funny in some things then after this childish burst of confidence she was frightened being warned by womanly instinct which for the moment her had that she had been too forward towards a comparative stranger saw her father then and went away into the wind being caught by a gust as she ascended the churchyard slope in which gust she had the motions without the motives of a the grace without the self consciousness of a she conversed for a minute or two with her father and proceeded homeward mr coming on to the church to the wind had his warm complexion as it the glow of a brand he was in a mood of and watched down the hill with a smile you little you look wild enough now he said and turned to but she s not a wild child at all mr smith as steady as you and that you are steady i see from your diligence here i think miss very clever observed yes she is certainly she is said a j a a pair of blue eyes voice as much as possible to the tone of disinterested criticism now smith tell you something but she mustn t know it for the world not for the world mind for she upon keeping it a dead secret why she writes my sermons for me often and a very good job she makes of them she can do anything she can do that the little rascal has the very trick of the trade but mind you smith not a word about it to her not a single word not a word said smith look there said mr what do you think of my he pointed with	45
accent of one who concealed a sin chapter v bosom d high in it was breakfast time as seen from the dining room which took a warm tone of light from the fire the weather and scene i outside seemed to have itself in shades of grey the long armed trees and shrubs of and pine varieties were black those of the broad sort together with the were the eternal hills and tower behind them were brown the sky dropping behind all grey of the purest melancholy yet in spite of this sombre artistic effect the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits it was even cheering for it did not rain nor was rain likely to fall for many days to come when in an english country house our different of consciousness are reduced to their lowest terms rain or no rain is after all found to be of mood apart from great and mental conclusions affecting our at such times which seem drawn from independent incidents are really but extreme of one of those conditions had turned from the table towards the fire and was idly a hand screen before her face when she heard the of a little gate outside ah here s the she said as a shuffling active man came through an opening in the and across the lawn she vanished and met him in the porch afterwards coming in with her hands behind her back how j there three for papa one for mr smith none for miss j l l v a fair of blue eyes one of yours is from who do you think lord and it has something hard in it a lump of something ive been feeling it through the envelope and can t think what it is what does lord write for i wonder mr had said simultaneously with her words he handed his letter and took his own putting on his countenance a higher class of look than was customary as became a poor gentleman who was going to read a letter from a lord read his with a countenance quite the reverse of the s place thursday evening dear smith old h is in a towering rage you for being so long about the church sketches you are more trouble than you are worth he says i am to write and say you are to stay no longer on any consideration that he would have done it all in three hours very easily i told him that you were not like an experienced hand which he seemed to forget but it did not make much difference however between you and me privately if i were you i would not alarm myself for a day or so if i were not inclined to return i would make out the week and finish my he will blow up just as much if you appear here on friday as if you keep away till monday morning yours very dear me very awkward said rather en fairy and with the kind of that an under when he has been enlarged by accident to the dimensions of a superior and is somewhat rudely down to his original size what is awkward said miss smith by this time recovered his and with it the professional dignity of an experienced important business demands my immediate presence in london i regret to say he replied what must you go at once said mr looking over the edge of his letter important business a young fellow like you to have important business the truth is said blushing and rather ashamed of having pretended so ci w y which did not rightly belong i a pair of blue eyes mr has sent to say i am to come home and i must obey him i see i see it is to do so you mean now i can see more than you think ou are to be his partner i you for that directly i read his letter to me the other day the way h spoke of you he thinks a great deal of you mr smith or he wouldn t be so anxious for you return unpleasant to such remarks as these could not be to have the of with one of the largest in london thrust upon him was cheering however he felt the idea to be he saw that whatever mr might think mr certainly thought much of him to entertain such an idea on such slender ground as to be absolutely no ground at all and then his speaking face exhibited a cloud of sadness that thought of the ordinary of any such could hardly have to cause was struck with that look of his even mr noticed it well he said cheerfully never mind that now you must come again on your own account not on business come to see me as a visitor you know say in your all you town men have holidays like when are they in august i believe very well come in august and then you need not hurry away so i am glad to get somebody decent to talk to or at in this but by the by i have something to say you won t go to day no i need not said hesitatingly i am not obliged to go till saturday very well then that brings me to what i am going to propose this is a letter from lord i think you heard me speak of him as the resident in this district and patron of this living i know of him he is in london now it seems that he has run iq on business for a day or two and taken lady him he has written to ask me to o to his a pair of blue eyes and search for a paper	45
among his private which he forgot to take with him what did he send in the letter the key of a private desk in which the papers are he doesn t like to trust such a matter to anybody else i have done such things for him before and what i propose is that we make an afternoon of it all three of us go for a drive to bay come home by way of house and while i am looking over the documents you can about the rooms where you like i have the of the house at any time you know the building though nothing but a mass of outside has a splendid all staircase and gallery within and there are a few good pictures yes said have you seen it then i saw it as i came by he said hastily o yes but i was alluding to the interior and the church st is much older than our st s re i do duty in that and this alternately you know he fact is i ought to have some help riding across that p for two miles on a wet morning is not at all the thing t my constitution were not well as thank gk d it here mr looked down his front as if his constitution were visible there i should be d barking all the year round and when the family goes way there are only about three servants to preach to v hen i set there well that shall be the arrangement then you will like to go assented and the little breakfast party separated rose to go and take a few final t the ch the following him to the door with a expression of inquiry on his face you ll put up with our not having family prayer this i hope he whispered yes j quite so said to tell you the truth he continued in the same we don t make a regular thing of it but when he have strangers visiting us i am of opinion thai it is the proper thing to do and i a s do x ax n on that point you y a path of blue eyes your face which makes me feel quite at home no sense about you in short ah it reminds me of a did story i used to hear when i was a you fellow such a story but here the shook his he self and grimly laughed was it a good story said young smith smiling to o yes but tis too bad too bad could nt tell to you for the world went across the lawn hearing the ling privately at the recollection as he withdrew they started at three o clock the grey morning h resolved itself into an afternoon bright with a sunlight without the sun itself being lightly they trotted along the wheels nearly silent t horse s hoofs clapping almost ringing upon the hard wh road as it followed the level ridge in a straight line seeming to be absorbed ultimately by t white of the sky bay which had the merit of being easily g at was duly visited they then swept round by able lanes in which not twenty yards we either straight or level to the domain of lord a woman with a double chin and thick neck like anne by threw open the lodge gate a little boy ing behind her i ll give him something poor little fellow said i pulling out her purse and hastily opening it fro the interior of her purse a host of bits of paper like a of white birds floated into the air and were blown in all directions well to be sure i said with a slight what the is all that said mr never of bank notes looked annoyed and guilty they are or something of mine papa she faltered while leap out and assisted by the lodge keeper s little boy about round the wheels and horse s hoofs till the were all gathered together again he handed th back to her and re mounted j suppose you are ia io ct a x a pair of blue eyes he said as they along up the avenue and so i may as well tell you they are notes for a i am writing she could not help at the confession much as tried to avoid it a story do you mean said mr half listening and catching a word of the conversation now and then yes the court of castle a romance of the century such writing is out of date now i know but i like doing it a romance carried in a purse if a were to rob you he would be taken in yes that s my way of carrying manuscript the reason is that i mostly write bits of it on scraps of paper when i am on horseback and i put them there for convenience what are you going to do with your romance when you have written it said i don t know she replied and turned her head to at the prospect for by this time they had reached the of en house driving through an ancient of n colored stone by the high shouldered ch they found themselves in a spacious court closed by on each of its three sides the substantial portions of the existing building dated from the reign of hen y viii but the picturesque and sheltered spot had en the site of an of a much earlier date a to was gleamed by ed ii to but though the faint outline of the ditch and mound was visible t points no sign of the original buildings remained the windows on all sides were long and many i the roof lines broken up by lights	45
of the same pattern the stones of these together with of the were surmounted by grotesque figures and variety tall twisted chimneys thrust themselves high up into the surpassed in height however by some and at the back which showed x oo s over ridge and e c a pa ib of blue eyes court whose were entirely o by and windows broke into the of the and a far projecting springing f a fantastic series of the of chief entrance to the house as mr had remarked he had the of the mansion in the absence of its owner upon a st ment of his errand they were all admitted to the and left entirely to themselves mr was s up to his eyes in the examination of a heap of papers had taken from the cabinet described by his correspond and had nothing to do but to wan about till her father was ready entered the gallery and followed without seeming to it was a long sombre enriched with a century or so later in style than walls of the mansion of ship supported a from which sprang a curved c ing in the awkward and curls of the the old still remained in the upper j tion of the large window at the end though they had m way for a more modern form of elsewhere was at one end of the gallery looking who stood in the midst beginning to feel so what depressed by the society of shades of ca complexion by and l and seeming to gaze at and through her in a mood the silence which was almost a spell upon th was broken by the sudden opening of a door at the far e out bounded a pair of little girls lightly yet wan dressed their eyes were sparkling their hair swing about and around their red mouths laughing with u gladness ah miss dearest we heard are you going to stay here you are our little are you not our big mamma is gone to london said c let me you said the other in appearance much like the first but to a smaller pattern their pink cheeks and yellow hair were speedily in mingled with ht folds of s dress she then tenderly embraced them bo h a fair of blue eyes g such an odd thing said smiling and turning o they have taken it into their heads lately to little mamma because am very fond of them ind wore a dress the other day something like one of lady s these two young creatures were the honorable mary md the honorable scarcely appearing large enough is yet to bear the weight of such ponderous they were the only two children of lord and lady and as it proved had been left at home during their parents temporary absence in the of nurse and lord was fond of the children rather indifferent towards his wife since she had begun to show an inclination not to please him by giving him a boy all children instinctively ran after looking her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their wn tribe than as a grown up elder it had now become n established rule that whenever she met them indoors r out of doors or sundays they were to be pressed against her face and bosom for the space i a quarter of a minute and otherwise made much of on e system of epithet and caress to hich girls will occasionally abandon them a look of by the towards the y which they had entered directed attention to a maid appearing from the same quarter to put an end to his sweet freedom of the poor mary and i wish you lived here miss one ike a melancholy so do i the other like a rather more melancholy mamma can t play with us so nicely as you do i don t think she ever learnt playing when she was little when shall v e come to see you as soon as you like and sleep at your house all night that s what i mean by coming to see you i don t care to see people hats and on and standing up and walking a pair of blue eyes as soon as we can get mamma s permission you s come and stay as long as ever you like good bye the prisoners were then led off again her attention to her guest whom she had left the remote end of the gallery on looking around for he was nowhere to be seen stepped down tc library thinking he might have rejoined her father tl but mr now cheerfully illuminated by a of candles was still alone of letters papers and tying them up again as did not stand on a sufficiently intimate ing with the object of her interest to justify her as a pr young lady to commence the active search for him youthful prompted and as for a reason connected with the cut of his she did not like him to be absent from her side wandered back to the oak staircase and casting her eyes about in hope of his figure though daylight still prevailed in the rooms the were in a depth of shadow chill sad and and it was only by looking along them towards light beyond that anything or anybody could be discerned tl in one of these light spots she found to be caused side door with glass in the upper part el opened it and found herself a inner lawn separated from the principal lawn front and now she saw a sight at right ar to the face of the wing she had emerged from and w a few feet of the door out another wing of the i sion lower and with less character ie opposite to her in the	45
wall of this wing was a broad window having its blind drawn down and ted by a light in the room it on the blind was a shadow from somebody close it it a person in the was of it was just possible to see that his arms uplifted and that his hands held an article of some then another shadow appeared also in came close to him this was l ol i a pair of blue eyes i she turned her back towards he lifted and held out what now proved to be a shawl or mantle placed it carefully so carefully round the lady disappeared reappeared reappeared in her front fastened the mantle he then kiss her surely not yet the motion might have been a kiss then both shadows swelled to colossal e dimensions grew distorted vanished two minutes elapsed i ah miss am so glad to find you i was looking for you said a voice at her elbow s it voice she stepped into the passage do you know any of the members of this said she not a single one how should i he replied i chapter vi fare thee a while simultaneously with the conclusion of s remark the sound of the closing of an external door in their immediate neighborhood reached s ears it came from the further side of the wing containing the illuminated room she then discerned by the aid of the dusky departing light a figure whose sex was walking down the path by the towards the river the figure grew fainter and vanished under the trees mr s voice was heard calling out their names from a distant corridor in the body of the building they their steps and found him with his coat up and his hat on awaiting their advent in a mood of at having brought his search to a successful close the carriage was brought round and without farther delay the drove away from the mansion under the echoing arch and along by the as the stars began to their trembling lights behind the of branches and twigs no words were spoken either by youth or maiden her mind was completely occupied in its recent acquisition relative to her companion the young man who had inspired her with such novelty of mood in relation to himself having come directly from london on business to her father having been brought by chance to house had by some means or other acquired the privilege of approaching some lady he had found therein and her hy of a marked kind all in the space of half an hour what room were they standing in thought as nearly as she could guess it ox ia a pair of blue eyes business room or office what people were in the house none but the and servants as far as she knew and of these he had professed a total ignorance had the person she had seen leaving the house anything to do with the performance it was impossible to say without appealing to the himself and that she would never do the more reflected the more certain did it appear that the meeting was a chance and not an appointment after passing again to the ultimate inquiry as to the individuality of the female at once assumed that she could not be an inferior smith was not the man to care about passages at love with beneath him though gentle ambition was visible in his eyes he evidently hoped for much hoped but was puzzled and puzzled was by a natural of girlish vexed with him no more pleasure came in that from liking to attract him she was getting on to him boyish as he was and innocent as he had seemed they reached the bridge which formed a link between he eastern and western of the parish situated in valley that was bounded outwardly by the sea it formed l point of depression from which the road ascended with to west and the there was no absolute necessity for either of them to but as it was the s custom after a long journey o humor the horse in making this winding ascent moved by an instinct suddenly jumped out when pleasant had just begun to adopt the deliberate stalk he associated with this portion of the road the young man seemed glad of any excuse for breaking he silence why miss what a thing to jo he exclaimed immediately following her example by jumping down on the other side o no not at all replied miss coldly the shadow phenomenon at house still within tier walked along by himself for two or three minutes wrapped in the rigid reserve dictated b a na then apparent thinking that it x ax he came serenely round to her side w a pair of blue eyes with gallantry to assist her in ascending the remaining three quarters of the steep here was a temptation it was the first time in her life that had been treated as a grown up woman in this way offered an arm in a manner that she had a right to refuse it till to she had never received masculine attentions beyond those which might be contained in such homely remarks as give me your hand take hold of my arm from her father her heart made an epoch of the incident she considered her array of feelings for and against they were for taking this offered arm the single one of determined her to punish by refusing no thank you mr smith i can get along better by myself it was s first fragile attempt at a lover fearing more the issue of such an undertaking than what a gentle young man might think of her wa ness she immediately afterwards determined to please her self by	45
her statement on second thoughts i will take it she said they slowly their way up the hill a few yards behind the carriage how silent you are miss observed perhaps think you silent too she returned i may have reason to be scarcely it is sadness that makes people silent and you can have none you don t know i have a trouble though some might think it less a trouble than a what is it she asked hesitated i might tell he said at the same time perhaps it is as well she let go his arm and pushed it from her tossing her head she has just learnt that a good deal of dignity is lost by asking a question to which an answer is refused even ever so politely for though politeness does good service in cases of and compromise it little helps a direct refusal i don t wish to know anything of it i don t wish it she the carriage j a waiting for us at the top of the a pair of ue e yes and flitted to the front papa here is your she exclaimed to the dusky figure of the old gentleman as she sprang up and sank by his side without to accept aid from ah yes uttered the in alert tones from a most profound sleep and suddenly preparing to alight why what arc you doing papa we are not home yet o no no j of course not we are not at home yet mr said very hastily to back to his original position with the air of a man who had not moved at all the fact is i was so lost in deep meditation that i forgot whereabouts we were and in a minute the was again that evening being the last seemed to throw an exceptional shade of sadness over smith and the repeated of the that he was to come and them in the summer apparently tended less to raise his spirits than to some he left them in the grey light of dawn while the colors of earth were sombre and the sun was yet hidden in the east had all night in her bed lest none of the household should be awake soon enough to start him also lest she might miss seeing again the bright eyes and curly hair to which their owner s possession of a hidden mystery added a deeper tinge of romance to some extent so soon does womanly interest take a turn she felt herself responsible for his safe conduct they before daylight mr being more and more taken with his guest s appearance having determined to rise early and bid him a friendly farewell it was however rather to the s astonishment that he saw walk in to the breakfast table candle in hand while william worm performed his toilet during which performance the inmates of the were always in the habit of waiting with patience wandered to the summer house tv ci thither the covered valley v as ix o si pair of blue eyes position a mist now lying all along its length hiding the stream which through it though the themselves were in clear air they stood close together leaning over the rustic which bounded the on the outward side and formed the crest of a steep slope beneath pointed out some features of the distant rising opposite but the artistic eye was either from nature or circumstance very faint in now and he only half attended to her description as if h spared time from some other thought going on within him well good bye he said suddenly i must never se you again i suppose miss in spite of tions his genuine played directly upon the of her nature she could afford to forgive him for concealment or two moreover the shyness which not allow him to look her in the face lent bravery to h own eyes and tongue o do come again mr smith she said prettily i should delight in it but it would be better if i not why certain circumstances in connection with me not on my account on yours goodness as if anything in with y could hurt me she said with serene but see that this plan of treatment was she tune smaller note ah i know why you will not come don t want to you ll go home to london and to all the t i ring people there and will never want to see us any more you know i have no such reason and go on writing letters to the lady you are engaged to just as before what does that mean i am not engaged you wrote a letter to a miss somebody i saw it in the letter rack an elderly woman who keeps a s shop was to tell her to keep my newspaper till i get back you needn t have explained l n i i a pair of ue e yes ness at all miss was rather relieved to hear that statement nevertheless and you won t come again to ee papa she insisted i should like to and to see you again but will you reveal to me that matter you hide she no not now she could not but go on as it might seem tell me this she with a trembling mouth l any meeting of yours with a lady at clash with any interest you may take in me he started a little it does not he said and looked into the pupils of her eyes with the that only honesty can give and even that to youth i one the explanation had not come but a gloom left her lie could not but believe that utterance whatever might lie in the shadow on the blind it was not an of passion she	45
turned towards the house entering it through the went round to the front door ir was standing on the step in his slippers was a in the harness and murmur ig about his poor head and everything was ready for s departure you named august for your visit august it shall be hat is if you care for the society of such a tory aid mr mr smith only responded hesitatingly that he should ike to come again you said you would and you must insisted to the door and speaking under her father s arm whatever reason the youth may have had for not to enter the house as a guest it no longer ie promised and bade them adieu and got into the pony carriage which crept up the slope and bore him out of heir sight i never was so much taken with anybody in my life is i am with that young fellow never i it can t understand it anyhow x w to himself ar d m chapter vii no more of me you knew my love the history of the first of our young heroine being to a great extent preliminary the main story we hurry through it as rapidly as in order however that the future position may be ly understood it is necessary to give the facts of the ca smith to his promise he had a genuine artistic reason for ing though no such reason seemed to be required sl and thirty old seat ends of exquisite century were rapidly in an aisle of the and it became to make drawings of their worm eat b ere they were battered past recognition in the t of the so called restoration he entered the house at sunset and the world was pleasant again to the two fair haired ones a pang of disappointment had nevertheless passed a when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post haste from london but had reached the neighborhood the previous evening surprise would have accompanied the feeling had she not remembered that several were haunting the coast at this season and that might have chosen to do likewise they did little besides chat that evening mr beginning to question his visitor closely yet and in good part on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced gave vague answers the next day it rained in the evening when twenty four hours of had her admirer a game of was proposed ie se xv i a fair of ue e yes the game had its value in helping on the their future soon perceived that her opponent was but a she next noticed that he had a very odd way of the pieces when or taking a man she would have supposed that the same must be gone through by all players in the same j she was taught by his action that all players who learn the game by sight unconsciously the men in a way this impression of in s touch in when she saw him at the taking of one of her push it aside with the taking man instead of lifting it a preliminary to the move how strangely you handle the men mr smith do i i am sorry for that o no don t be sorry it is not a matter great enough r sorrow but who taught you to play nobody miss he said respectfully from a book l nt by my friend mr knight the man in the world but you have seen people play i have never seen the playing of a single game this the first time i ever had opportunity of playing with living opponent i have worked out many games from and studied the reasons of the different moves but at is all this was a full explanation of his but the ct that a man with a desire for should have grown p without being able to see or engage in a game astonish her not a little she pondered on the circumstance r some time looking into and the lay mr was sitting with his eyes fixed on the but apparently thinking of other things half to himself he said the move of me replied instantly s ax i a feeling bringing down his r v a pair of ue e yes making three and a knight dance over their bore by the shaking i was musing on those words as ap cable to a strange course i am but enough that i am delighted with you mr smith for it is so in this desert that i meet with a man who is man and scholar enough to continue a quotation it may be i also apply the words to myself said step quietly you the last man in the world to do that t she have thought come murmured and herself between them tell me all about it come looked into her face and said si ly and in a voice full of a sad meaning that seemed p fully premature in one so young what will be the end or what fine me me speak out i will pay f with faith joined the who had listened with a critical of the lips to this and by reason of imperfect hearing had missed the marked of s tone in the english words now said by the by mr smith i know you ll excuse my though your translation was correct close you have a way of your latin me seems most peculiar not that the dead language is of much importance yet your accents quantities have a grotesque sound to my ears i thought that you had acquired your way of breathing the from some of the northern but it cannot b with the quantities what i was going to ask was if in the could possibly have	45
been an ford or cambridge man t yes j he was an oxford man fellow of st s yes there s no doubt the thing ever i y e a x a pair of blue l yes court starting with astonishment that the pupil of such a man the best and man in england i cried that the pupil of such a man should pronounce latin in the way you pronounce it beats all i ever heard how long did he instruct you four years four years it is not so strange when i explain hastened to say it was done in this way by letter i sent him exercises and twice a week and twice a week e sent them back to me corrected with notes of instruction that is how i learnt my latin and greek such as it is he is not responsible for my he as never heard me a line a novel case and a singular instance of patience cried the on his part not on mine ah henry knight is one in a thousand i remember his speaking to me on this very subject of he says that much to his regret he sees a time coming when every man will even the common words of his own tongue as seems fight in his own eyes and be thought none the worse for it that the speaking age is passing away to make room for the writing age both and her father had waited attentively to ear go on to what would have been the most interesting part of the story namely what circumstances could have such an unusual method of education but no farther explanation was volunteered and saw by the young man s manner of upon the board that he was anxious to drop the subject the game proceeded played by hy thought it was the thing to him so much labor she considered what was she enough to do in her compassion to let him her a second game followed and being hers e u i absolutely indifferent as to the ac j the average among women and a pair of blue eyes allowed him to give again a final which she adopted the as her terminated by s victory at the twelfth move looked up suspiciously his heart was even more excitedly than was hers which its quickened when she seriously set to work on this sion mr had left the room you have been trifling with me till now claimed his face flushing you did not play your the first two games s guilt showed in her face picture of vexation and sadness which moment caused her the next instant to regret the r she had made mr smith forgive me i she said sweetly now though i did not at first that what i have done like contempt for your skill but indeed i did not r in that sense i could not upon my conscience victory in those first and second games over one who at such a disadvantage and so he drew a long breath and murmured bitterly you are than me you can do nothing i o miss he burst out his heart swelling in his throat and tears creeping i eyes i must tell you how i love you all these i of my absence i have worshipped you he leaped from his seat like the impulsive lad t was slid round to her side and almost before she it his arm was round her waist and the two sets o so entirely new was full blown love to tl trembled as much from the novelty of the emotion z the emotion itself then she suddenly withdrew herself and stood u vexed that she had submitted even momentary pressure she resolved to consider this as premature you must not begin such things as those si with of a very transparent and you must not do so ag l a is let me kiss you only a t e j v c n a pair of ue e yes timidity and without reading the of manner no not one only on your cheek no forehead certainly not you care for somebody else then ah i thought i am sure i do not nor for me either how can i tell she said simply the simplicity lying in the broad outlines of her manner and speech here were the of voice and half hidden of eyes which tell the how very fragile is the e of reserve at these times footsteps were heard mr then entered ie room and their private ended the day after this partial revelation mr a drive to mouth beach a distance of three r four miles half an hour before the time of departure a crash was in the back yard and presently worm came in partly to the world in general partly to himself and lightly to his ay ay sure i that of fish will be the end of worm they be at it again this morning same s ever your head bad again worm said mr what was that noise we heard in the yard ay sir a weak man am i and the ave been going on in my poor head all through the long and this morning as usual and i was so dazed wi it bat down fell a piece of leg wood across the shaft of the and it off ay says i i feel it as twas my own and though ive done it and is my lot if i go from here perhaps i am as as one here and there dear me the shaft of the carriage xv v d she was disappointed a pair of blue eyes the showed more warmth of temper than the accident seemed to demand much to s uneasiness rather to his surprise he	45
had not supposed so latent could co exist with mr ness and good nature you shall not be disappointed said the a length it is almost too long a distance for you to can trot down on her pony and you shall have nm old smith exclaimed triumphantly you have never me on horseback o you must she looked at and read his thoughts in his face ah you don t ride mr smith i am sorry to say i don t p a gentleman not able to ride said she the came to his rescue that s enough he has had other lessons to learn now i recommend this plan let ride on horseback and you mr smith walk beside her the arrangement was welcomed with secret delight by it seemed to combine in itself all the advantages of a long slow with without the possibility of the enjoyment being spoilt by her becoming weary the pony was and brought round now mr smith said the lady coming down stairs and appearing in her riding habit as she always did in a change of dress like a new edition of delightful volume you have a task to perform to these ear rings are my very favorite darling ones but the worst of it is that they have such short hooks that they are liable to be dropped if i toss my head about much and when i am riding i can t give my mind to them it would be doing me knight service if you keep your eyes fixed upon them and remember them every minute of the day and tell me directly i drop one they have had sue hair breadth escapes haven t they unity she continue to the parlor maid who was standing at the door yes miss that they have said unity with a of blue eyes once twas in the lane that i found one of them pursued and then twas by the gate into eighteen acres k in and then twas on the carpet in my own room merrily and then twas dangling on the of your miss and then twas down your back miss t it and o what a way you was in miss wasn t u my until you found it i took s slight foot upon his hand one vo three and up she said unfortunately not so he staggered and lifted and the edged round and was ultimately deposited the ground rather more forcibly than was pleasant looked all never mind said the try gain tis a little accomplishment that requires some although it looks so easy stand closer to the worse s head mr smith indeed i sha n t let him try again said she with a look of indignation worm come here and ist me to mount worm stepped forward and she was n the saddle in a then they moved on going for some distance in silence e hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from faces by a cool breeze which its way along leading up from the sea i suppose said that a man who can neither it in a saddle himself nor help another person into one j a useless but miss i ll learn to do it all for your sake i will indeed what is so unusual in you she said in the tone in a s address to a is that your knowledge of certain things should be combined with your ignorance of certain other things lifted his eyes earnestly to hers you know he said it is simply because there are so any other things to be learnt in this c xv xv t trouble that b o va i bought it would be useless to me do v v pair of blue eyes now i will learn riding and all connected with it then you would like me better do you like me m for this she looked sideways at him with critical rendered do i seem like la dame suddenly without replying to his question yourself saying mr smith i sat her on my pacing and nothing else saw all day long for would she bend and sing a fairy s song she found me roots of relish sweet and honey wild and dew n d and that s all she did no no said the young man though rising color and sure in language strange she said i love thee not at all she rejoined quickly see ho gallop now off and beheld her light figure to the of a bird as she sank into the distance her h ing behind he walked on in the same direction a considerable time could see no signs of her re dull as a flower without the sun he sat down upon and not for fifteen minutes was any sound of horse to be heard then and appeared on in a round trot such a delightful as we have had j her face flushed and her eyes sparkling she horse s head arose and they went on well what have you to say to me mr smith long absence do you remember a question you could not night whether i was more to you than said he i cannot exactly answer e t a pair of blue eyes why can t you because i don t know if am more to you than any one else yes indeed you are he exclaimed in a voice oi appreciation at the same time gliding round and looking into her face eyes in eyes he said and she obeyed looking back into his and why not lips on lips said no certainly not anybody might look and it would be death to me you may kiss my hand if you like he expressed by a look that to kiss a hand through a glove and that a riding glove was not a great	45
treat under he circumstances there then j i ll take my glove off isn t it a pretty hand ah you don t want to kiss it and you shall ot now if i do not may i never kiss again you severe ou know i think more of you than can tell that you are y queen i would die for you a rapid red again filled her cheeks and she looked at him what a proud moment it was for en she was ruling a heart with absolute for he first time in her life stealthily upon her hand no i won t i won t she said and you shouldn t take me by surprise there ensued a mild form of for absolute possession of the much hand in which the of boy and girl was far more prominent than the dignity of man and woman then became restless recovered her position and remembered herself you make me behave in not a nice way at all she exclaimed in a tone neither pleased nor angry but of both i ought not to have allowed such a we are too old now for that sort of thing i hope you don t think me too too much of a creeping round sort of man said he in a penitent tone conscious that he too had lost a little dignity by the you are too familiar and c i ing the of the time we have o c a pair of blue eyes smith you take too much upon you you think i am a country girl and it doesn t matter how you behave to me i assure you miss that i had no idea of in my mind i wanted to a sweet serious kiss upon your hand and that s all now that s creeping round again i and you mustn t look into my eyes so she said shaking her head at him and trotting on a few paces in advance thus she led the way out of the lane and across some fields in the direction of the cliffs at the boundary of the fields nearest the sea she expressed a wish to the horse was tied to a post and they both followed an irregular path which ultimately terminated upon a flat ledge passing round the face of the huge blue black rock at a height about between the sea and the verge there far beneath and before them lay the everlasting stretch of ocean there upon detached rocks were the white screaming seeming ever intending to settle and yet always passing on right and left the and line of storm torn heights forming the series which in the one beneath their feet behind the youth and maiden was a tempting and seat formed naturally in the solid mass and wide enough to admit two or three persons sat down and sat beside her i am afraid it is hardly proper of us to be here either she said half we have not known each other long enough for this kind of thing have we o yes he replied quite long enough how do you know it is not length of time but the manner in which our minutes beat that makes enough or not enough in yes i see that but i wish papa suspected or knew what a very new thing i am doing he does not think of it at all darling i wish we could be married it is wrong for me to say it i know it is before you know more but i wish we might be all the same do you love me deeply deeply no she said in a a pair of blue eyes at this point blank denial turned his face away and preserved an ominous silence the only objects of interest on earth for him being apparently the three or four score sea birds in the air afar off i didn t mean to stop you quite she faltered with some alarm and seeing that he still remained silent she added more anxiously if you say that again perhaps i will not be quite quite so obstinate if if you don t like me to be o my he exclaimed and kissed her it was s first kiss and so awkward and unused was she full of striving no none of those apparent struggles to get out of the trap which only result in getting farther in no final attitude of no easy close of shoulder to shoulder hand upon hand face upon face and in spite of the lips in the right place at the supreme moment that graceful though accidental falling into position which many have noticed as the end and making the sweeter was not here why because experience was absent a woman must have had many kisses before she kisses well in fact the art of the lips for these is based upon principles the same as those laid down in on for performing the trick called forcing a card the card is to be shifted withdrawn edged under and withal not to be offered till the moment the person s hand reaches the pack this forcing forward to be done so modestly and yet so that the person with he is really choosing what is in fact thrust into his hand well there were none of these now and was conscious of it first with a momentary regret that his kiss should be spoilt by her confused manner of receiving it and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm and you do care for me and love me said he yes very much yes and i mustn t ask you if you ll wa a a i my wife some day o a pair of blue eyes why not she said there is reason why	45
my not any one that i know of suppose there is something connected with me makes it almost impossible for you to agree to be my s or for your father to countenance such an idea nothing shall make me cease to love you no li can be found upon your personal nature that is pure arm i generous i know and having that how can i be cold to you and shall nothing else affect us shall nothing i my nature be a part of my quality in your eyes nothing whatever she said with a breath of is that all some outside circumstance what do i care you can hardly judge dear till you know what has to be judged for that we will stop till we get home i believe in you but i cannot feel bright love is new and fresh to us as the dew and we are together as the lovers world goes this is a great deal i fancy i see the difference between me and you between men and women generally perhaps i am content to build happiness on any accidental basis that may lie near at hand you are for making a world to suit your happiness you sometimes say things which make you seem suddenly to become five years older than you are or than i am j and that remark is one i couldn t think so old as that try how i might and no lover has ever had you or kissed you before never i knew that you were so unused you ride well but you don t kiss nicely at all and i was told once by my friend knight that is an excellent fault in woman now come i must mount again or we shall not be home by dinner time and they returned to where stood instead of my weight to a young man s palm she continued i a stock as the villagers call it in the o a gate there now i am myself a they proceeded homeward at x e e w xv a a pair of blue eyes l her won out of his and each forgot everything but the tone of the moment mr smith what did you love me for she said after a long musing look at a flying bird i don t know he replied idly o yes you do insisted perhaps for your eyes what of them now don t vex me by a light answer what of my eyes o nothing to be mentioned they are indifferently good come i won t have that what did you love me for it might have been for your mouth well what about my mouth i thought it was a mouth enough that s not very comforting with a pretty and sweet lips but actually more than what everybody has don t make up things out of your head as you go on s a dear now did you love for perhaps twas for your neck and hair though i am ot sure or for your idle blood that did nothing but wander away from your cheeks and back again but i am not or your hands and arms that they all other h and arms or your feet that they played about under t ur dress like little or your tongue that it was of hi ear delicate tone but i am not altogether sure ah that s pretty to say but i don t care for your love made a mere flat picture of me in that way and not be g sure and such cold reasoning but what i was vou know at this a stealthy laugh and look his face when you said to yourself i ll certainly j that young lady i never said it when you said to yourself then i never will love that young lady i didn t say that either then was it l suppose i must aa p of blue eyes no what then twas much more not so definite tell me do do it was that i ought not to think about you if i loved you truly ah that i don t understand there s no getting it out of you i ll not ask you ever any more never more to say out of the deep reality of your heart what you loved me for sweet what s the use it comes to this sole simple thing that at one time i had never seen you and i didn t love you that then i saw you and i did love you is that enough yes will make it do i know i think what i love you for you are nice looking of course but i didn t mean for that it is because you are so and gentle those are not quite the correct qualities for a man to be loved for said in rather a dissatisfied tone of self criticism well never mind i must ask your papa to allow us to be engaged directly we get in doors it will be for a long time i like it the better don t mention it till tomorrow why because if he should object i don t think he will but if he should we shall have a day longer of happiness our ignorance well what are you thinking of so deeply i was thinking how my dear fi knight would enjoy this scene i wish he could come here you seem very much engrossed with him she answered with a jealous little toss he must be an interesting man to take up so much of your attention interesting said his face glowing with his noble you ought to say o yes yes i forgot she said half the noblest man in england as you	45
told us last night he is a fine fellow laugh as you will miss i know be is hero but do v a pair of blue eyes he writes what does he write i have never heard of his name because his personality and that of several others like him is absorbed into a huge we namely the called the present a social and literary review is he only a only why i can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the present finer than being a considerably that s a hit at me and my poor court no he whispered i didn t mean that i mean that he is really a literary man of some eminence and not altogether a he writes things of a higher class than though he a book occasionally his ordinary productions are social and all that the present contains which is not literary i admit he must be if he writes for present we have it sent to us i want papa to be a but he s so now the next point in this mr knight i suppose he is a very good man an excellent man i shall try to be his intimate friend some day but aren t you now no not so much as that replied as if such a supposition were extravagant you see it was in this way he came originally from the same place as i and taught me things but i am not intimate with him sha n t i be glad when i get richer and better educated and and with him s eye sparkled a began to shape itself upon s lips you think always of him and like him better than you do me no indeed the feeling is different quite but i do like him and he deserves even more affection from me than i give you are not nice now and you make me as jealous as possible she exclaimed i know you will never speak to any third person of me so n wi to of him but you don t understand he ff a pair of blue eyes movement you shall know him some day he is so brilliant no it isn t exactly brilliant so thoughtful nor does thoughtful express him that it would charm you to talk to him he s a most desirable friend and that isn t half i could say i don t care how good he is i don t want to know him because he comes between me and you you think of him night and day ever so much more than of anybody else and when you are thinking of him i am shut out of your mind no dear i love you dearly and i don t like you to tell me so warmly about him when you are in the middle of loving me suppose that i and this man knight of yours were both drowning and you could only save one of us yes the stupid old proposition which would i save well which not me both of you he said pressing her hand no that won t do only one of us i cannot say i don t know it is disagreeable quite a horrid idea to have to handle a ha i know you would save him and let me drown drown drown and i don t care about your love she had endeavored to give a playful tone to her words but the latter speech was rather forced in its at this point in the discussion she trotted off to turn a corner which was avoided by the the road and the path at a point a little farther on on again making her appearance she continually managed to look in a direction away from him and left him in the cold shade of her displeasure was soon beaten at this game of indifference he went round and entered the range of her vision are you offended why can t you talk save me then and let that mr clever of yours drown i hate him now which would you really you should not press such a hard question it is absurd to ask it then i won t be alone unkind io wound me so a pair of blue eyes come let s make it up and be friends say you would save me then and let him drown i would save you and him too and let him drown come or you don t love me and let him drown he ejaculated there now i am yours i she said and a woman s flush of triumph lit her eyes only one ear ring miss as i m alive said unity on their entering the hall with a face expressive of wretched s hand flew like an arrow to her ear there she exclaimed to looking at him with eyes full of reproach i quite forgot indeed if i had only remembered he answered with a conscience stricken face she wheeled herself round and turned into the followed if you had told me to watch anything i should have done it she went on as soon as she heard him behind her forgetting is well you will find it if you want me to respect you and be engaged to you when we have asked papa she considered a moment and added more seriously i know now where i dropped it it was on the i remember a faint sensation of some change about me but i was too absent to think of it then and that s where it is now and you must go and look there i ll go at once and he strode away up the valley under a sun and amid the death like silence of	45
early afternoon hfe ascended with giddy paced haste the windy range of rocks to where they had sat felt and peered about the stones and but s stray jewel was nowhere to be seen next slowly his steps and pausing at a cross road to reflect awhile he left the and struck downwards across some fields in the direction of house he walked along the l v b river without the slightest hesitation as o i apparently quite familiar with every oi o a pair of blue eyes as the shadows began to and the sunlight to mellow he passed through two gates and drew near the outskirts of park the river now ran along under the park wall previous to entering the grove itself a little farther on here stood a cottage between the wall and the stream on a slightly elevated spot of ground round which the river took a turn the characteristic feature of this snug habitation was its one chimney in the end its of form disguised by a huge cloak of ivy which had grown so and extended so far from its base as to increase the apparent bulk of the chimney to the dimensions of a tower some little distance from the back of the house rose the park boundary and over this were to be seen the of the grove making slow inclinations to the just awakening air crossed the little wood bridge in front went up to the cottage door and opened it without knock or signal of any kind exclamations of welcome burst from some person or persons when the door was thrust followed by the scrape of chairs on a stone floor as if pushed back by their in rising from a table the door was closed again and nothing could now be heard from within save a lively chatter and the rattle of plates chapter viii a is no baron or lord the mists were creeping out of pools and for their of the night when came up to the front door of the was standing on the step illuminated by a expanse of western sky you never have been all this time looking for that ear ring i she said anxiously o no and i have not found it never mind though i am much vexed they are my prettiest but what ever have you been doing where have you been i have been so uneasy i feared for you knowing not an inch of the country i thought suppose he has fallen over the cliff but now i am inclined to you for me so i must speak to your papa now he said rather abruptly i have so much to say to him and to you will what you have to say this nice time of ours and is it that same shadowy secret you allude to so frequently and will it make me unhappy possibly she breathed heavily and looked around as if for a put it off till to morrow she said he involuntarily sighed too no it must come to night where is your father somewhere in the kitchen plied that is his favorite x w v s say all that s to be said do a pair of blue eyes done think of me waiting anxiously for the end and she re entered the house she waited in the drawing room watching the h sink to shadows the shadows sink to darkness until her impatience to know what had in the garden could no longer be controlled she passed round the the garden door and with her keen eyes the whole space that the four walls enclosed and sheltered they were not there she mounted a little ladder which had been used for gathering fruit and looked over the wall into the field this field extended to the limits of the which was enclosed on that side by a hedge under the hedge was mr walking up and down and talking aloud to himself as it sounded at first no another voice shouted occasional replies and this seemed to be on the other side of the hedge the voice though soft in quality was not s the speaker must l ave been in the long neglected garden of an old house hard by which together with a small estate attached had lately been purchased by a person named whom had never seen her father might have struck up n with some member of that family through the hedge or a stranger to the neighborhood might have wandered thither well there was no necessity for disturbing him and it seemed that after all had not yet made his desired communication to her father again she went in doors wondering where could be for want of something better to do she went up stairs to her own little room here she sat down at the open window and leaning with her elbow on the table and her cheek upon her hand she fell into meditation it was a hot and still august night every disturbance of the silence which rose to the dignity of a noise could be heard for miles and the merest sound for a long distance so she remained thinking of and wishing he had not deprived her of his company to no purpose as it appeared how delicate and sensitive he was she reflected and yet be was man enough to n n considerably elevated m x e j v a pa in o j blue eyes ing at things with an inward vision she lost consciousness of the flight of time strange of circumstances particularly those of a trivial every day kind are so frequent in an ordinary life that we grow used to their and forget the question whether the very long odds against such is not almost a of it being a matter of chance at all occurred to at this moment was	45
a case in point she was vividly imagining for the twentieth time the kiss of the morning and putting her lips together in the position another such a one would demand when she heard the identical operation completely performed on the lawn immediately beneath her window a kiss not of the quiet and stealthy kind but decisive loud and smart her face flushed and she looked out but to no purpose the dark rim of the drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky unbroken except where a young on the lawn that had its fellow trees shot its pointed head across the horizon piercing the lustre like a sting it was just possible that had any persons been standing on the grassy portions of the lawn might have seen their dusky forms but the shrubs which once had merely dotted the had now grown and large till they hid at least half the containing them the kissing pair might have been behind some of these at any rate nobody was in sight had no ever been connected with her lover by his hints and would never have thought of admitting into her mind a suspicion that he might be concerned in the foregoing but the he at present insisted on while they added to the mystery without which perhaps she would never have seriously loved him at all were calculated to doubts of all kinds and with a slow flush of jealousy she asked herself might he not be the glided down stairs on tip toe and out to the precise spot on which she had parted from to enable him to speak privately to her t q into all the around the ice v a pair of blue e yes sound seemed to proceed among the huge about the of amid the lies under the weeping elm nobody was there returning in doors she called unity she has gone to her aunt s to spend the evening mr thrusting his head out of his study door and letting the light of his candles stream upon s face less revealing than as it seemed to creating the blush of uneasy perplexity that was burning upon her cheek i didn t know you were in doors papa she said with surprise surely no light was shining from the window when i was on the lawn and she looked and saw that the shutters were still open o yes i am in he said indifferently what did you want unity for i think she laid supper before she went out did she i have not been to see i didn t want her for that scarcely knew now that a reason was required what that reason was her mind for a moment strayed to another subject unimportant as it seemed the red of a match was lying inside the which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted i ll come directly said the i thought you were out somewhere with mr smith even the inexperienced could not help thinking that her father must be wonderfully blind if he failed to perceive what was the consequence of herself and being so left together wonderfully careless if he saw it and did not think about it wonderfully good if as seemed to her by far the most probable supposition he saw it and thought about it and approved of it these reflections were cut short by the appearance of just outside the porch about the head and shoulders with touches of moonlight that had begun to creep through the trees has your trouble anything to do with a kiss on the she asked abruptly almost passionately kiss on the lawn a pair of blue eyes i yes she said now i didn t comprehend your meaning nor do i now exactly i certainly have kissed nobody on the lawn if that is really what you want to know you know nothing about such a performance nothing whatever what makes you ask don t press me to tell it is nothing of importance and you have not yet spoken to papa about our engagement no he said i could not find him directly and then i went on thinking so much of what you said about objections words possibly ending our happiness that i resolved to put it off till to morrow that gives us one more day of delight delight of a tremulous kind yes but it would be improper to be silent too long i think she said in a delicate voice which implied that her face had grown warm i want him to know we love why did you adopt as your own my thought of delay i will explain but i want to tell you of my secret first to tell you now it is two or three hours yet to let us walk up the hill to the church assented and they went from the lawn by a side and ascended into the open expanse of moonlight which streamed around the lonely edifice on the summit of the hill the door was locked they turned from the porch and walked hand in hand to find a resting place in the churchyard chose a flat tomb showing itself to be and than those around it and sitting down himself gently drew her hand towards him no not there she said why not here a mere fancy but never mind and she sat down will you love me in spite of everything that may be said against me o what makes you repeat that so continually and so sadly you know i will yes indeed she said drawing closer whatever may be said oi om a pair of blue eyes ing bad can be i will cling to you just the	45
same your ways shall be my ways until i die did you ever think what my parents might be or what society i originally moved in no not particularly i have observed one or two little points in your manners which are rather no more i suppose you have moved in the ordinary society of professional people supposing i have not that none of my family have a profession except me i don t mind what you are only concerns me where do you think i went to school i mean to what kind of school doctor somebody s academy she said simply no to a dame school originally then to a national school only to those well i love you just as much dear she murmured tenderly i do indeed and why should you tell me these things so what do they matter to me he held her closer and proceeded what do you think my father is does for his living that is to say he some profession or calling i suppose no j he is a a no a and said nothing at first after a while she whispered that is a strange idea to me but never mind j what does it matter but aren t you angry with me for not telling you before no not at all is your mother alive yes is she a nice lady very the best mother in the world she was a o came from her in whispered exclamation continued to attend to a long after my ther married her pursued er ov i c a pair of blue eyes and i remember very well how when i was very young i used to go to the look on at the sleep through the and make believe helped her ah that was a happy time enough no never not happy yes it was i don t see how happiness could be where the of work had to be done for a living the hands red and and the shoes i do own that it seems odd to regard you in the light of of having been so rough in your youth and done things of that kind withdrew an inch or two from her side but i do love you just the same she continued getting close under his shoulder again and i don t care anything about the past and i see that you are all the for having pushed on in the world in such a way it is not my j it is knight s who pushed me ah always him always him yes and properly so now you see the reason of his teaching me by letter i knew him years before he went to oxford but i had not got far enough in my reading for him to entertain the helping me in till he left home then i was sent away from the village and we very seldom met but he kept up this system of by correspondence with the greatest regularity i will tell you all the story but not now there is nothing more to say now beyond giving places persons and dates his voice became timidly slow at this point no don t trouble to say more you are a dear honest fellow to say so much as you have and it is not so dreadful either we hear of lots of london who went up to london with their tools at their back and half a crown in their pockets that sort of origin is getting so respected she continued cheerfully that it is acquiring some of the of ah if i had made my fortune i shouldn t mind but i am only a possible maker of it as yet it is quite enough and so this is w va v a pair of blue eyes i thought i was doing wrong in letting you love me without telling my story and yet i feared to do so i dreaded to lose you and i was cowardly on that account how plain everything about you seems after this explanation your peculiarities in playing the papa noticed in your latin your odd mixture of book knowledge with ignorance of ordinary social accomplishments are accounted for in a moment and has this anything to do with what i saw at lord s what did you see i saw the shadow of yourself putting a cloak round a lady i was at the side door you two were in a room with the window towards me you came to me a moment later she was my mother your mother there i have been imagining her and your father living far away said i was going to tell you the remainder to morrow i have been keeping it back i must tell it now after all the remainder of my revelation to where my parents are where do you think they live you know them by sight at any rate know them she cried in unbounded amazement yes my father is john smith lord s master who lives under the park wall by the river o can it be he built or assisted at the building of the house you live in years ago he put up those stone gate at the lodge entrance to lord s park my grandfather planted the trees that belt in your lawn my grandmother who worked in the fields with him held each tree upright while he filled in the earth they told me so when i was a child he was the too and dug many of the graves around us and was your unaccountable vanishing on the first morning of your arrival and again this afternoon a run to see your father and mother i understand now no wonder you seemed to know the way about the village	45
no wonder but remember i have not lived here since i was nine years old t o e with my uncle near xv i o i si a fair of ue e yes tend a national school as a day scholar there was none in this remote part then it was there i met with my friend knight and when i was fifteen and had been fairly educated by the and more particularly by knight i was put as a pupil in an s office in that city because i was skilful in the use of the pencil this was done partly by the efforts of knight and partly through the interest of lord who likes my father and thinks a great deal of him there i staid till six months ago when i obtained a situation as as it is called in a london office that s all of me to think you the london visitor the town man should have been born here and have known this village so many years before i did how strange how very strange it seems to me my mother to you and your father last sunday said with a pained smile at the thought of the and your papa said to her i am glad to see you so regular at church i remember it but i have never spoken to her we have only been here eighteen months and the parish is so large contrast with this said with a miserable laugh your father s belief in my blue blood which is still in his mind the first night i came he insisted upon proving my descent from one of the most ancient west county families on account of my second christian name when the truth is it was given me because my grandfather was assistant gardener in the smith family for thirty years having seen your face my darling i had not heart to contradict him and tell what would have cut me off from a friendly knowledge of you she sighed deeply yes i see now how this may be made a trouble to us she murmured and continued in a low sad whisper i wouldn t have minded if they had lived far away papa might have consented to an engagement between us if your connection had been with villagers a hundred miles off family but i i what can i do v a pair of blue eyes do he said yet with sadness give me up let me go back to london and think no more of me no no i cannot give you up this in our affairs makes me care more for you i see what did not strike me at first why do we trouble why should papa object an in london is an in london who there nobody we shall live there shall we not why need we be so alarmed and said his hopes with hers knight thinks nothing of my being only a s son he says i am as worthy of his friendship as if i were a lord s and if i am worthy of his friendship i am worthy of you am i not i not only have never loved anybody but you she said instead of giving an answer but i have not even formed a strong friendship such as you have for t i wish you hadn t now you know better he said and did you really never have any sweetheart at all none that was ever recognized by me as such but did nobody ever love you yes a man did once very much he said how long ago o a long time how long dearest a that s not very long i said long not very long and did he want to marry you i believe he did but i didn t see anything in him he was not good enough even if i had loved him may i ask what he was a farmer a farmer not good enough how much better than my family murmured where is he now he continued to here i what do you mean by t va i mean that he is here a pair of blue eyes where here under us he is under this tomb he is dead and we are sitting on his grave said the young man standing up and moving away how solemn and sad that revelation seems i it quite me for the moment i didn t wish to sit here but you would do so you never encouraged him never by look word or sigh she said solemnly he died of and was buried the day you first came let us go away i don t like standing by even if you never loved him he was before me love makes you unreasonable she murmured following at the distance of a few steps perhaps i ought to have told you before we sat down yes let chapter ix her father did oppressed in spite of themselves by a foresight of impending and returned down the hill hand in hand at the door they paused wistfully like children late at school women accept their destiny more readily than men had now resigned herself to the overwhelming idea of her lover s sorry had not forgotten the trifling grievance that had known earlier admiration than his own what was that young man s name he inquired a widow s only son i remember the family she hates me now she says i killed him mused and they entered the porch i only love you she whispered he pressed her fingers and the trifling shadow passed away to admit again the mutual and more trouble the study appeared to be the only room lighted up they entered each with a intended to conceal the fact that love was the dominant perceived a man sitting with his	45
back towards herself talking to her father she would have retired but mr had seen her come in he said it is only martin come for a copy of the register for poor mrs martin the was rather a favorite with he used to her attention by telling her of strange e in digging up after long years the i of persons he had known and me little sign though in e ad t x co t a pair of ue e ye ny he had shrewd small eyes and a great wealth of chin which in some measure for poverty of nose the appearance of a slip of paper in s hand nd some shillings lying on the table in front of him that the business had been and the of their conversation went to show that a summary si village news was now engaging the attention of and parson mr stood up and touched his forehead over lis eye with his finger in respectful salutation of ave half as much salute to whom he in common other villagers had never for a moment recognized hen sat down again and resumed his discourse where had i got on to sir to driving the pile said mr the pile twas so as was saying was driving he pile in this manner as i might say here mr held his walking stick with his hand and struck a blow with great force on the f the stick with his right john was the pile o as i might say here he gave the stick a slight shake nd looked firmly in the various eyes around to see that proceeding further his listeners well grasped the at that stage well when had struck some dozen blows more upon the pile a stopped for a or two john thinking he had done striking put lis hand upon the top o the pile to en a pull and see f a were firm in the ground mr spread his land over the top of the stick completely covering it with lis palm well so to speak hadn t to stop and when john had put his hand upon the pile o dreadful said the was already coming down you see sir fat just caught sight of his hand but couldn t stop the low in time down came the upon poor john s hand and en to a dear me dear me poor fellow i said the i n like the groans of the m v xv ite performance of the battle of o a pair of blue eyes john smith the master cried hurriedly ay no other and a better hearted man god a mighty never made is he so much hurt i have heard said mr not noticing that he has a son in london a very promising young fellow who has been helped forward a little by lord is he really so much hurt repeated a couldn t t very little well sir t ye and ye sir and you miss i m sure mr had been motions of and by the time this farewell remark came from his lips he was just outside the door of the room he along the hall staid more than a minute to close the door properly arid then was lost to their hearing had meanwhile turned and said to the please excuse me this evening i must leave john smith is my father the did not comprehend at first what did you say he inquired john smith is my father said deliberately a tinge of rose from mr neck and came round over his face the lines of his features became more firmly defined and his lips seemed to get thinner it was evident that a series of little circumstances hitherto were now fitting themselves tc ther and forming a picture in mr s mind in such a manner as to render useless farther explanation on s part indeed the said in a voice dry and without this being a word which depends entirely upon its tone for its meaning mr s was equivalent to no expression at all i have to go now said with an agitated bearing and a movement as if he scarcely knew whether he oi stay longer t r wai j ou kindly grant me a few minutes n x wi tv a pair of blue eyes l certainly though it does not seem possible that there can be anything of the nature of private business between us mr put on his straw hat crossed the drawing room into which the moonlight was shining and stepped out of the french into the it required no farther effort to perceive what indeed reasoning might have foretold as the natural color of a mind whose pleasures were taken amid good dinners and reminiscences that mr s prejudices were too strong for his generosity and that s moments as friend and equal were numbered or had even now ceased moved forward as if he would follow the then as if he would not and in absolute perplexity whither to turn himself went awkwardly to the door followed behind him before he had two yards from the unity and ann the came home from their visit to the village have you heard anything about john smith the accident is not so bad as was reported is it said o no the doctor say it is only a bad i thought so cried gladly he say that although believe he did not check the as it came down he must have done so without knowing it checked it very considerable too for the full blow would have knocked his hand abroad and in reality it is only made black and blue like how thankful i am said the perplexed unity looked at him with her mouth rather than with her eyes that will do unity said and the two	45
maids passed on do you forgive me said with a faint smile no man is fair in love and he took her fingers lightly in his own with her head thrown sideways in the attitude she looked a tender reproach at his doubt and pressed his hand returned the pressure v ly went off to bis father s cottage by the ol e xi e park a pair of blue eyes what have you to say to this inquired her father coming up immediately had retired with feminine quickness she grasped at any straw that would enable her to plead his cause he had told me of it she faltered so that it is not a discovery in spite of him he was just coming in to tell you coming to tell why hadn t he already told i object as much if not more to his concealment of this than i do to the fact itself it looks very much like his making a fool of me and of you too you and he have been about together and corresponding together in a way i don t at all approve of in a most way you should have known how improper such conduct is a woman can t be too careful not to be seen alone with i don t know who you saw us papa and have never said a word my fault of course my fault what the deuce could i be thinking of he a s son and we we have been coming to nothing for centuries and now i believe we have got there what shall i next invite here i wonder i began to cry at this very aspect of affairs o papa papa forgive me and him we care so much for one another papa o so much and what he was going to ask you is if you will allow of an engagement between us till he is a gentleman as good as you we are not in a hurry dear papa we don t want in the least to marry now not until he is richer only will you let us be engaged because i love him so and he loves me mr s feelings were a little touched by this appeal and he was annoyed that such should be the case certainly not he replied he pronounced the and so that the not sounded like n o o o t no no no don t say it a fine story it is not enough that i have been and disgraced by having him here the son of one of my village but now i am to make him my son in law heavens above us are you mad you have seen his letters come me his visit papa and you knew v ol aw a pair of blue eyes j and since he has been here you have let him be alone with me almost entirely and you guessed you must have guessed what we were thinking of and doing and you didn t stop him next to love making comes love winning and you knew it would come to that papa the this common sense thrust i know since you press me i know i did guess some childish attachment might arise between you i own i did not take much trouble to prevent it but i have not particularly it and how can you expect that i should now it is impossible no father in england would hear of such a thing but he is the same man papa the same in every particular and how can he be less fit for me than he was before he appeared a young man with well to do friends and a little property but having neither he is another man you inquired nothing about him i went by s introduction he should have told me so should the young man himself of course he should i consider it a most thing to come into a man s house like a treacherous i don t know what but he was afraid to tell you and so should i have been he loved me too well to like to run the risk and as to speaking of his friends on his first visit i don t see why he should have done so at all he came here on business it was no affair of ours who his parents were and then he knew that if he told you he would never be asked here and would perhaps never see me again and he wanted to see me who can blame him for trying by any means to stay near me the girl he loves all is fair in love i have heard you say so yourself papa and you yourself would have done just as he has so would any man and any man on discovering what i have discovered would also do as i do and mend my mistake that is get shot of him again as soon as the laws of hospitality will allow but mr then remembered he was a christian i would not for the world seem to turn him out of doors he added but i think he v tact to see that he cannot stay after s o k taste a fair of ue e yes he will because he s a gentleman see how graceful his manners are went on though perhaps s manners like the of owed their in her eyes rather to the of his person than to their own excellence ay j anybody can be what you call graceful if he lives a little time in a city and keeps his eyes open and he might have picked up his by going to the galleries of theatres and watching stage drawing room manners he reminds me of one of the worst stories i	45
ever heard in my life what story was that o no no i i wouldn t tell you such an improper matter for the world if his father and mother had lived in the north or east of england gallantly persisted though her sobs began to interrupt her anywhere but here you would have only regarded him and not them his station would have been what his profession makes it and not fixed by his father s humble position at all whom he never lives with now and it is clever and honorable of him to be the best of his family yes let a beast be lord of beasts and his shall stand at the king s mess you insult me papa she burst out you do you do he is my own he is i that may or may not be true returned her father again agitated in spite of himself you future with present i what the young man may be with what he is we must look at what he is not what an improbable degree of success in his profession may make him the case is this the son of a working man in my parish a youth who has not yet advanced so far into life as to have any income of his own deserving the name and therefore of his father s degree as regards station wants to be engaged to you his family are living in precisely the same spot in england as yours so throughout this county which is the world to us you would always be known as the wife of jack smith the s and not under e tc m a the fe of a london professional n ix ca a pair of blue eyes not the fact that is talked of always there say no more you may argue all night and prove what you will i ll stick to my words looked silently and hopelessly out of the window with large heavy eyes and wet cheeks i call it great and long to call it audacity in resumed her father never heard such a thing giving such a native of this place such an introduction to me as he did naturally you were deceived as well as i was i don t blame you at all so far he went and searched for mr s original letter here s what he said to me rev sir agreeably to your request of the i th instant i have arranged to survey and make drawings et my assistant mr smith assistant you see he called him and naturally i understood it to mean a sort of partner why didn t he say clerk they never call them clerks in that profession because they do not write mr smith told me so so that mr simply used the accepted word let me speak please my assistant mr smith will leave london by the early train tomorrow morning many thanks for your proposal to him you may put every confidence in him and may rely upon his in the matter of church architecture well i repeat that ought to be ashamed of himself for making so much of a poor lad of that sort professional men in london murmured don t know anything about their clerks fathers and mothers they have who come to their offices and shops for years and hardly even know where they live what they can do what profits they can bring the firm that s all london men care about and that is helped in him by his faculty of being uniformly pleasant uniform is rather a defect than a faculty it shows that a man hasn t sense enough to know whom to despise it shows that he acts by faith and not b those you claim succession from directed that s some more of what he s been a pair of blue eyes suppose yes i was inclined to suspect him because he didn t care about of any kind i always did doubt a man s being a gentleman if his had no acquired tastes an is the irrepressible foot of the the idea of my bringing out a bottle of my only eleven of them left now to a man who didn t know it from eighteen penny then the latin line he gave to end my quotation it was very cut very or i who haven t looked into a classical author for the last eighteen years shouldn t have remembered it well you had better go to your room you ll get over this bit of in time no no no papa she moaned for of all the miseries to miserable love the worst is the misery of thinking that the passion which is the cause of them all may cease said her father with rough friendliness i have an excellent scheme on hand which i cannot teu you of now a scheme to benefit you and me it has been thrust upon me for some little time yes thrust upon me but i didn t dream of its value till this afternoon when the revelation came i should be most unwise to refuse to entertain it i don t like that word she returned wearily you have lost so much already by schemes is it those wretched mines again no not a scheme nor it is like those mysterious offers we see advertised by which any gentleman with no brains at all may make so much a week without risk trouble or his fingers however i am intending to say nothing till it is settled though i will just say thus much that you soon may have other fish to than to think of smith remember i have	45
i d em and go to better families who do want you ah yes but could never put up with the of being welcomed among such people as you mean while i could get indifference among such people as t what crazy twist o thinking wool come to l s bis mother and come to that she s not a a xx oo v a pair of blue eyes for you or you too low for her see how careful i be to keep myself up i m sure i never stop for more than a minute together to talk to any s people and i never invite anybody to our party o who in business for themselves and i talk to several carriage people that come to my lord s without saying or sir to em and they take it as quiet as you to the mother and i wish you hadn t but it was before he called me by my christian name or he would have got very little from me said mrs smith and sparkling with vexation you go on at me as if i were your worst enemy what else could i do wi the man to get rid of him it into me and your father by side and by about what happened when he was a young fellow at college and i don t know what all the tongue o en round his mouth like a rag round a that a did didn the john that s about the size o t replied her husband every woman now a days resumed mrs smith if she marry at all must expect a father in law of a rank lower than her father the men have gone up so and the women have stood still every man you meet is more the than his father and you are just level wi her that s what she thinks herself it only shows her sense i knew she was after ye after me good gracious what next and i really must say again that you ought not to be in such a hurry and wai for a few years you might go higher still then the fact is mother said impatiently you don t know anything about it i shall never go higher because i don t want to nor should i if i lived to be a hundred as to you saying that she s after me i don t like such a remark about her for it a woman and a man worth for both of which are not only but oi iv s case isn t it so father a pair of blue eyes i i m i don t understand the matter well enough to my opinion said his father in the tone of the fox who had a cold and could not smell she couldn t have been very backward anyhow considering the short time you have known her said his mother well i think that five years hence be plenty young enough to think of such things and really she can very well afford to wait and will too take my word living down in an out step place like this i am sure she ought to be very thankful that you took notice of her she d most likely have died an old maid if you hadn t turned lip all nonsense said but not aloud a nice little thing she is mrs smith went on in a more tone now that had been talked down there s not a word to say against her i ll own i see her sometimes out like a horse going to fair i admire her for t a perfect little lady but people can t help their thoughts and if she d learnt to make figures instead of letters when she was at school have been better for her pocket for as i said there never were worse times for such as she than now now now mother said with smiling but t will said his mother with i don t read the papers for nothing and i know men all move up a stage by marriage men of her class that is marry daughters marry lords daughters lords marry daughters marry queens daughters all stages of gentlemen mate a stage higher and the lowest stage of are left single or marry out of their class but you said just now dear mamma retorted unable to resist the temptation of showing his mother her then he paused well what did i say and mrs smith prepared her for a new campaign that he had begun since a vol might be the consequence was obliged to o you said i wasn t out of her class a r yes there there i that s you j xv a pair of blue eyes and blood til warrant that you ll pick holes in everything your mother says if you can you are just like your father for that take anybody s part but mine while i am speaking and talking and trying and away for your good you are waiting to catch me out in that way so you are in her class but tis what her people would call marrying out of her class don t be so preserved a discreet silence in which he was by his father and for several minutes nothing was heard but the of the green faced case clock against the wall i m sure added mrs smith in a more philosophic tone and as a speech if there d been so much trouble to get a husband in my time as there is in these days when you must make a god a mighty of a man to get en to ye i d have eat dirt wi a before i d ever have lowered my dignity to marry or there s no	45
bread in nine the discussion now dropped and as it was getting late bade his parents farewell for the evening his mother none the less warmly for their for although mrs smith and were always they were never at enmity and possibly said i may leave here altogether to morrow i don t know so that if i shouldn t call again before returning to london don t be alarmed will you but didn t you come for a fortnight said his mother and haven t you a month s holiday altogether they are going to turn you out then not at all i may stay longer i may go if i go you had better say nothing about my having been here for her sake at what time of the morning does the pass lane seven o clock and then he left them his thoughts were that should the permit him to become engaged to hope for an engagement or in any way to think of his beloved he might stay longer s d i to th of any such thing he o o a fair of ue e yes the latter even to young seemed the more probable alternative walked back to the through the meadows as he had come surrounded by the soft musical of the water through little the modest light of the moon the smell of the around it was a time when mere seeing is meditation and meditation peace was hardly philosopher enough to avail himself of nature s offer his constitution was made up of very simple particulars one which rare in the spring time pf seems to grow abundant as a nation gets older individuality and education that is his brain had extraordinary powers and not an of quickly acquiring any kind of knowledge he saw around him and having a more common in woman than in man he changed color like a as the society he found himself in assumed a higher and more artificial tone he had not an original idea and yet there was scarcely an idea to which under proper training he could not have a respectable he saw nothing outside himself to night and what he saw within was a weariness to his flesh yet to a observer his to though rather premature were far from absurd as marriages go unless the accidental of poor but honest parents could be said to make them so the clock struck eleven when he entered the house had been waiting with scarcely a movement since he had left before he had spoken to her she caught sight of him passing into the study with her father she saw that he had by some means obtained the private interview he desired a nervous headache had been growing on the girl during the absence of and now she could do nothing beyond going up again to her room as she had done before instead of lying down she sat again in the darkness without closing the door and listened with a beating heart to every sound from down stairs the s had gone to bed she u men come from the study and cross to v i a pair of blue eyes where supper had been lingering for more than an hour the door was left open and she found that the meal such as it was passed off between her father and her lover without any remark save as to and their and culture uttered in a stiff and formal way it seemed to failure shortly afterwards came up stairs to his bedroom and was almost immediately followed by her ther who also retired for the night not inclined to get a light she partly and sat on the bed where she remained in pained thought for some time possibly an hour then rising to close her door previous to fully she saw a streak of light shining across the landing her father s door was closed and he could be heard regularly the light came from s room and the slight sounds also coming thence emphatically what he was doing in the perfect silence she could hear the closing of a lid and the of a lock he was his hat box then the of and the click of another key that was from his with she opened her door softly and went towards his one sensation pervaded her to distraction her handsome youth and darling was going away and she might never see him again except in secret and in sadness perhaps never more at any rate she could no longer wait till the morning to hear the of the interview as she had intended she flung her around her tapped lightly at his door and whispered he came instantly opened the door and stepped out tell me are we to hope he replied in a broken whisper and a tear approached its outlet though none fell am not to think of such a preposterous thing that s what he said and i am going to morrow i should have called you up to bid you good bye but he didn t say you were to go o he didn t say that no not in words but i cannot stay o don t don t go i do come let i a pair of blue eyes us come down to the drawing room for a few minutes he will hear us here she preceded him down the staircase with the light in her hand looking tall and thin in the long dove colored dressing gown she wore she did not stop to think of the propriety or otherwise of this midnight interview under such circumstances she thought that the tragedy of her life was beginning and for the first time almost felt that her existence might have a grave side the shade of which enveloped and rendered invisible the delicate of custom and	45
boyish face a fancy rooted in by seclusion into a wild for anything all the elements of such a ao si a pair of blue eyes there the chief one being a necessary always to perfect the mixture of feelings united under the name of loving to distraction we would tell papa soon would we not she inquired timidly nobody else need know he would then be convinced that hearts cannot be played with love encouraged be ready to grow love discouraged be ready to die at a moment s notice do you not think that if marriages against a parent s consent are ever they are when young people have been favored up to a point as we have and then have had that favor suddenly withdrawn yes it is not as if we had from the beginning acted in opposition to your papa s wishes only think how pleasant he was towards me but six hours ago he liked me praised me never objected to my being alone with you i believe he must like you now she cried and if he found that you belonged to me he would own it and help you o she burst out again as the remembrance of his packing came afresh to her mind i cannot bear you going away like this i it is too dreadful all i have been expecting miserably killed within me like this flushed hot with impulse i will not be a doubt to you thought of you shall not be a misery to me i he said we will be wife and husband before we part for long she hid her face on his shoulder anything to make sure i she whispered i did not like to propose it immediately continued it seemed to me it seems to me now like trying to catch you a girl better in the world than i not that indeed and am i better in worldly station what s the use of have we may have been something once we are nothing now then they whispered long and earnestly together hesitatingly proposing this and that plan them with quick and flush and bright eyes it was two o clock before an arrangement was finally concluded she then told him to leave v a fair of blue eyes up to his own room they parted with an agreement t to meet again in the morning after his door had been me time closed he heard her softly gliding into her i s chapter xi journeys end in lovers meeting lay watching the great bear lay regarding a monotonous of neither slept that night early the next morning that is to say four hours after their stolen interview and just as the earliest servant was heard moving about smith went down stairs in hand throughout the night he had intended to see mr again but the sharp of the previous evening rendered such an interview particularly distasteful perhaps there was another and less honest reason he decided to put it off whatever of moral timidity or may have lain in such a decision no perception of it was strong enough to detain him he wrote a note in his room which stated simply that he did not feel happy in the house after mr s sudden on what he had favored a few hours before but that he hoped a time would come and that soon when his original feelings of pleasure as mr s guest might be recovered he expected to find the down stairs rooms wearing the grey and cheerless aspect that early morning gives to everything out of the sun he found in the dining room a breakfast laid of which somebody had just gave the maid servant his note of adieu she stated that mr rose early that morning and made an early breakfast he was not going away that she knew of partook of a remnant cup of coffee left the house of his love and turned into the lane it was so early that the shaded places still smelt like night time and the sunny spots had hardly felt v made every shallow dip in o a pair of blue eyes well marked hollow even the channel of the path was enough to throw shade and the very stones of the road cast of darkness westward as long as s tent nail at a spot not more than a hundred yards from the s residence the lane leading thence crossed the reached the point of stood still and listened nothing could be heard save the murmuring line of the sea upon the adjacent shore he looked at his watch and then mounted a gate upon which he seated himself to await the arrival of the while he sat he heard wheels coming in two directions the vehicle approaching on his right he soon recognized as the s there were the accompanying sounds of the owner s voice and the of his whip distinct in the still morning air by which he encouraged his horses up the hill the other set of wheels sounded from the lane had just traversed on closer observation he perceived that they were moving from the of the ancient house adjoining the grounds a carriage then left the entrance gates of the house and round came fully in sight it was a plain travelling carriage with a small quantity of luggage apparently a lady s the vehicle came to the of the four ways half a minute before the reached the same spot and crossed directly in his front proceeding by the lane on the other side inside the carriage could just discern an elderly lady with a younger woman who seemed to be her maid the road they had taken led to a small watering place eighteen miles north he heard the house gates swing again and looking up saw	45
they wish to take up the carpets or some such thing i think as i said i don t like you to be seen in a town on horseback alone but go if you will thursday week her father had named the very day that also had named that morning as the earliest on which it would be of any use to meet her that was about fifteen days from the day on which he had left fifteen days that fragment of duration which has acquired such an interesting individuality from its connection with the english marriage law she involuntarily looked at her father so strangely that on becoming conscious of the look she with embarrassment her father too looked confused what was he thinking of there seemed to be a special facility offered her by a power external to herself in the x that mr had proposed to leave tv t a pair of blue eyes to her wished for day her father seldom took long journeys seldom slept from home except perhaps on the night following a remote well she would not inquire too curiously into the reason of the opportunity nor did he as would have been natural proceed to explain it of his own accord in matters of fact there had hitherto been no reserve between them though they were not usually confidential in its full sense but the of their emotions on s account had produced an which just at present went even to the extent of on the most ordinary household topics was almost unconsciously relieved persuading herself that her father s reserve on his business justified her in secrecy as regarded her own a secrecy which was necessarily a decision with her so anxious is a young conscience to discover a that the ex post nature of reason is of no account in it the intervening fortnight was spent by her mostly in walking by herself among the shrubs and trees indulging sometimes in sanguine more far more frequently in all her flowers seemed dull of hue her seemed to look wistfully into her eyes as if they no longer stood in the same friendly relation to her as formerly she wore melancholy gazed at and talked to old men and women it was the first time that she had had an inner and private world apart from the visible one about her she wished her papa instead of her even more than usual would make some advance just one word she would then tell all and risk s displeasure thus brought round to the youth again she saw him in her fancy standing touching her his eyes full of sad affection hopelessly his attempt because she had hers and she could not on the wednesday she was to receive another letter she had resolved to let her father see the arrival of this one be the consequences what they might the dread of losing her lover by this deed of honesty prevented her acting upon the resolve five minutes before the o expected arrival slipped out do xv v meet him she met him is i p r of blue eyes angle which hid her from view in the direction of the the man handed one and was going on to hand another a circular from some no she said take that on to the house why miss you are doing what your father has done for the last fortnight she did not comprehend why come to this corner and take a letter of me every morning all writ in the same handwriting and letting any others for him go on to the house and on the went no sooner had he turned the corner behind her back than she heard her father meet and address the man she had saved her letter by two minutes her father audibly went through precisely the same performance as she had just been guilty of herself this stealthy conduct of his was to say the least peculiar given an impulsive girl neglected as to her inner life by her only parent and the following forces alive within her to determine a first love acted upon by a deadly fear of separation from its object guiding onward a frantic wish to prevent the above named issue as to propriety met by hope of ultimate indignation at parental in first encouraging then forbidding a sense of overpowered by a conscientious inability to brook a breaking of faith with a man who in had remained from the beginning a blessed hope that opposition would turn an judgment a bright faith that things would mend thereby and wind up well probably the result would after all have been had the few remarks been m at break l a fair of blue eyes i her father was in his old hearty spirits he smiled to himself at stories too bad to tell and called a little for preserving some blind that ought to have been drowned after this expression she said to him suddenly if mr smith i ad been already in the family you would not have been made wretched by discovering he had poor relations do you mean in the family by marriage he replied and continuing to his egg the scarlet told that was her meaning as much as the affirmative reply i should have put up with it no doubt mr observed so that you would not have been driven into hopeless melancholy but have made the best of him s mind had from her youth upwards been constantly in the habit of her father by questions based on absurd conditions the seemed to be cast so precisely in the mould of previous ones that not being given to of circumstance he answered it with customary complacency if he were allied to us of course i or any sensible man should accept conditions that could not be altered j certainly not be	45
hopelessly melancholy about it don t believe anything in the world would make me hopelessly melancholy and don t let anything make you so either i won t papa she cried with a serene brightness that pleased him certainly mr must have been far from thinking that the brightness came from an intention to hold back no longer from the mad action she had planned in the evening he drove away towards quite alone it was an unusual course for him at the door had been again almost impelled by her feelings to pour out all why are you going to papa she said and looked at him i will tell you to morrow com i o merrily not before then x p of blue eyes what thou dost not know and so will i trust thee gentle she was repressed and hurt i will tell you my errand to too when i come back she he w ent away his merriment made her intention seem the lighter as his indifference made her more resolved to do as she liked it was a familiar september sunset dark blue fragments f cloud upon an orange yellow sky these used to tempt her to walk towards them as any beautiful thing a near approach she went through the field to the hedge into the middle of it and upon the thick boughs after looking westward for a considerable time she blamed herself for not looking eastward to where was and tamed round ultimately her eyes fell upon the ground a peculiarity was beneath her a green field itself on each side of the hedge one belonging to the the other a part of the land attached to the e adjoining on the side she saw a little the e and altogether feature of which consisted in its being only about ten long and abruptly at each end a suddenly beginning and suddenly ending coming from nowhere and leading nowhere she had never seen she on second thoughts had seen such i path trodden in the of by the and this explained the of the path l her father had it by passing up and down as she had or ot r h m si ir on the as she was her commanded a view of k h sides of i and a later k o the side here was a other tn path it was like the first in le h be n a i e i o site the b c of its ik bu it was aiid less s td ice a s e a t b in a fair of blue eyes have been trodden by a similar weight of tread to the other exercised a less number of times or it might have been walked just as frequently but by lighter feet probably a gentleman from scotland yard had he been passing at the time might have considered the latter alternative as the more probable thought otherwise so far as she thought at all but her own great to morrow was now imminent all thoughts inspired by casual sights of the eye were only allowed to exercise themselves in inferior corners of her brain previous to being banished altogether was at length compelled to reason practically upon her undertaking all her definite when the emotion accompanying them was abstracted amounted to no more than these say an hour and three quarters to ride to st s say half an hour at the to change my dress say two hours waiting for some train and getting to say an hour to spare before twelve o clock total time from leaving till twelve o clock five hours therefore i shall have to start at seven no surprise or sense of entered the minds of the servants at her early ride the monotony of life we associate with people of small in districts out of the sound of the railway whistle has one exception which puts into shade the experience of about the great of population that is in travelling every journey there is more or less an adventure adventurous hours are necessarily chosen for the most commonplace miss had to leave early that was all never went out on horseback but she brought home something something found or something bought if she trotted to town or village her burden was books if to hills woods or the it was wonderful twigs a handkerchief of wet shells or sea weed once on a muddy day when was walking with her down the street of village x d x i packet in front of her and a packet v t o the and they slipped do xv no a pair of blue eyes side of her three volumes of fiction lay kissing the mud on the other numerous of lay absorbing it unpleasant female faces smiled through windows at the the men all looked round and a boy who was a stall while the owner had gone to get drunk laughed loudly the blue eyes turned to and the cheeks with vexation after that she set her wits to work and was ingenious enough to invent an arrangement of small about the saddle by which a great deal could be safely carried in a small compass here she now spread out and fastened a plain dark walking dress and a few other trifles of apparel worm opened the gate for her and she vanished away one of the brightest mornings of late summer shone upon her the was at its the at its the loud enough for animals the like little engines and at first felt lively sitting at ease upon in her and hat she looked what she felt but the of these days had a trick of falling unexpectedly first only for one minute in ten had she a sense of depression then a large cloud that had been hanging in the north like	45
a black came and placed itself between herself and the sun it helped on what was already inevitable and she sank into a of sadness she turned in the saddle and looked back they were now on an open table land whose still gave her a view of the sea by she looked at that spot during this little of feeling had been still advancing and felt it would be absurd to turn her little mare s head the other wa still she thought if i had a mamma at home i would go back and making one of those stealthy movements by which women let their hearts with their brains she did put the horse s head about as if unconsciously and went at a hand gallop towards home for more than a mile by this time from the habit oi va v l tv ve re danced directly the alternative s os e a pair of blue eyes her forsaken recalled her and she turned about and on to st s again this miserable strife of thought now began to rage in all its and trembling she dropped the rein upon s shoulders and vowed she would be led whither the horse should take her her pace to a walk and walked on with her agitated for three or four minutes at the of this time they had come to a little by way on the right leading down a slope to a pool of water the pony stopped looked towards the pool and then advanced and stooped to drink looked at her watch and discovered that if she were going to reach st s early enough to change her dress at the and get a chance of some early train to there were only two available it was necessary to proceed at once she was impatient it seemed as if would never stop drinking and the repose of the pool the idle motions of the insects and flies upon it the placid waving of the flags the leaf like placidly sleeping at the bottom by their contrast with her own turmoil made her impatience greater did turn at last and went up the slope again to the high road the pony came upon it and stood looking up and down s heart and she thought horses if left to themselves make for where they are best fed will go home turned and walked on towards st s at home during summer had little but grass to live on after a run to st s she always had a feed of corn to support her on the return journey therefore being now more than half way she preferred st s but did not remember this now all she cared to recognize was a dreamy fancy that to day s rash action was not her own she was with feeling it seemed indispensable now to to the programme so strangely involved are motives that more than by her promise to more even than by her love she was forced on by a sense of the necessity of keep w m ds promised in the vow of ten o a pair of blue eyes she hesitated no longer went like the of as if she told the steps presently the quaint and roofs of st s were spread beneath her and going down the hill she entered the of the mrs the landlady came to the door to meet her the were well known here the transition from to the ordinary guise of railway travellers had been more than once performed by father and daughter in this establishment in less than a quarter of an hour emerged from the door in her walking dress and went to the railway she had not told mrs anything as to her intentions and was supposed to be gone out an hour and forty minutes later and she was in s arms at the station not upon the platform in the secret retreat of a deserted waiting room s face ill he was pale and what is the matter she asked we cannot be married here to day my i ought to have known it and staid here in my ignorance i did not i have the but it can only be used in my parish in london i only came down last night as you know what ever shall we do she said there s only one thing we can do darling what s that go on to london by a train just starting and be married there to morrow passengers for the up train take their seats said a guard s voice on the platform will you go i will in three minutes the train had moved bearing away with it and chapter xii adieu she cries and waved her lily hand the few tattered clouds of the morning enlarged and united the sun withdrew behind them to no more that day and the evening drew to a close in of rain the water drops beat like duck shot against the window of the railway carriage containing and the journey from to by even the most headlong express allows quite enough leisure for passion of any sort to cool s excitement had passed oflf and she sat in a kind of stupor during the latter half of the journey she was aroused by the of the of rails over which they their way at the entrance to the station is this london she said yes darling said in a tone of assurance he was far from feeling to him no less than to her the reality so greatly differed from the she peered out as well as the window with drops would allow her and saw only the lamps which had just been lit in the wet atmosphere and rows of hideous chimney pipes in dim relief against the sky she uneasily as when a thought is swelling in	45
the mind which must cause much pain at its in words had known no more about the of evil report than the native wild fowl knew of the effects of s first shot now she saw a little farther and a little farther still the train stopped the soft hand he had held all the day and proceeded to assist q the platform this act of upon a pair of blue eyes that was wanted to complete a resolution within her she looked at her with despairing eyes o she exclaimed i am so miserable i i must go home again i must i must forgive my wretched i don t like it here nor myself nor you looked b and did not speak will you allow ne to go home she implored i won t trouble you tc go with me i will not be any weight upon you only sa you will agree to my returning that you will not hate me for it it is better that i should return again indeed it is but we can t return now he said in a tone i must i will how when do you want to go now can we go at once the lad looked hopelessly along the platform if you must go and think it wrong to remain dearest said he sadly you shall you shall do whatever you like my but would you in reality rather go now than stay till to morrow and go as my wife yes yes much anything to go now i must i must she cried we ought to have done one of two things he answered gloomily never to have started or not to have returned without being married i don t like to say it indeed i don t but you must be told this that going back unmarried may compromise your good name in the eyes of people who may hear of it they will not and i must go o i am to blame for bringing you away not at all i am the elder by a month and what s that but never mind that now he looked around is there a train for to night he inquired of a guard the guard passed on and did not speak is there a train for to night said to another miss the leaves tv l xv f a pair of blue eyes have come to the wrong platform it is the other side change at into the night mail down that staircase and under the line they ran down the first to the office and into a carriage with an standing beside the door show your tickets please they are locked in men about the platform their till they fly up and down like in a loom a whistle the waving of a flag a human cry a steam groan and away they go to again just catching these words as they glide away those two had a near run for it and no mistake found her breath and have you come too why did you i shall not leave you till i see you safe at st s do not think worse of me than i am and then they rattled along through the night the weather cleared and the stars shone in upon them their two or three fellow passengers sat for most of the time with closed eyes sometimes slept alone was and hour after hour the day began to break and revealed that they were by the sea red rocks them and receding into distance grew livid in the blue grey atmosphere the sun rose and sent penetrating shafts of light in upon their weary faces another hour and the world began to be busy they waited yet a little and the train its speed in view of the platform at st s she shivered and mused sadly i did not see all the consequences she said appearances are against me if anybody finds me out i am i suppose disgraced then appearances will speak and how can that matter even if they do i shall be your husband sooner or later for certain and so prove your purity once in london i ought to have married you she said firmly it was my only safe defence i see more things now than i did m q v chance is not to be discovered h e ht for most desperately il a pair of blue eyes they stepped out pulled a thick veil over her face a woman with red and eyelids and glistening eyes was sitting on a bench just inside the office door she fixed her eyes upon with an expression whose force it was impossible to doubt but the meaning of which was not clear then upon the carriage they had left she seemed to read a strange story in the scene shrank and turned the other way who is that woman said she looked hard at you mrs a widow and mother of that young man whose tomb we sat on the other night she is my enemy would that god had had mercy enough upon me to have hidden this from her i do not talk so hopelessly he remonstrated i don t think she recognized us i pray that she did not he put on a more vigorous mood now we will go and get some breakfast no no i she begged i cannot eat i must get back to was as if she had grown years older that now but you have had nothing since last night but that cup of tea at i can t eat wine and no nor tea nor coffee no a glass of water no i want something that makes people strong and energetic for the present that the strength of tomorrow	45
rather quaint array of stone and metal mrs wore no ornament whatever had been impressed with mrs at their meeting about two months earlier but to be pleased with a woman as a momentary acquaintance was different from being taken with her as a step mother however the of feeling was but for a moment decided to like her still mrs was a woman of the world as to knowledge the reverse as to action as her marriage suggested and the lady were soon involved in conversation and mr left them to themselves and what do you find to do with yourself here mrs said after a few remarks about the wedding you ride i know yes i ride but not much because papa doesn t like my going alone you must have an attendant and i read and write a little you should write a novel the regular resource of people who don t go enough into the world to live one is to write one i have said looking at mrs as if in doubt whether she would meet with ridicule there that s right now then what is it about dear about well it is a romance of the m e k nothing of the present n body knows about for safety you c a pair of blue eyes neither to you nor other people that s it eh no no don t mean it dear well i have had some opportunities of studying art and manners in the library and private museum at house and i thought should like to try my hand upon a fiction i know the time for these tales is past but i was interested in it very much interested when is it to appear o never i suppose nonsense my dear girl publish it by all means all ladies do that sort of thing now not for profit you know but as a of mental respectability to their future husbands an excellent idea of us ladies though i am afraid it rather the melancholy of throwing over castle walls at and suggests desperation rather than plenty inside did you ever try it no i was too far gone even for that papa says no will take my book that remains to be proved i ll give my word my dear that by this time next year it shall be printed will you indeed said partially brightening with pleasure though she was sad enough underneath i thought brains were the indispensable if not the only for admission to the republic of letters a mere common place creature like me will soon be turned out again o no once you are there you ll be like a drop of water in a piece of rock crystal your medium will your it will be a great satisfaction murmured and thought of and wished she could make a great fortune by writing and marry him and live happily and then we ll go to london and then to paris said mrs i have been talking to your father about it but we have first to move into the house and we think of staying at while that is going on meanwhile instead of going on a honey moon by ourselves we have come home to om a go au i c to bath for two or three ts a pair of blue eyes assented pleasantly even gladly but she saw that by this marriage her father and herself had ceased forever to be the close relations they had been up to a few weeks ago it was impossible now to tell him the tale of her wild with smith he was still in her heart his absence had regained for him much of that of which had been nearly abstracted during her mood on that miserable journey from london rapture is often cooled by contact with its cause especially if under awkward conditions and that last experience with had done anything but make him shine in her eyes his very kindness in letting her return was his offence had her sex s love of sheer force in a man however ill directed and at that critical juncture in london s only chance of retaining the over her that his face and not his parts had acquired for him would have been by doing what for one thing he was too youthful to undertake that was dragging her by the wrist to the rails of some altar and marrying her decisive action is seen by minds to be frequently and sometimes fatal but decision however has more charm for a woman than the most success however some of the unpleasant of that occasion were now out of sight again and had resumed not a few of his fancy colors chapter xiii he set in order many it is london in october two months farther on in the story s inn has this peculiarity that it faces receives from and into a bustling speaking only of wealth and respectability while its on as crowded and poverty stricken a of as are to be found anywhere in the metropolis the moral consequences are first that those who occupy chambers in the inn may see a great deal of humanity s habits and without doing more than look down from a back window j and second they may hear wholesome though unpleasant social through the medium of a harsh voice an unequal footstep the echo of a blow or a fall which in the person of some or wife as he crosses and with the quiet of the square characters of this kind frequently pass through the inn from a little fox hole of an alley at the back but they never there it is hardly necessary to state that all the sights and movements proper to the inn are most orderly on the fine october evening on which we follow smith to	45
this place a placid porter is sitting on a stool under a tree in the midst with a little cane in his hand we notice the thick coat of upon the branches hanging underneath them in as in the chimney the blackness of these boughs does not at present improve the tree nearly forsaken by its leaves as it is but in the spring their green fresh beauty is made doubly beautiful by the contrast within the is a flower garden of respectable and re a man is keeping the leaves from the grass a pair of blue eyes i g a doorway and an old though wide wooden staircase with and which in a country house would be considered a specimen of he reaches a door on the first floor over which is painted in black letters mr henry knight the wall is thick and there is a door at its outer and inner face the outer one happens to be goes to the other and come in i from distant first was a small room divided from the inner apartment by a two or three yards wide across this hung a pair of dark green curtains making a mystery of all within the arch except the scratching of a pen here was a assemblage of articles mainly old framed prints and paintings leaning against the wall like in a s yard ah the books visible here were too big to be stolen some lying on a heavy oak table in one corner some on the floor among the pictures the whole with old coats hats and walking sticks pushed aside the curtain and before him sat a man writing away as if his life depended upon it which it did a man of thirty in a coat with dark brown hair curly beard and crisp moustache the latter running into the beard on each side of the mouth and as usual hiding the real expression of that organ under a aspect of ah my dear fellow i knew twas you said knight looking up with a smile and holding out his hand knight s mouth and eyes came to view now both features were good and had the peculiarity of appearing younger and than the brow and face they belonged to which were getting o er by the unmistakable pale cast the mouth had not quite of curve for the firm of middle life and the eyes though keen rather than penetrated what they had lost of their brightness by a e x hard reading a to x a well i a pair of blue eyes a lady would have said there was a smell of tobacco in the room a man that there was not knight did not rise he looked at a time piece on the mantel shelf then turned again to his letters pointing to a chair well i am glad you have come i only returned to town yesterday now don t speak for ten minutes i have just that time to the late at the minute i m your man sat down as if this kind of reception was by no means new and away went knight s pen beating up and down like a ship in a storm called the library the soul of the house here the house was all soul portions of the floor and half the wall space were taken up by book shelves ordinary and extraordinary the remaining parts together with side tables etc being occupied by casts and of various descriptions picked up by the owner in his wanderings through france and italy one stream only of evening sunlight came into the room from a window quite in the corner overlooking a court an stood in the window it was a dull enough for living creatures at most hours of the day but for a few minutes in the evening as now an kindly ray lighted up and warmed the little world therein when the many colored opened and put forth their arms the weeds acquired a rich the shells gleamed of a more golden yellow and the little community expressed gladness more plainly than in words within the prescribed ten minutes knight flung down his pen rang for the boy to take the letters to the post and at the closing of the door exclaimed there thank god that s done now pull your chair round and tell me what you have been doing all this time have you kept up your greek no how s that i haven t enough spare time that s nonsense well i have done a great li xv s that and i have done one extraordinary t a pair of blue eyes i i knight turned full upon a ha now then let me look into your face put two and two together and make a shrewd guess changed to a color why smith said knight after holding him rigidly by the shoulders and keenly his countenance for a minute in silence you have fallen in love the fact now out with it but seeing that looked rather distressed he changed to a kindly tone now smith my lad you know me well enough by this time you ought to and you know very well that if you choose to give me a detailed account of the phenomenon within you i shall listen if you don t i am the last man in the world to care to hear it ru tell thus much i have fallen in love and i want to be married j knight looked rather as this passed lips don t judge me before you have heard more cried anxiously seeing the change in his friend s countenance i don t judge does your mother know about it nothing definite father no but i ll tell you the young person come that s dreadfully but perhaps i	45
understand the frame of mind a little so go on your she is rather higher in the world than me as it should be and her father won t hear of it as i now stand not an uncommon case and now comes what i want your advice upon something has happened at her house which makes it out of the question for us to ask her father again now so we are keeping in the meantime an in india has just written to mr to ask whether he can find for him a young assistant willing to go on i s prepare drawings for work formerly i v the salary he offers is a ox oo a pair of blue eyes has mentioned it to me and i have been to dr who says i shall without much illness now would you go you mean to say because it is a possible road to the young lady yes i was thinking i could go over and make a little money and then come back and ask for her i have the of for myself after a year would she be o yes forever to the end of her life how do you know why how do people know of course she will knight leaned back in his chair now though i know her thoroughly as she exists in your heart i don t know her in the flesh all i want to ask is is this idea of going to india based entirely upon a belief in her fidelity yes i should not go if it were not for her well you have put me in rather an awkward position if i give my true sentiments i shall hurt your feelings if i don t i shall hurt my own judgment and remember i don t know much about women but you have had although you tell me very little about them and i only hope you ll continue to prosper till i tell you more at this rap i have never formed a deep attachment continued knight i never have a woman worth it nor have i been once engaged to be married you write as if you had been engaged a hundred times if i may be allowed to say so said in an injured tone yes that may be but my dear it is only those who half know a thing that write about it those who know it thoroughly don t take the trouble all i know about women or men either is a mass of i along and occasionally lift my eyes and the surface of mankind between me and ihe as a crow might no stopped as if he had ti o a x xi jl a pair of blue eyes thought and looked with affectionate awe at a master whose mind he believed could swallow up at one meal all his own head contained there was sympathy but no great intellectual fellowship between knight and smith knight had seen his young friend when the latter was a happy boy had been interested in him had kept his eye upon him and generously helped the lad to books till the mere connection of patronage grew to acquaintance and that to friendship and so though smith was not at all the man knight would have deliberately chosen as a friend or even for one of a group of a dozen friends he somehow was his friend circumstances as usual did it all how many of us can say of our most intimate alter leaving alone friends of the outer circle that he is the man we should have chosen as ihe net result after adding up all the points in human nature that we love and principles we ourselves hold and all that we hate the man is really somebody we got to know by mere physical long maintained and was taken into our confidence and even heart as a and what do you think of her ventured to say after a silence taking her merits on trust from you said knight as we do those of the roman poets of whom we know nothing but that they lived i think that she will not stick to you through say three years of absence in india but she will cried desperately she is a girl all delicacy and honor and no woman of that kind who has committed herself so into a man s hands as she has into mine could possibly marry another how has she committed herself asked knight curiously did not answer knight had looked on his love so that it would not do to say all he had intended by any means well don t tell said knight but you are begging the question which is i suppose inevitable in love and ril tell you another t t a pair of blue eyes pleaded you remember what you said to me once about women receiving a kiss don t you why that instead of our being charmed by the fascination of their bearing at such a time we should immediately doubt them if their confusion has any grace in it that awkward was the true charm at such a time that we are the first who has played such a part with them it is true quite said knight it often happened that the thus remembered the lessons of the master long after the master himself had forgotten them well that was like her cried triumphantly she was in such a that she didn t know what she was doing splendid splendid said knight soothingly so that all i have to say is that if you see a good opening in there s no reason why you should not go without troubling to draw fine distinctions as to reasons no man fully what opinions he acts upon or what his	45
actions mean yes i go to write a note here if you don t mind sleep over it it is the best plan and write to morrow meantime go there to that window and sit down and look at my humanity show i am going to dine out this evening and have to dress here out of my i bring up my things like this to save the trouble of going down to my place at and back again knight then went to the middle of the room and flung open his and drew near the window the streak of sunlight had crept upward edged away and vanished the slept a dusky gloom pervaded the room and now another volume of light shone over the window there said knight where is there in england a spectacle to equal that i sit there and watch them every night before i go home softly open the beneath them was an alley running up to the wall and thence turning sideways and passing under an arch so t knight s back window was immediately over the h and commanded a view oi j xv v a fair of blue eyes crowds mostly of women were bustling and pacing up and down glared from the of flesh to of orange and like the wild of s later pictures while the and of tongues of every pitch and mood was to this human what the ripple of a brook is to the natural forest nearly ten minutes passed then knight also came to the window well now i call a cab and vanish down the street in the direction of square he said his waistcoat and kicking his morning suit into a corner rose to leave what a heap of literature remarked the young man taking a final longing survey round the room as if to abide there forever would be the great pleasure of his life yet feeling that he had almost his his eyes rested upon an arm chair piled full of newspapers magazines and bright new volumes in green and red yes said knight also looking at them and breathing a sigh of weariness something must be done with several of them soon i suppose you needn t hurry away for a few minutes you know if you want to stay i am not quite ready those volumes while i put on my coat and i ll walk a little way with you sat down beside the arm chair and began to tumble the books about among the rest he found a in one volume the court of castle by field are you going to review this inquired with apparent and holding up s which o that i i may though i don t do much now but it is how do you mean knight never liked to be asked what he meant mean i mean that the majority of books published are neither good enough nor bad enough to io and t that book does provoke it a pair of eyes by its goodness or its said with some anxiety on poor little s score its it seems to be written by some girl in her said not another word he did not care to speak plainly of after that unfortunate slip his tongue had made with regard to her having committed herself j and apart from that knight s severe almost dogged and self willed honesty in was by the humble wish of a youthful friend like knight was now ready turning off the gas and together the door they went down the stairs and into the street chapter xiv we while tis may it has now to be not only supposed but clearly realized that nearly three quarters of a year have passed away in place of the scenery that formed a setting to the previous we have now before us the summer of the year following is in india away at an office in occasionally going up the country on professional errands and wondering why people complained so much of the of the climate upon their never had a young man a finer start than seemed now to present itself to it was just in that exceptional of prosperity which shone over about ten years ago that he arrived on the scene building and partook of the general speculation moved with an every successive day the only disagreeable connected with it being the possibility of a had never told her father of the four and twenty hours with nor had it to her knowledge come to his ears by any other route it was a secret trouble and grief to the girl for a short time and s departure was another in her sorrow but possessed special for getting rid of trouble after a decent interval while a slow nature was a misfortune little by little she had swallowed the whole agony of it at a and was brightening again she could off a sadness and replace it by a hope as easily as a a limb and two such excellent h ld x t sc selves one was bringing out the w ii notices in the papers which v a i v pa r of blue eyes short so far had served to divert her thoughts the other was from the to the more old house of mrs overlooking the same valley mr at first disliked the idea of to feminine soil but the obvious advantages of such an accession of dignity reconciled him to the change so there was a radical move the two ladies staying at as had been arranged the going to and fro mrs considerably enlarged s ideas in an aristocratic direction and she began to forgive her father for his marriage certainly in a worldly sense a handsome face at three and forty had never served a man in better stead the new	45
house at was ready and they were all in town the park shrubs had been as usual the chairs in line the grass trimmed the roads made to look as if they were suffering from a heavy carriages had been called for the horses for the brisk and the drive and row were again the of for an hour we gaze upon the spectacle at six o clock on this afternoon in a atmosphere and beneath a violet sky the formed one in the stream mrs was a of talk of the kind which her low musical voice the only beautiful point in the old woman prevented from being now she said to who like at was full of admiration for the brilliant scene you will find that our state will give us as it does everybody an extraordinary power in reading the features of our fellow creatures here i always am a listener in such places as these not to the told by my neighbors tongues but by their faces the advantage of which is that whether i am in row or the all speak the same language i may have acquired some skill in this practice through having been an ugly lonely woman for so many years with nobody to give me information a thing you will not consider strange when the parallel case is borne in mind how truly people bo have no w tell the time of day a pair of blue eyes ay that they will said mr i have known laboring men at and other farms who had framed complete systems of observation for that purpose by means of shadows winds clouds the movements of sheep and oxen the singing of birds the of and a hundred other sights and sounds which people with watches in their pockets never know the existence of they are able to pronounce within ten minutes of the hour almost at any required instant that reminds me of an old story which i m afraid is too bad too bad to repeat here the shook his head and laughed inwardly teu it do i said the ladies i mustn t quite tell it that s d said mrs it was only about a man who by the same careful system of observation was to deceive persons for more than two years into the belief that he kept a by so exactly did he all changes in the weather by the of his ass and the temper of his wife laughed exactly said mrs and in just the way that those learnt the signs of nature i have learnt the language of her sister and the of eyes the contempt of nose tips the indignation of back hair the laughter of clothes the of footsteps and the various emotions lying in walking stick hat the elevation of the carriage of become as a c to me just look at that daughter s eldest class of mamma in the carriage across there she continued to pointing with merely a turn of her eye the absorbing consciousness of her position that is shown by her countenance is most humiliating to a lover of one s country you would hardly believe would you that members of a fashionable world whose professed is far above the highest degree of the humble could be so ignorant of the instincts of how why to bear on their faces as ox l the inscription do pray look al e c to f a pair of ue e yes or look at the leaves and pearls in my or look at the leaves pure and in mine i don t say they seem to go on saying to the shabby people that i wish you to think us connected with the conquest of you wretched nobody knows who or whatever the word of the season is for the poorer inhabitants of the country but we are and there is our crest and significant motto o mrs said but i much prefer the manners of ray acquaintance of that class to the way some of us with no title but much wealth look at the for there s a specimen there s another the glance in them is modified to o ones this i wear weighing of a pound is real gold i solid you know s o i d right through the middle and out at the other side really said the you see as much in faces as mr puff saw in lord s nod could not but admire the beauty of her especially since herself and her own few acquaintances had always been slightly or marked on the back of the hands by a scratch at this time of the year and what lovely flowers and leaves they wear in their i she exclaimed o yes returned mrs some of them are even more striking in color than any real ones look at that beautiful rose worn by the lady inside the rails elegant vine introduced upon the stem as an improve ment upon and all growing so naturally just over her ear i say growing for the pink of the and the pink of her handsome cheeks are equally from nature s hand to the eyes of the most casual observer but praise them a little they do deserve it said generous well i do see how the of waves to and fro in her seat the sway of her by looking forward only when her head is swung forward with a passive pride which a resistance to tlie force of look at the pretty on mouths of that v retaining no traces of it ti t a a pair of blue eyes i i well is it done look at the close of the little fists the the tiny alert thumb sticking up erect the ivory stem as knowing as can	45
be the satin of le invariably the complexion of the face it yet seemingly by an accident which makes the ling so attractive there s the red book lying on the op seat the vast numbers of their and i particularly admire the aspect of that woman on the other side i mean her ok of that the girls are stared at by the and above all the look of the girls themselves their gaze in the depths of handsome men s eyes appearing to notice whether they are observing eyes or the leaves of the trees there s praise for ou but i am only child you know that how warm it is to be sure said mr as if his mind were a long distance from all he aw i declare that my watch is so hot that i can bear to touch it to see what the time i s and all the world like the inside of a hat how the men stare at you said the elder you will kill me quite i am afraid kill you as a diamond an in the same setting i have noticed several ladies and gentlemen looking it me said showing her pleasure at being my dear you mustn t say gentlemen now a days step mother answered in the tones of mock dignity that jo well became her we have handed over to the lower middle class where the word is still to be at s balls and provincial tea parties it is lone with here what must i say then ladies and always at this moment appeared in the stream of moving in the contrary direction a chariot presenting in its general surface the rich hue of a midnight sky the b heels and being picked out va i y french blue the servants di x fe silver lace and breeches of x t a pair of blue eyes whole concern formed an whole and moved along behind a pair of dark chestnut who advanced in an indifferently zealous trot very performed and occasionally shrugged divers points of their surface as if they were rather above the business in this sat a gentleman with no decided characteristics more than that he somewhat resembled a good natured commercial traveller of the superior class beside him was a lady with eyes and complexion belonging to the interesting class of women where that class in the sickly her greatest pleasure being apparently to enjoy nothing opposite this pair sat two little girls in white hats and blue feathers the lady saw smiled and bowed and touched her husband s elbow who turned and received s movement of recognition with a gallant elevation of his hat then the two children held up their arms to and laughed who is that why lord isn t it said mrs who with the had been seated with her back towards them yes replied he is the one man of those i have seen here whom i consider than papa thank you dear said mr yes but your father is so much older when lord gets a little farther on in life he won t be half so good looking as our man thank you dear likewise said mr see exclaimed still looking towards them how those little want me i actually one of them is crying for me to come we were talking of just now look at lady s said mrs as the lifted up her arm to support one of the children it is slipping up her arm too large by half i hate to see daylight between and a wrist i wonder women haven t better taste it is not on that account indeed it is that her arm has got thin poor thing you cannot bow much she has altered ml i s vi month the carriages were now e c x ex k a pair of blue eyes h an exchange of more familiar greetings between the two families then the crossed over and drew up under the plane tree just in the rear of the lord alighted and came forward with a musical laugh it was his attraction as a man people liked him for those tones and forgot that he had no talents acquaintances remembered mr by his manner they remembered smith by his face lord by his laugh mr made some friendly remarks among other things upon the heat yes said lord we were driving by a s window this afternoon and the sight filled us all with such a sense of that we were glad to g away ha ha he turned to miss i have hardly seen or spoken to you since your literary feat was made public i had no idea a child was taking notes down at quiet or i should certainly have put myself and friends upon our best behavior why didn t you give me a hint fluttered blushed laughed said it was nothing to speak of etc etc well i think you were rather treated by the present i certainly do writing a heavy review like that upon an elegant trifle like the court of castle was absurd what said opening her eyes was i in the present o yes j didn t you see it why it was four or five months ago no i never saw it how sorry i am i what a shame of my they promised to send me every notice that appeared ah then i am almost afraid i have been giving you disagreeable information withheld out of courtesy depend upon it they thought no good would come of sending it and so would not pain you o no i am indeed glad yo i ne o j x it is quite a mistaken ow x blue eyes is the review so much against me she inquired no no not that exactly though i	45
evening of the day succeeding that of the meeting in the park and mrs were engaged in conversation in the dressing room of the latter such a treatment of such a case was in process of h re had just before received an affectionate letter from smith in which had been forwarded to her from but since this is not the case referred to it is not worth while to farther into the contents of the letter than to discover that with rash though confidence in coming times he addressed her in high spirits as his darling future wife probably there cannot be a and rule of thumb test of a man s temperament sanguine or cautious than this did he or does he date the word wife in corresponding with a sweetheart he honestly loves she had taken this into her own room read a little of it then saved rest for to morrow not wishing to be so extravagant as to the pleasure all at once nevertheless she could not resist the wish to enjoy yet a little more so out came the letter again and in spite of as to the whole was devoured the letter was finally re and placed in her pocket what was this also a newspaper for which she had overlooked in her hurry to open the letter it was the old number of the present ci t c ow s forwarded as had been d pair of blue eyes had hastily read it through shrunk smaller and had then gone with the paper in her hand to mrs s dressing room to her vexation by the means above commented upon she was now looking out of the window never mind ray child said mrs after a careful perusal of the matter indicated i don t see that the review is such a terrible one after all besides everybody has forgotten about it by this time i m sure the opening is good enough for any book ever written just listen it sounds better read aloud than when you pore over it silently the court of castle a romance of the middle ages by field in the belief that we were for a while escaping the monotonous repetition of wearisome details in modern social scenery of uninteresting character or the unnatural of a sensation plot we took this volume into our hands with a feeling of pleasure we were disposed to ourselves with a fancy that some new change might possibly be rung upon keeps chain and plate cheeks tender maidens disguised as pages to which we had not listened long ago now that s a very good beginning in my opinion and one to be proud of having brought out of a man who has never seen you ah yes murmured but then see farther on well the next bit is rather unkind i must own said mrs and read on instead of this we found ourselves in the hands of some young lady hardly arrived at years of discretion to judge by the silly device it has been thought worth while to adopt on the title page with the idea of her sex i am not silly said indignantly he have called me anything but that you are not indeed well hands of a young lady whose chapters are simply devoted to impossible towers and which read like flat copies of like scenes in the stories of mr g p r james and the most unreal portions of the bait is so that the most away now dear i don t see over much to ca w ax a pair of blue eyes proves that you were clever enough to make him think of sir walter scott which is a great deal o yes though i cannot romance myself t am able to remind him of those who can intended to these words at her invisible enemy but as she had no more power than a wood pigeon they merely fell in a pretty murmur from lips shaped to a certainly and that s something your book is good enough to be bad in an ordinary literary manner and doesn t stand by itself in a melancholy position altogether worse than that interest in an historical romance may now a days have any chance of being sustained it is indispensable that the reader find himself under the guidance of some nearly extinct species of who in addition to an impulse towards and an un weakened faith in the shall possess an faculty in which delicacy of sentiment is far by a power of to stirring incident a spirited variety of the human passions well that long doesn t refer to you at all merely something put in to fill up let me see when does he come to you again not till the very end actually here you are finally polished off but to return to the little work we have used as the text of this article we are far from altogether the author s powers she has a certain that her to use with effect a style of peculiar to herself which may be called a murmuring of delicate trifles the particular gift of those to whom the social sympathies of a peaceful time are as daily food hence where matters of experience and the natural touches which make people real can be introduced without too striking she is occasionally and upon the whole we feel justified in saying that the book will bear looking into for the sake of those portions which have nothing whatever to do with the story well i suppose it is intended for satire but don t think anything more of it now my dear it is seven o clock and mrs rang for her maid attack is more than ie was concerning nothing but vex x i pair of blue eyes was the very reverse	45
and a stranger with neither name nor shape age nor appearance but a mighty voice is rather an interesting novelty to a lady he chooses t address when fell asleep that night she was the writer of the letter but thinking of the writer of thai article chapter xvi then fancy shapes as fancy can on a day about three weeks later the were sitting quietly in the drawing room of the mrs s house at and taking survey of their previous month or two of town a weariness even to people whose acquaintances there might be counted on the fingers a mere season in london with her step mother had so advanced s that her courtship by seemed meagre and to have drifted back several years into a childish past in regarding our mental experiences as in observation our own progress reads like a of that we progress from she was seated on a low chair looking over her romance with melancholy interest for the first time since she had become acquainted with the remarks of the present thereupon still thinking of that not of him personally but i am thinking of his opinion really on looking into the volume after this long time has elapsed he seems to have estimated one part of it fairly enough no no i wouldn t show the white feather now fancy that of all people in the world the writer herself should go over to the enemy how shall s men fight when runs away i don t do that but i think he is right in some of his arguments though wrong in others and because he has some claim to my respect i regret all the more that he should think so of my motives ox v x it is more to be m oo i x a a pair of blue eyes and he me i cannot be easy while a person goes to rest night after night to me intentions i never had he doesn t know your name or anything about you and he has doubtless forgotten there is such a book in existence by this time i myself should certainly like him to be put right upon one or two matters said the who had hitherto been silent you see critics on writing and are never corrected or argued with and therefore are never improved papa said brightening write to him i i would as soon write to him as look at him for the matter of that said mr do and say the young person who wrote the book did not adopt a masculine in vanity or conceit but because she was afraid it would be thought to publish her name and that she did not mean the story for such as he but as a of history for young people who might thereby acquire a taste for what went on in their own country hundreds of years ago and be tempted to deeper into the subject o there is so much to explain i wish i might write myself i now i ll tell you what we will do answered mr with a sort of humor at the idea of the critic you shall write a clear ac of what he is wrong in and i will copy it and send it as yes now directly i said jumping up when will you send it papa o in a day or two i suppose he returned then the paused and slightly yawned and in the manner of elderly people began to from his for the undertaking now that it came to the point but really it is hardly worth while o papa i said with much disappointment you said you would and now you won t that is not fair i but how can we send it if we don t know who to send it to if you really want to set d v it can easily done said mrs com tv g o fix ye a pair of blue eyes ter s rescue an envelope addressed to the critic of the court of castle care of the editor of the present would find him yes i suppose it would why not write your answer yourself mrs inquired i might she said hesitatingly and send it that would be treating him as he has treated me no use in the world but i don t like to let him know my exact name suppose i put my only the less you are known the more you are thought of yes you might do that set to work there and then her one desire for the last fortnight seemed likely to be realized as happens with sensitive and secluded minds a continual dwelling upon the subject had to colossal proportions the space she assumed herself to occupy or to have occupied in the critic s mind at noon and at night she had been herself with to perceive more distinctly his conception of her as a woman apart from an whether he really despised her whether he thought more or less of her than of ordinary young women who never ventured into the fire of criticism at all now she would have the satisfaction of feeling that at any rate he knew her true intent in crossing his path and him so by her performance and be taught perhaps to despise it a little less four days later an envelope directed to miss in a strange hand made its appearance from the post bag o said her heart sinking within her can it be from that man a lecture for impertinence and actually one for mrs in the same handwriting she feared to open hers yet how can he know my name no it is somebody else nonsense said her father grimly you sent your and the was available t ow wouldn t have taken the trouble to oo l had	45
been thoroughly savage with you a pair of blue eyes wrote with rather more than simple literary discussion required this was introduced to save the character of the s judgment under any issue of affairs well here i go said desperately tearing open the seal to be sure of coarse exclaimed mrs and looking up from her letter i quite forgot to tell you when i mentioned that i had seen my distant relative harry knight that i invited him here for whatever length of time he could spare and now he says he can come any day in august write and say the first of the month replied the she read on goodness me and that isn t all he is actually the of s book how absurd to be sure i had no idea he novels or had anything to do with the he is a and i thought he only wrote in the why you have brought about an odd what does he say to you had put down her letter with a dissatisfied flush on her face i don t know the idea of his knowing my name and all about me why he says nothing particular only this my dear madam though i am sorry that my remarks should have seemed harsh it is a pleasure to find that they have been the means of bringing forth such an argued reply unfortunately it is so long since i wrote my paper that my memory does not serve me to say a single word in my defence even supposing there remains one to be said which is doubtful you will find from a letter i have written to mrs that we are not such strangers to each other as we have been imagining possibly i may have the pleasure of seeing you soon when any argument you choose to advance shall receive all the attention it deserves that is said i know it is o no and then his harsh i mean not say so a pair of blue eyes he thinks you are in a frightful temper said mr in and he will come and see me and find the as contemptible in speech as she has been rude in manner do heartily wish i had never written a word to him never mind said mrs also laughing in low quiet it will make the meeting such a affair and afford splendid by play for your father and myself the idea of our running our heads against harry knight all the time i cannot get over that the had immediately recognized the name as that of smith s and friend but having ceased to concern himself in the matter he made no remark to that effect to allude to anything which could restore recollection of their to him disagreeable mistakes with regard to poor s and position had of course perceived the same thing which added to the of relationship a that her step mother knew nothing of the scarcely heightened knight s attractions now though a ago she would only have cared to see him for the interest he possessed as s friend fortunately for knight s advent such a reason for welcome had only begun to be awkward to her at a time when the interest he had acquired on his own account made it no longer necessary these in common with all relating to him tended to keep s mind upon the stretch concerning knight as was her custom when upon the horns of a she walked off by herself among the laurel bushes and there standing still and up a leaf without removing it from its stalk fetched back recollections of s frequent words in praise of his friend and wished she had listened more attentively then still pulling the leaf she would blush at some fancied mortification that would to her from his words when they met in consequence of her as she now considered it in to him the next development of her ta l v v subject of what this man s personal c a pair of blue eyes was he tall or short dark or fair gay or grim would have asked mrs but for the risk might thereby of some remark being ultimately would say o what a plague that is to me i and turn her face to where she india lay and murmur to herself ah my little what are you doing now let me see where are yo east where behind that hill ever so far chapter xvii her welcome spoke in faltering phrase is henry knight i declare i said mrs i one day they were gazing from the angle of a wild not far from the which almost the valley already described as leading up from the sea and little port of the stony upon which they stood had the of a man s face and it was covered with as with a beard people in the field above were preserved from an accidental roll down these and hollows by a hedge on the very crest which was doing that kindly service for and her now higher into the hedge and stretching her neck farther over the beheld the individual signified he was walking leisurely along the little green path at the bottom beside the stream a upon his left hip a stout walking stick in his hand and a sun hat upon his head the was worn and old and the outer polished surface of the leather was cracked and off knight having arrived over the hills to upon the top of a crazy preferred to walk the remaining two miles up the valley leaving his luggage to be brought on behind him a boy wandered and by that natural law of by which lesser bodies towards the greater this boy drew near knight and trotted like a little dog close	45
at his heels whistling as he went with his eyes fixed upon knight s boots s fell when tbey bad reached a point oi ft j a p i of ue e yes in which mrs and miss lay in stopped and turned round look here my boy he said the boy parted his h opened his eyes and answered nothing here s sixpence for you on condition that you don t again come within twenty yards of my heels all the way up the valley the boy who apparently had not known he had been looking at knight s heels at all took the sixpence mechanically and knight went on again wrapped in meditation a nice voice thought but what a singular temper i now we must get in doors before he the slope said mrs softly and they went across by a short cut over a entering the lawn by a side door and so on to the house mr had gone into the village with the and felt too nervous to await their visitor s arrival in the drawing room with mrs so that when the elder lady entered made some pretence of perceiving a new variety of crimson and lingered behind among the flower beds there was nothing gained by this after all she thought and a few minutes after boldly came into the house by the glass side door she walked along the corridor and entered the drawing room nobody was there a window at the angle of the room opened directly into an the corner of the building from the came voices in conversation mrs s and the stranger s she had expected him to talk brilliantly to her he was asking questions in quite a s manner on subjects connected with the flowers and shrubs that she had known for years when after the lapse of a few minutes he spoke at some length she considered there was a hard square in the shape of his sentences as if unlike her own and s they were not there and then newly constructed but were drawn forth from a large ready made they v the win fc ir to come in again a pair of blue eyes that is a flesh colored variety said mrs but though they are such shrubs are so very easily wounded as to be gi with the of young ladies o here is looked as guilty and as lady at the fall of the screen mrs presented him half and knight in a minute or two seated himself beside the young lady s smiles of and hospitality came and went with all the rapidity of confusion j and to make her still less comfortable mrs immediately afterwards left them together to seek her husband mr knight however did not seem at all by his feelings and he said with light so miss i have met you at last you escaped me by a few minutes only when we were in london yes i found that you had seen mrs and and are face to face at last he added yes though the fact of your being a relative takes off the edge of it it was strange that you should be one of mrs swan court s family all the time began to recover herself now and to look into knight s face i was merely anxious to let you know my real meaning in writing the book extremely anxious can quite understand the wish j and i was gratified that my remarks should have reached home they very seldom do i am afraid drew herself in here he was sticking to his opinions as firmly as if friendship and politeness did not in the least require an immediate of them you made me very uneasy and sorry by writing such things she murmured suddenly dropping the mere of a fashionable first introduction and speaking with some of the of a child towards a severe that is rather the object of honest critics in such a case not to cause unnecessary sorrow to make you sorry after a proper manner that ye may m d ax by us in nothing as a powerful pen o a oa are you going to write xv v l o p of blue eyes write another she said that somebody may pen a condemnation and wi scripture again as you do now mr knight you ma do better next time he said i think you will but i would advise you to confine yourself to domestic scenes thank you but never again well you may be right that a young lady has taken to writing is not by any means the best thing to hear about her what is the best i prefer not to say do you know then do tell me please to hear that she has married hesitated and what when she has been mar she said at last partly in order to withdraw her own person from the argument then to hear no more about her it is as said of his her greatest real praise when the novelty of her has worn off is that nothing happens to keep the talk of her alive yes i see said softly and thoughtfully but of course it is different quite with men why don t you write novels mr knight because i couldn t write one that would interest anybody why for several reasons it requires a skilful of your real thoughts to make a novel popular for one thing is that really necessary well i am sure you could learn to do that with practice said with an air as became a person who spoke from experience in the art you would make a great name for certain she continued so many people make a name now a days that it is more distinguished to remain in obscurity tell me seriously apart from	45
arose and stepped to the window having heard the voices of her father and mrs coming up below the terrace here they are she said going out knight walked out upon the lawn behind her she stood upon the edge of the terrace close to the stone and looked towards the sun hanging over a just now fair as s up which her father was walking knight could not help looking at her the sun was within ten degrees of the horizon and its yellow light her face and heightened the bright rose color of her cheeks to a red their moderate pink hue being only seen in its natural tone where the cheek curved round into shadow the ends of her hanging hair softly dragged themselves backwards and forwards upon her shoulder as each faint breeze thrust against or it and ribbons of her dress moved by the same breeze licked like tongues upon the parts and fluttering forward from shady fo ds c m x their share of the orange g a p i of blue eyes mr shouted out a welcome to knight from a distance of about thirty yards and after a few preliminary words proceeded to a conversation of deep earnestness on knight s fine old family name and theories as to and connected knight s having in the meantime arrived they soon retired to prepare for dinner which had been kept back two hours later than the usual time of that meal an arrival was an event in the life of now that they were again in the country and that of knight necessarily an one and that evening she went to bed for the first time without thinking of at all chapter xviii thk mood of woman who can tell the old tower of west church had reached the last weeks of its existence it was to be replaced by a new one and poles had arrived in the church yard iron bars had been thrust into the venerable crack extending down the wall to the foundation the bells had been taken down the had forsaken this home of their forefathers and six in white to whom a cracked edifice was a species of had taken lodgings in the village previous to the actual removal of the stones this was the day after knight s arrival to enjoy for the last time the prospect from the summit the mrs knight and all ascended the winding mr stepping forward with many loud his wife struggling along silently but suffering none the less they had hardly reached the top when a large lurid cloud a of rain thunder and lightning was seen to be advancing overhead from the north the two cautious elders suggested an immediate return and proceeded to put it in practice as regarded themselves dear me i wish i had not come up exclaimed mrs we shall be slower than you two in going down the said over his shoulder and so don t you start till we are nearly at the bottom or you will run over us and break our necks somewhere in the darkness of the accordingly and knight waited on the leads till the staircase should be clear knight was not in a that morning was rather lively b te a son of his which she v v e s xv x l of blue eyes thinking her not worth talking to while knight stood watching the rise of the cloud he sauntered to the other side of the tower and there remembered an old feat she had performed the year before it was to walk round upon the of the tower which was quite without or and presented a smooth flat surface about two feet wide forming a pathway on all the four sides without reflecting in the least upon what she was doing she now stepped upon the in the old way and began walking along we are down cousin henry cried mrs up the follow us when you like knight turned and saw her elevated his face flushed with mingled concern and anger at her i certainly gave you credit for more common sense he said she a little and walked on miss i insist upon your coming down he exclaimed i will in a minute i am safe enough i have done it often at that moment by reason of a slight his words had caused in her s foot caught itself in a little of grass growing in a joint of the and she almost lost her balance knight sprang forward with a face of horror by what seemed a special of a merciful providence she to the inner edge of the instead of to the outer and over upon the lead roof two or three feet below the wall knight seized her as in a vice and he said panting that ever i should have met a woman fool enough to do a thing of that kind good ck d you ought to be ashamed of yourself the close of the shadow of death had made her sick and pale as a corpse before he spoke already lowered to that state his words completely overpowered her and she away as he held her s eyes were not closed for more than forty she opened them and the position in jf his face had altered s w i s a pair of blue eyes to pity but his severe remarks had rather frightened her and she struggled to be free if you can stand of course you may he said and loosened his arms i hardly know whether most to laugh at your or to you for its folly she immediately sank upon the knight lifted her again are you hurt he said she murmured an expression and tried to smile saying with a fitful aversion of her face i am only frightened put me down do put me down	45
but you can t walk said knight you don t know that how can you i am only frightened i tell you she answered and raised her hand to her forehead knight then saw that she was bleeding from a severe cut in her wrist apparently where it had descended upon a corner of the too seemed to perceive and feel this now for the first time and for a minute nearly lost consciousness again knight rapidly bound his handkerchief round the place and to add to the the he had been watching began to shed some heavy drops of rain knight looked up and saw the towards the house and mrs beside him like a hard driven as you are so faint it will be much better to let me carry you down said knight or at any rate inside oat of the rain her objection to be lifted made it impossible for him to support her for more than five steps this is folly great folly he exclaimed setting her down indeed she murmured with tears in her eyes i say i will not be carried and you say this is folly so it is no it isn t it is folly i think at any rate the origin of it all is i don t agree to it and you needn t get so angry with me i am not worth it indeed you are you are worth the enmity of princes as was said of such another now then will you your hands behind my neck that c xx om w you l of blue eyes no no you had better or i shall what s that deprive you of your chance gave a little toss now don t so when i attempt to carry you i can t help it then submit quietly i don t care i don t care she murmured in languid tones and with closed eyes he took her into his arms entered the and with slow and cautious steps descended round and round then with the gentleness of a nursing mother he attended to the cut on her arm during his progress through the operations of wiping it and binding it up anew her face changed its aspect from pained indifference to something like interest with small and of a trifling kind in the centre of each pale cheek a small red spot the size of a had now made its appearance and continued to grow larger expected a to the lecture on her foolishness but knight said no more than this promise me never to walk on that again it will be pulled down soon so i do in a few minutes she continued in a lower tone and seriously you are familiar of course as everybody is with those strange sensations we sometimes have that our life for the moment exists in that we have lived through that moment before or shall again well i felt on the tower that something similar to that scene is again to be common to us both god forbid i said knight promise me that you will never again walk on any such place on any consideration i do that such a thing has not been before we know that it shall not be again you vow therefore think no more of such a foolish fancy there had fallen a great de l oi t i e a pair of blue eyes by lightning a few minutes longer and the storm had ceased now take my arm please o no it is not necessary this into was because he had again connected the epithet foolish with her nonsense it is quite necessary it will rain again directly and you are not half recovered and without more knight took her hand drew it under his arm and held it there so firmly that she could not have removed it without a struggle feeling at thus being led along like a in a for the first time yet afraid to be angry it was to her great relief that she saw the carriage coming round the comer to fetch them her fall upon the roof was necessarily explained to some extent upon their entering the house but both to mention a word of what she had been doing to cause such an accident during the remainder of the afternoon was invisible but at dinner time she appeared as bright as ever in the drawing room after having been exclusively engaged with mr and mrs through the intervening time knight again found himself thrown with she had been looking over a problem in one of the illustrated you like miss yes it is my favorite scientific game indeed every other do you play i have played though not lately challenge him said the heartily she plays very well for a lady mr knight shall we play asked o certainly i shall be delighted the game began mr had forgotten a similar performance with smith the year before had not but she had begun to take for her the truth that the necessity of continuing faithful to without suspicion dictated a behavior almost as as i a ol i et which give a startling advantage to a x x ex q j should it ever appear i o a fair of blue eyes knight by one of those which will sometimes the best of players placed his in the arms of one of her it was her first advantage she looked triumphant even by george what was i thinking of said knight quietly and then concern at his accident club laws we ll have won t we mr knight said o yes certainly said mr knight a thought however just to his mind that he had two or three times allowed her to replace a man on her assuring him that such a move was an absolute blunder she immediately took up the	45
unfortunate and the contest proceeded having now rather the better of the game then he won the exchange regained his position and began to press her grew and placed her queen on his remaining s file there how stupid upon my word i did not see your of course nobody but a fool would have put a queen there she spoke excitedly half expecting her to give her back the move nobody of course said knight serenely and stretched out his hand towards his royal victim it is not very pleasant to have it taken advantage of then she said with some vexation club laws i think you said returned knight and the queen she was on the brink of but was ashamed to show it tears almost stood in her eyes she had been trying so hard so very hard thinking and thinking till her brain was in a whirl and it seemed so heartless of him to treat her so after all i think it is she began what unkind to take advantage of a pure mistake i make in that way i lost my by even a purer mistake said the my in an inexorable tone without lifting his eyes hut however as v s o c as absolutely she merely a ss a fair of blue eyes those cold blooded ways of clubs and professional players like and just as if it really mattered whether you have raised your fingers from a man or no knight smiled as as before and they went on in silence said knight another game said and looking very warm with all my heart said knight said knight again at the end of forty minutes another game she returned resolutely i ll give you the odds of a bishop knight said to her kindly no thank you replied in a tone intended for courteous indifference but as a fact very indeed said her opponent without the least emotion the difference between your state of mind now and when you purposely made that smith might win it was bed time her mind as if it would throb itself out of her head she went off to her chamber full of mortification at being beaten time after time when she herself was the having for two or three years enjoyed the reputation throughout the globe of her father s brain which almost constituted her entire world of being an excellent player this was intolerable for unfortunately the person most dogged in the belief in a false reputation is always that one the possessor who has the best means of knowing that it is not true in bed no sleep came to soothe her that gentle thing being the very middle of summer friend in this respect of flying away at the merest cloud after lying awake till two o clock an idea seemed to strike her she softly arose got a light and fetched a from the library returning and sitting up in bed she diligently studied the volume till the clock struck five aud felt thick and heavy she then ex ng a s i v v and lay down a n a pair of ue e yes you look pale said mrs the next morning at breakfast isn t she cousin harry a young lady who is scarcely ill at all can hardly help becoming so when regarded as such by all eyes turning upon her at the table in obedience to some remark everybody looked at she certainly was pale am i pale she said with a faint smile t did not sleep much i could not get rid of armies of and knights try how i would is a bad thing just before bed time especially for people like yourself dear don t ever play late again i ll play early instead cousin knight she said in imitation of mrs will you oblige me in something even to half my kingdom well it is to play one game more when now instantly the moment we have nonsense said her father making yourself a slave to the game like that but i want to papa honestly i am restless at having been so overcome and mr knight doesn t mind so what harm can there be let us play by all means if you wish it said knight so when was over the withdrew to the quiet of the library and the door was closed seemed to have an idea that her conduct was rather ill regulated and free from conventional restraint and worse she fancied upon knight s face a slightly amused look at her proceedings you think me foolish i suppose she said but i want to do my very best just once and see whether i can overcome you certainly nothing more natural though i am afraid it is not the plan adopted by women of the world after a defeat why pray because they know that as good as is skill hi recollection of turn their to that entirely a pair of blue eyes i am wrong again of course perhaps your wrong is more pleasing than their right i don t quite know whether you mean that or whether you are laughing at me she said looking at him yet to accept the more flattering interpretation i am almost sure you think it vanity in me to think i am a match for you well if you do i say that vanity is no crime in such a case well perhaps not though it is hardly a virtue yes in battle s bravery lay in his vanity indeed then so did his death o no no for it is written in the book of the prophet shakespeare fear and be slain no worse can come to fight and fight and die is death destroying death and down they sat and the contest began having the first move	45
s mind in this manner is half way to her heart for the distance between her reason and her feeling is short and are you really going away this week said mrs to knight on the following evening which was sunday they were all leisurely climbing the hill to the church where a last service was now to be held at the rather exceptional time of evening instead of in the afternoon previous to the of the portions i am intending to cross to cork from returned knight and then i go on to return this way and stay a little longer with us said the a week is nothing we have hardly been able to realize your presence yet i remember a story which the suddenly stopped he had forgotten it was sunday and would probably have gone on in his week day mode of thought had not a turn in the breeze blown the skirt of his college gown within the range of his vision and so reminded him he at once diverted the current of his narrative with the dexterity the occasion demanded the story of the who to from which i took my text the sunday before last is quite to the point he continued with the of a man who far from having intended to tell a week day story a moment earlier had thought of nothing but sabbath matters for several weeks what did he gain after all by his restlessness had he remained in the city of the and not been so anxious for ah none oi his troubles would have arisen but he had wasted five days already said knight smiling at the s diversion his fault lay in beginning the system originally true true my illustration fails but not the hospitality which prompted it so you are to come just the same v l e as r cow for she had seen an almost xi l a fair of blue eyes countenance in her step daughter at knight s announce ment knight half promised to call on his return journey but the uncertainty with which he spoke was quite enough to fill with a interest in all he did during the few remaining hours the having already twice that day in the two churches mr had undertaken the whole of the evening service and knight read the lessons for him the sun streamed across from the west window and lighted all the assembled with a golden glow knight as he read being illuminated by the same mellow lustre regarded him with a throbbing sadness of mood which was fed by a sense of being far removed from his sphere as he went deliberately through the chapter appointed a portion of the history of and ascended that magnificent climax of the wind the earthquake the fire and the still small voice his deep tones echoed past with such apparent disregard of her existence that his presence inspired her with a forlorn sense of which his absence would hardly have been able to cause at the same time turning her face for a moment to catch the glory of the dying sun as it fell on his face her eyes were arrested by the shape and aspect of a woman in the west gallery it was the bleak barren countenance of the widow whom had not seen much of since the morning of her return with smith possessing the smallest of this unhappy woman appeared to spend her life in between churchyard and that of a village near where her father and mother were laid she had not attended the service here for a considerable time and she now seemed to have a reason for choice of seat from the gallery window the tomb of her son was plainly visible standing as the nearest object in a prospect which was closed outwardly by the horizon of the sea the streaming rays too her face now bent towards with a hard and a x e c ex that the solemnity of the place raised to a tt x ml x a fair of blue eyes possess the girl resumed her normal attitude with an added s emotion was and after a while would assert itself on a sudden a slight touch was enough to it free a poem a sunset a contrived of music a vague imagining being the usual accidents of its exhibition the longing for knight s respect which was leading up to an yearning for his love made the present a sufficient one while ing down previous to leaving when the sunny streaks had gone upward to the roof and the lower part of the church was in soft shadow she could not help thinking of s morbid poem the three graves and shuddering as she wondered if mrs were cursing her she wept as if her heart would break they came out of church just as the sun went down leaving the landscape like a platform from which an eloquent speaker has retired and nothing remains for the audience to do but to rise and go home mr and mrs went off in the carriage knight and preferring to walk as the skilful old had imagined they descended the hill together i liked your reading mr knight presently found herself saying you read better than papa i will praise anybody that will praise me you played miss and very correctly correctly yes it must be a great pleasure to you to take an active part in the service i want to be able to play with more feeling but i have not a good selection of music sacred or i wish i had a nice little music library well chosen and that the only new pieces sent me were those of genuine merit i am glad to hear such a wish from you it is extraordinary how many women have no	45
is altogether a failure well you know what i mean even though my words are badly selected and commonplace she said impatiently because i utter commonplace words you must not suppose i think only commonplace thoughts my poor stock of words are like a limited number of rough i have to cast all my materials in good and bad and the novelty or delicacy of the substance is often lost in the coarse of the form very well believe that ingenious representation as to the subject in hand lives which are failures you need not trouble yourself anybody s life may be just as romantic and strange and vi or she fails as if be or she succeed aw d ei t s a a a pair of blue eyes chapter is wanting in the story if a man of power tries to do a great deed and just falls short of it by an accident not his fault up to that time his history had as much in it as that of a great man who has done his great deed it is of the world to hold that particulars of how a lad went to school and so on should be as an interesting romance or as nothing to them precisely as the lad in after years becomes renowned or with the power to become so does not they were walking between the sunset and the with the dropping of the sun a nearly full moon had begun to show itself their shadows as cast by the western glare showed signs of becoming in the interest of a rival pair in the opposite direction which the moon was bringing to distinctness i consider my life to some extent a failure said knight again after a pause during he had noticed the shadows you how i don t precisely know but in some way i have missed the mark really to have done it is not much to be sad about but to feel that you have done it must be a cause of sorrow am i right partly though not quite for a sensation of being profoundly experienced serves as a sort of consolation to people who are conscious of having taken wrong contradictory as it seems there is nothing truer than that people who have always gone right don t know half as much about the nature and ways of going right as those who have gone wrong however it is not desirable for me to chill your summer time by going into this you have not told me even now if i am really vain if i s y yes i shall offend you if i say no you ll think i don t mean it he replied looking curiously into her face ah well she replied with a little laugh of distress that which is exceeding deep who shall find it out i suppose i must take you as i do the b b e o x w understand all i can and on the oi ax the rest in a lump hy simple faith m v l a pair of blue eyes will worldly greatness requires so much to grow up in tliat an infirmity more or less is not a matter for regret as regards women i can t say answered knight carelessly but it is without doubt a misfortune for a man who has a living to get to be born of a truly noble nature a high soul will bring a man to the so you may be right in sticking up for vanity no no i don t do that she said mr knight when you are gone will you send me something you have written i think i should like to see whether you write as you have lately spoken or in your better mood which is your true self the you have been this evening or the nice philosopher you were up to tonight ah which you know as well as i their conversation detained them on the lawn and in the till the stars out flung back her head and said idly there s a bright star exactly over me each bright star is overhead somewhere is it o yes of course where is that one and she pointed with her finger that is poised like a white hawk over one of the cape islands and that looking down upon the source of the and that lonely quiet looking one he watches the north pole and has no less than the whole for his horizon and that idle one low down upon the ground that we have almost rolled away from is in india over the head of a young friend of mine who very possibly looks at the star in our as it hangs low upon his horizon and thinks of it as marking where his true love dwells glanced at knight with did he mean her she could not see his features but his attitude seemed to show the star is over my head she said with hesitation or anybody s in e o yes i see with a oi x l a pair of blue eyes his parents i believe are natives of this county j don t know them though i have been in correspondence with him for many years till lately fortunately or unfortunately for him he fell in love and then went to since that time i have heard very little of him knight went no farther in his volunteered statement and though at one moment was inclined to profit by the lessons in honesty he had just been giving her the flesh was weak and the intention dispersed into silence there seemed a reproach in knight s blind words and yet she was not able to clearly define any she had been guilty o chapter xx a distant in the hill knight	45
turned his back upon the parish of and crossed over to cork one day of absence itself on another and his heart he pushed on to the lakes of amid their luxuriant woods surveyed the infinite variety of island hill and to be there found listened to the marvellous echoes of that romantic spot but altogether missed the glory and the dream he formerly found in such favored regions while in the company of her girlish presence had not affected him to any depth he had not been conscious that her entry into his sphere had added anything to himself but now that she was taken away he was very conscious of a great deal being abstracted the had become a necessity and knight was in love fell in love with by looking at her knight by ceasing to do so when or how the spirit entered into him he knew not certain he was that when on the point of leaving he had felt none of that exquisite of sadness natural to such seeing how delightful a subject of contemplation had been ever since had he begun to love her when she met his eye after her on the tower he had simply thought her weak had he grown to love her while standing on the lawn brightened all over by the evening sun he had thought her complexion good no more was it her conversation that had sown the seed he had thought her words ingenious and very creditable to a young but not had the to do with it certainly not he had her at that time a rt of ue e yes ic knight s experience was a complete of the ai that love always comes by glances of the eye ant sympathetic touches of the fingers that like flame i makes itself palpable at the moment of generation till they were parted and she had become in his memory could he be said to have even attentively regarded her thus having gathered up images of her which his mind did not act upon till the cause of them was no longer before him he appeared to himself to have fallen in love with her soul which had temporarily assumed its to accompany him on his way she began to rule him so now that accustomed to analysis he almost trembled at the possible result of the introduction of this new force among the nicely adjusted ones of his ordinary life he became restless then he forgot all subjects in the pleasure of thinking about her yet it must be said that knight loved rather than he thought of her manner towards him simplicity on was she he said to himself no forcible translation of favor into suspicion was able to such a theory the performance had been too well done to be anything but real it had the defects without which nothing is genuine no of twenty years standing no fashionable lady whose earliest season out was lost in the discreet mist of talk could have played before him the part of girl as lived it she had the little artful ways which partly make up there are by nature and by there doubtless are also of both though i have only met those of the latter knight had been looked upon as a bachelor by what was he coming to it was very odd to him if to look at his theories on the subject of love and them now by the full light of a new experience to how much more his sentences meant than he m to mean when they were written x ol r the real force of a old m k m or v v a pair of blue eyes thrust upon them by a chance adventure but knight had never before known the case of a man who learned the full compass of his own by such means he was intensely satisfied with one aspect of the affair in him was an invincible objection to be any but the first comer in a woman s heart he had discovered himself the condition that if ever he did make up his mind to marry it must be on the certainty that no out of inconvenient old letters no bow and blush to a mysterious stranger casually met should be a possible source of knight s sentiments were only the ordinary ones of a man of his age who loves warmly perhaps exaggerated a little by his pursuits when men first love as lads it is with the very centre of their hearts nothing else being concerned in the operation with added years more of the faculties attempt a in the passion till at knight s age the understanding is fain to have a hand in it it may as well be left out a man in love setting up his brains as a of his position is like a ship s from a light at the knight argued from s ot manner which was matter of fact to an in love which was matter of only les he said had hardly looked upon a man till she saw me he had never forgotten his severity to her because she preferred ornament to and had since excused her a hundred times by thinking how natural to was a love of and how necessary became a mild of personal vanity to complete the delicate and fascinating of the feminine mind so at the end of a week s absence which had brought him as far as he resolved to his tour return to and commit himself by making a reality of the offer of that sunday evening notwithstanding that he had a great deal of paper theory on social and modern manners generally the special of practice was wanting and now for his life knight fe t it was considered correct to gi e a o x a pair of ue	45
upon which lay trailing like ropes on a in these revealed the blue sea with a few of white and a solitary white sail the whole up to a keen horizon which lay like a line ruled from hill side to hill side then they rolled down a pass the toned rocks forming a wall on both sides from one of which fell a heavy jagged shade over half the a of fresh water burst from an occasional and down upon broad green leaves ran along as a at the bottom locks of the brow of each steep whence at divers points a swung forth into mid air t vl v dresses like a they mounted the last crest and c as p r of blue eyes be the end of their pilgrimage burst upon them the ocean deepened its color as it stretched to the feet of the where it terminated in a fringe of white silent at this distance though moving and heaving like a upon a restless the hollows of the purple and brown rocks would have been called blue had not that tint been so entirely appropriated by the water beside them the carriage was put up at a little cottage with a shed attached and an and the coachman carried the of provisions down to the shore knight found his opportunity did not forget your wish he began when they were apart from their friends looked as if she did not understand and i have brought you these he continued awkwardly pulling out a case and opening it while holding it towards her o mr knight said confused and turning to a lively red i didn t know you had any intention or meaning in what you said i thought it a mere supposition i don t want them a thought which had flashed into her mind gave the reply a greater than it might otherwise have possessed to morrow was the day for s letter but will you not accept them knight returned feeling less her master than heretofore i would rather not they are beautiful more beautiful than any i have ever seen she answered earnestly looking half at the temptation as eve may have looked at the apple but i don t want to have them if you will kindly forgive me mr knight no kindness at all said mr knight brought to a full stop at this unexpected turn of events a silence followed knight held the open case looking rather at the glittering forms he had taken such trouble to procure turning it about and holding it up as i feeling his gift to be by her he was resolved to admire it very much himself shut them up and don t let me see them any longer do i she said and with a quaint mixture of reluctance and entreaty a fair of blue eyes why not to you mr knight o because i shall want them there i am silly i know to say that but i have a reason for not taking them now she kept in the last word for a moment intending to imply that her refusal was but somehow the word slipped out and all the rest you will take them some day i don t want to why don t you mistress because i don t i don t like to take them i have read a fact of distressing significance in that said knight since you like them your dislike to having them must be towards me no it isn t what then do you like me looked into the distance with features shaped to an expression of the criticism as regarded her answer i like you pretty well she at length murmured mildly not very much you are so sharp with me and say hard things and so how can i she replied you think me a i suppose no i don t i mean i do don t know what i think you i mean let us go to papa responded with somewhat of a delivery well i ll tell you my object in getting the present said knight with a composure intended to remove from her mind any possible impression of his being what he was her lover you see it was the very least i could do in common civility felt rather blank at this statement knight continued putting away the case i felt as anybody naturally would have you know that my words on your choice the other day were and unfair and thought an apology should take a practical shape o yes was sorry she could v a r gave such a legitimate reason it v as l s a pair of blue eyes that he had all the time a cool motive which might be stated to anybody without raising a smile had she known they were offered in that spirit she would certainly have accepted the gift and the feature was that perhaps he suspected her to imagine them offered as a lover s token which was enough if they were not mrs came now to where they were sitting to select a point for spreading their table and amid the discussion upon that subject the matter between knight and was for a while he read her refusal so certainly as the of a girl in a novel position that upon the whole he could such a beginning could knight have been told that it was a sense of fidelity struggling against new love while no less assuring as to his ultimate victory it would have entirely abstracted the wish to secure it at the same time a slight of manner was visible in them for the remainder of the afternoon the tide turned and they were obliged to ascend to higher ground the day glided on to its end in the	45
usual quiet dreamy of such occasions when every deed done and thing thought is in to avoid doing and thinking more looking idly on er the verge of a they beheld their dining table gradually being upon and their and fragments all washed away by the sea the drew a moral lesson from the scene knight replied in the same satisfied strain and then the waves rolled in furiously the green tongues of water slid up the slopes and were into foam by a careless blow falling back white and faint and leaving trailing followers behind the falling of a heavy shower was the next scene driving them to shelter in a shallow cave after which the horses were put in and they started to return homeward by the time they reached the higher the sky had again cleared and the sunset rays glanced directly upon the wet road they had climbed the formed by their carriage wheels on the ascent a pair of were as so many shining bars of gold to nothing in the distance upon turned backs and night spread over t e s a a pair of blue eyes the evening was chilly and there was no moon knight sat close to and when the darkness rendered the position of a person a matter of uncertainty particularly close edged away i hope you allow me my place he whispered o yes tis the least i can do in common civility she said the words so that he might recognize them as his own returned both of them felt delicately balanced between two thus they reached home to knight this mild experience was delightful it was to him a gentle innocent time a time which though there may not be much in it seldom itself in a man s life and has a peculiar when glanced at he is not deep in love and is by a peaceful sense of being able to enjoy the most trivial thing with a enjoyment the movement of a wave the color of a stone anything was enough for knight s drowsy thoughts of that day to themselves upon even the the had delivered himself of chiefly because something seemed to be required of him in the presence of a man ol knight s were swallowed whole the presence of led him not merely to that kind of talk from the necessities of ordinary courtesy but he listened to it took in the ideas with an make believe that they were proper and necessary and indulged in a feeling that the face of things was complete entering her room that evening found a packet for herself on the dressing table how it came there she did not know she the folds of white paper that covered it yes it was the treasure of a case containing those treasures of ornament she had refused in the dressed herself in them for a moment looked at herself in the glass blushed red and put them away they filled her dreams all that night never had she seen anything so lovely and never was it more clear a x honest woman she was in duty o s why it was not equally clear to t v x x q x a pair of blue eyes more vigorous conduct as well let those who blame her say the next morning glared in like a upon her it was s letter day and she was bound to meet the to stealthily do a deed she had never liked to secure an end she had now ceased to desire but she went there were two letters one was from the bank at st s in which she had a small private deposit probably something about inter est she put that in her pocket for a moment and going indoors and up stairs to be safer from observation opened s what was this he said to her she was to go to the st s bank and take a sum ol money which they had received private to pay her the sum was two hundred pounds there was no check order or anything in the nature of in fact the information amounted to this the money was now in the st s bank standing in her name she instantly opened the other letter it contained a deposit note from the bank for the sum of two hundred pounds which had that day been added to her account s information then was correct and the transfer made i have earned this in one year s letter went on to say and what so proper as well as pleasant for me to do as to hand it over to you to keep for our use i have plenty for myself of this should you not be disposed to let it lie idle in the bank get your father to invest it in your name on good security it is a little present to you from your more than he will i think feel now that my to your hand are anything but the dream of a silly boy not worth rational consideration with a natural delicacy in mentioning her father s marriage had refrained from all allusion to the pecuniary resources of the lady leaving this matter of fact he went on some what after his boyish manner a fair of blue eyes do you remember darling that first morning of my arrival at your house when your father read at prayers the miracle of healing the sick of the where he is told to take up his bed and walk i do and i can now so well realize the force of that passage the smallest piece of mat is the bed of the oriental and yesterday i saw a native perform the very action which reminded me to mention it but you are better	45
read than i and perhaps you knew all this long ago one day i bought some small native to send home to you as but afterwards finding they had been cast in england made to look old and over i threw them away in disgust speaking of this reminds me that we are obliged to import all our house building iron work from england never was such foresight required to be exercised in building houses as here before we begin we have to order every column lock and screw that will be required we cannot go into the next street as in london and get cast at a minute s notice mr l says somebody will have to go to england very soon and the selection of a large order of this kind i only wish i may be the man there before her lay the deposit receipt for the two hundred pounds and beside it the elegant present of knight grew cold then her cheeks felt as if by fire if by destroying the piece of paper the whole transaction could have been withdrawn from her experience she would willingly have sacrificed the money it represented she did not know what to do in either case she almost feared to let the two articles lie in so were the interests they represented that a miraculous of one by the other was almost to be expected that day she was seen little of by the evening she had come to a resolution and acted upon it the packet was sealed up with a tear of regret as she closed the case upon the pretty forms it contained directed and placed upon the writing table in knight s room and a letter was written to stating that as yet she hardly her position with regard to the c j s daring she was ready to her promise o v a pair of blue eyes after this letter had been written she delayed it although she did not cease to feel that the deed must be done several days passed there was another indian letter for coming unexpectedly her father saw it but made no remark why she could not tell the news this time was absolutely overwhelming as he had wished had been actually chosen as the most fitting to execute the iron work commission he had alluded to as impending this duty completed he had three months leave his letter continued that he should follow it in a week and should take the opportunity to plainly ask her father to permit the engagement then came a page expressive of his delight and hers at the and finally the information that he would write to the shipping agents asking them to telegraph and tell her when the ship bringing him home should be in sight knowing how acceptable such information would be lived and moved now as in a dream knight had at first become almost angry at her persistent refusal of his offering and no less with the manner than the fact of it but he saw that she began to look worn and ill and his vexation lessened to simple perplexity he ceased now to remain in the house for long hours together as before but made it a mere centre for and excursions in the neighborhood throw up his cards and go away he fain would have done but could not and thus himself of the privileges of a relative he went in and out the premises as fancy led him but still lingered on i don t wish to stay here another day if my presence is distasteful he said one afternoon at first you used to imply that i was severe with you and when i am kind you treat me no no don t say so the origin of their had been such as to render their manner towards each other peculiar and uncommon it was of a kind to cause them to speak out their minds on any feelings of objection and difference to be on matters i have a good mind to go never trouble you again continued knight a fair of blue eyes she said nothing but the eloquent expression of her eyes and wan face was enough to reproach him for do you like me to be here then knight inquired gently yes she said fidelity to the old love and truth to the new were ranged on opposite sides and truth prevailed then i ll stay a little longer said knight don t be vexed if i keep by myself a good deal will you perhaps something may happen and i may tell you something mere said knight to himself and went away with a lighter heart the trick of reading truly forces at work in woman at given times which with some men is an instinct is peculiar to minds less direct and honest than knight s the next evening about five o clock before knight had returned from a pilgrimage along the shore a man walked up to the house he was a messenger from the station at to which place the railway had been advanced during the summer a for miss and a shilling to pay for a special messenger miss sent out the money signed the paper and opened her letter with a trembling hand she read liverpool to miss near off four o clock expect will dock and land passengers at basin ten o clock to morrow morning her father called her into the study who sent you that message he asked suspiciously johnson who is johnson for heaven s sake i don t know the deuce you don t i who is to know then i have never heard of him till now that s a story isn t it v i don t know o a pair of blue come come miss i what	45
was the do you really wish to know papa well i do remember i am a full grown woman now well what then being a woman and not a child i may i think have a secret or two you will it seems women have as a rule but don t keep them so speak out if you will not press me now i give my word to tell you the meaning of all this before the week is past on your honor t on my honor very well i have had a certain suspicion you know and i shall be glad to find it false i don t like your manner lately at the end of the week i said papa her father did not reply and left the room she began to look out for the again the next morning he brought an inland letter from it contained very little matter having been written in haste but the meaning was enough said he should arrive at his father s house east at five or six o clock that same evening that he would after dusk walk on to the next village and meet her if she would in the church porch as in the old time he proposed this plan because he thought it to call formally at her house so late in the evening yet he could not sleep without having seen her the minutes would seem hours till he clasped her in his arms was still steadfast in her opinion that honor compelled her to meet him probably the very longing to avoid him lent additional weight to the conviction for she was one of those who sigh for the to whom a hope is pleasing because not a possession and she knew it so well that her intellect was inclined to this defect in herself so during the day she looked her duty in the ce read s xi x j va to a pair of blue eyes that deity committed herself to her guidance and still felt the weight of chance desires but she began to take a melancholy pleasure in contemplating the sacrifice of herself to the man whom a sense of propriety compelled her to regard as her only possible husband would meet him and do all that lay in her power to marry him chapter on the cold grey stones o sea f had said that he should come by way of and thence by the steamer to in to avoid the long journey over the hills from st s he did not know of the extension of the railway during the afternoon a thought occurred to that from any cliff along the shore it would be possible to see the steamer some hours before its arrival she had accumulated religious force enough to do an act of the act was this to go to some point of land and watch for the ship that brought her future husband home it was a cloudy afternoon was often diverted from a purpose by a dull sky and though she used to persuade herself that the weather was as fine as possible on the other side of the clouds she could not bring about any practical result from this fancy now her mood was such that the sky having ascended and passed over a hill behind the house came to a small stream she used it as a guide to the coast it was smaller than that in her own valley and flowed altogether at a higher level lined the slopes of its shallow basin but at the bottom where the water flowed was a soft green carpet in a strip two or three yards wide in winter the water flowed over the grass in summer as now it along a channel in the midst had a sensation of eyes regarding her from j she turned and there was mr knight he had dropped into the valley from the side of the hill she it a of pleasure and d t to exist what utter loneliness to o i a pair of blue eyes i am going to the shore by the stream i believe it itself not far off in a silver thread of water over a of great height why do you load yourself with that heavy to look over the sea with it she said faintly i ll carry it for you to your journey s end and he look the glass from her hands it cannot be half a mile farther see there is the water he pointed to a short fragment of level muddy grey color cutting against the sky had already the small surface of ocean visible and had seen no ship they walked along in company sometimes with the brook between them for it was no wider than a man s stride sometimes close together the green carpet grew and they kept higher up one of the two between which they walked lower and became insignificant that on the right hand rose with their advance and terminated ia a edge against the light as if it were abruptly off a little farther and the bed of the ended in the same fashion they had come to a bank breast high and over it the valley was no longer to be seen it was withdrawn and completely in its place was sky and boundless atmosphere and down beneath them small and far off lay the surface of the atlantic the small stream here found its death running over the precipice it was dispersed in spray before it was half way down and falling like rain upon projecting made minute grassy meadows of them lower down it s away amid the of the cliff this was the end of the river what are you looking for said knight following the direction of her eyes she was gazing hard at a black object	45
nearer to the shore than to the horizon from the summit of which came a haze stretching like over the sea the from to said i think that is it look glass r io a pair of blue eyes knight pulled open the old fashioned but powerful and handed it to who had looked on with heavy eyes i can t keep it up now she said rest it on my shoulder it is too high under my arm too low you may look instead she murmured weakly knight raised the glass to his eye and swept the sea till the entered its field yes it is the i can see her figure head distinctly a bird with a as big as its head can you see the deck wait a minute yes pretty clearly and i can see the black forms of the passengers against its white surface one of them has taken something from another a glass i think yes it is and he is it in this direction depend upon it we are conspicuous objects against the sky to them now it seems to rain upon them and they put on and open they vanish and go below all but that one who has borrowed the glass he is a slim young fellow and still watches us grew pale and shifted her little feet uneasily knight lowered the glass i think we had better return he said that cloud which is on them may soon reach us why you look ill how is that something in the air affects my face those fair cheeks are very fastidious i fear returned knight tenderly this air would make those rosy that were never so before one would think eh nature s spoilt child s color returned again there is more to see behind us after all said knight she turned her back upon the boat and smith and saw towering still higher than themselves the face of the hill on the right which did not project so far as the bed of the valley but formed the back of a small and so was mv a wall bending from their position h i a pair of blue eyes the composition of the huge hill was revealed to its and here at its rent extremity it consisted of a vast of slate in its whole height by a single change of shade it is with cliffs and mountains as with persons they have what is called a presence which is not to their actual bulk a little cliff will impress you powerfully a great one not at all it depends as with man upon the countenance of the cliff i cannot bear to look at that cliff said it has a horrid personality and makes me shudder we will go can you climb said knight if so we will ascend by that path over the grim old fellow s brow try me said i have ascended slopes than that from where they had been a grassy path wound along inside a bank placed as a for to the top of the precipice and over if along the hill in an inland direction take my arm miss said knight i can get on better without it thank you when they were one quarter of the way up stopped to take breath knight stretched out his hand she took it and they ascended the remaining slope together reaching the very top they sat down to rest by mutual consent heavens what an said knight between his and looking far over the sea the at the bottom of the slope appeared a mere span in height from where they were now was looking to the left the was in full view again now and by reason of the vast surface of sea their higher position uncovered it seemed almost close to the shore over that edge said knight where nothing but appears is a moving compact mass the wind strikes the face of the rock runs up it rises like a fountain to far above our heads curls over us in an arch and behind us in fact an d n s as perfect as the falls but t w a a o ing and air instead of water now p of blue eyes knight threw a stone over the bank it as to go onward over the cliff reaching the verge it into the air like a bird turned back and alighted on the ground behind them they themselves were in a dead calm a boat crosses immediately at the foot of the falls where the water is quite still the fallen mass under it we are in precisely the same position with regard to our here if you run back from the cliff fifty yards you will be in a brisk wind now i dare say over the bank is a little backward current knight arose and leaned over the bank no sooner was his head above it than his hat appeared to be sucked from his head slipping over his forehead in a direction that s the backward as i told you he cried and vanished over the little bank after his hat waited one minute he did not return she waited another and there was no sign of him a few drops of rain fell then a sudden shower she arose and looked over the bank on the other side were two or three yards of level ground then the verge of the precipice on the slope was knight his hat on his head he was on his hands and knees trying to climb back to the level ground the rain had the surface of the incline a slight superficial of soil of any kind makes it far more slippery to stand on than the same soil thoroughly the inner substance is still hard and is	45
by the i find a difficulty in getting back said knight s heart fell like lead but you can get back she wildly inquired knight strove with all his might for two or three minutes and the drops of perspiration began to bead his brow no i am unable to do it he answered by a of thought forced away from her mind the sensation that knight was in bodily danger but attempt to help him she must she ventured upon the treacherous incline propped herself with the closed and gave him her hand before v s her move a pair of ue e yes o why did you said he i am afraid you have only yourself and as if to prove his statement in making an endeavor by her assistance they both slipped lower and then he was again stayed his foot was propped by a of rock balanced on the verge of the precipice fixed by this he her her head being about a foot below the beginning of the slope had dropped the glass it rolled to the edge and vanished over it into a sky hold tightly to me he said she flung her arms round his neck with such a firm grasp that while he remained it was impossible for her to fall don t be knight continued so long as we stay above this block we are perfectly safe wait a moment while i consider what we had better do he turned his eyes to the dizzy depths beneath them and surveyed the position of two glances told him a tale with ghastly distinctness it was that unless they performed their feat of getting up the slope with the of machines they were over the edge and whirling in mid air for this purpose it was necessary that he should recover the breath and strength which his previous efforts had cost him so he still waited and looked in the face of the enemy the crest of this terrible natural fa passed among the neighboring inhabitants as being seven hundred feet above the water it it had been proved by actual to be not a foot less than six hundred and fifty that is to say it is nearly three times the height of half as high again as the south a hundred feet higher than head the on the east or south side of this island twice the height of st s thrice as high as the and just double the height of st bee s one point on the western coast is known to it in but only by a few feet this is great s head in t v v nd it must be remembered t at t i s e ma a pair of ue e yes feature which some of those are without from the half tide level yet this remarkable forms no it rather walls in an the on each side being much lower thus far from being its section is the sea rolling direct from the shores of north america has in fact eaten a chasm into the middle of a hill and the giant and stands in the rear of not least singularly neither hill chasm nor precipice has a name or the tradition of a name on this account we will call the precipice the without a name what gave an added terror to its height was its blackness and upon this dark face the beating of ten thousand west winds had formed a kind of bloom which had a effect not unlike that of a black moreover it seemed to float off into the atmosphere and inspire terror through the lungs this piece of supporting my feet is on the very nose of the cliff said knight breaking the silence after his rigid meditation now what you are to do is this up my body till your feet are on my shoulders when you are there you will i think be able to climb on to level ground what will you do wait while you run for assistance i ought to have done that in the first place ought i not i was in the act of slipping and should have reached no standing point without your weight in all probability but don t let us talk be brave and climb she prepared to ascend saying this is the moment i anticipated when on the tower i thought it would this is not a time for superstition said knight dismiss all that i will she said humbly now put your foot into my hand next the other that s good well done now to ray shoulder she placed her feet upon a he made of his hands and was high enough to get a view of the natural surface of the hill over the bank a pair of blue eyes can you now climb on to level ground i am afraid not i will try what can you see the sloping common what upon it purple and some grass nothing more no man or human being of any kind nobody try to get higher in this way you see that of sea pink above you get that well into your hand but don t trust to it entirely then step upon my shoulder and think you will reach the top with trembling knees she did exactly as he told her the quiet and solemnity of his manner upon herself and gave her a courage not her own she made a spring from the top of his shoulder and was up then she turned to look at him by an ill fate the force downwards of her bound added to his own weight had been too much for the block of upon which his feet depended it was indeed an into the enormous mass of black which had been from the sides of the alien fragments by	45
centuries of frost and rain and now left it without much support it moved knight seized a of sea pink with each hand the rock which had been his salvation was worse than useless now it rolled over out of sight and away into the same sky that had the one of the by which he held came out at the root and knight began to follow the it was a terrible moment uttered a low wild wail of agony bowed her head and covered her face with her hands between the turf covered slope and the gigantic rock was an intervening weather worn series of jagged edges forming a face yet than the former slope as he slowly slid inch by inch upon these knight made a last desperate dash at the lowest of vegetation the last knot of starved ere the ct m j j it arrested his farther x l a pair of blue eyes now literally suspended by his but the incline of the brow was what would call about a quarter in one which was sufficient to relieve his arms of a portion of his weight but was very far from offering a sufficiently flat face to support him in spite of this dreadful of body and mind knight found time for a moment of was safe she lay on her side above him her fingers clasped seeing him again steady she jumped upon her feet now if i can only save you by running for help she cried o i would have died instead why did you try so hard to deliver me and she turned away wildly to run for assistance how long will it take you to run to and back three quarters of an hour that won t do my hands will not hold out ten minutes and is there nobody nearer no unless a chance may happen to be he would have nothing with him that could save me is there a pole or stick of any kind on the common she gazed around the common was bare of everything but and grass a minute perhaps more time was passed in mute thought by both on a sudden the blank and helpless agony left her face she vanished over the bank from his sight knight felt himself alone in a terrible loneliness chapter xxii love will find out the way haggard cliffs of every ugly are as common as sea fowl along the line of coast between and land s end but this and specimen was the of them all their are not safe places for scientific experiment on the principles of air currents as knight had now found to his dis may he still clutched the face of the not with the hold of despair but with a dogged determination to make the most of his every of endurance and so give the longest possible scope to s intentions whatever they might be he hand in hand with the world in its infancy not a blade not an insect which spoke of the present was between him and the past the of these black to all the for life is in no way more forcibly suggested than by the absence of the of grass or from their fronts and knight pondered on the meaning of s hasty disappearance but could avoid an instinctive conclusion that there existed but a doubtful hope for him as far as he could judge his sole chance of lay in the possibility of a rope or pole being brought and this possibility was remote indeed the soil upon these high downs was left so that they were for miles except by a casual bank or dry wall and were rarely visited but for the purpose of collecting or counting the flock which found a scanty means of at first when death appeared i l i s had never visited him before t co x d k lo l p r of blue eyes ture nor of anything connected with his past he could only look sternly at nature s treacherous attempt to put an end to him and strive to her from the fact that the cliff formed the inner face of the of a huge having the sky for a top and the sea for a bottom which enclosed the to the extent of more than a he could see the face round on each side of him he looked far down the fa and realized more thoroughly how it threatened him was in every feature and to its very the shape was desolation by one of those familiar in which the world the mind of man when he pauses in moments of suspense opposite knight s eyes was an standing forth in low relief from the rock it was a creature with eyes the eyes dead and turned to stone were even now regarding him it was one of the early called separated by millions of years in their lives knight and this seemed to have met in their death it was the single instance within reach of his vision of anything that had ever been alive and had had a body to save as he himself had now this creature represented but a low type of animal existence for never in their years had the plains indicated by those been traversed by an intelligence worthy of the name shell fish were the highest of those ancient dates the immense of time each formation had known nothing of the dignity of man they were grand times but they were mean times too and mean were their relics he was to be with the small in his death knight was a and such is the of habit over occasion as a of the thoughts of men that at this dreadful juncture his mind found time to take in by a momentary sweep the varied scenes that	45
had had day between this creature s epoch and his own there is no place like a landscape for bringing home such as these time a up like a before him he saw himself at one extremity of the o m a pair of blue eyes and all the centuries simultaneously fierce men clothed in the hides of beasts and carrying for defence and attack huge clubs and pointed rose from the rock like the before the doomed they lived in hollows woods and mud huts perhaps in of the neighboring rocks behind them stood an earlier band no man was there huge forms the the the of monstrous size the and the all for the moment in farther back and by these were perched huge birds and creatures as large as horses still more shadowy were the sinister outlines and other horrible in the colossal the folded behind were forms and clouds of flying still underneath were beings of lower development and so on till the life time scenes of the him were a present and modern condition of things these images passed before knight s inner eye in less than half a minute and he was again considering the actual present was he to die the mental picture of in the world without himself to cherish her smote his heart like a whip he had hoped for but what could a girl do he dared not move an inch was death really stretching out his hand the previous sensation that it was improbable he would die was fainter now however knight still clung to the cliff to those hardy weather beaten individuals who pass the greater part of their days and nights out of doors nature seems to have moods in other than a poetical sense moods literally and really for certain deeds at certain times without any apparent law to govern or season to account for them they read her as a person with a curious temper thus she does not scatter and alternately or in order shining on them one day on them the next but heartless or overwhelming in lawless caprice their case is always that of the prodigal s favorite or the s in her moments there seems a cruel fun in her tricks a b xv pleasure in the v ct m pa r of blue eyes this way of thinking had been foreign to knight but he began to adopt it now he was first on a rock new followed after a while the rain increased and persecuted him with exceptional the reason of which he was moved to believe to be because he was in such a wretched state already an entirely new order of things had been observed in this introduction of rain upon the scene it rained upwards instead of down the strong ascending current of air carried the rain drops with it in its race up the coming to him with such that they stuck into his flesh like cold needles each drop was a shaft and it pierced him to his skin these water shafts seemed to lift him on their points no downward rain ever had such a effect in a brief space he was except in two places these were on the top of his shoulders and on the crown of his hat the wind though not intense in situations was strong here it at his coat and lifted it we are mostly accustomed to look upon all opposition which is not as that of the stolid inexorable hand of indifference which wears out the patience more than the strength here at any rate hostility did not assume that slow sickening form it was a agency active for conquest determination not an standing in the way knight had over estimated the strength of his hands they were getting weak already she will never come again she has been gone ten minutes he said to himself this mistake arose from the unusual of his experiences just now she had really been gone but three as many more minutes will be my end he thought next came another instance of the of the mind to make at such times this is a summer afternoon he said and there can never have been such a heavy and cold rain on a summer day in my life before he was again mistaken the was quite ordinary v quantity the air in iv s a pair of blue eyes attitude in which they approached him that their powers he again looked straight downwards the wind and the water lifting his moustache up his cheeks under his eyelids and into his eyes this is what he saw down there the surface of the sea just past his toes and under his feet actually one eighth of a mile or more than two hundred yards below them we color according to our moods the objects we survey the sea would have been a deep blue had happier attended the it was now no otherwise than distinctly black to his vision that narrow white border was foam he knew well but its boisterous were so distant as to appear a only and its was barely audible a white border to a black sea his funeral pall and its the world was to some extent turned down for him rain ascended from below beneath his feet was space and the unknown above him was the firm familiar ground and upon it all that he loved best pitiless nature had then two voices and two only the nearest was the voice of the wind in his ears rising and falling as it and thrust him hard or softly the second and distant one was the moan of that ocean below and afar rubbing its restless flank against the cliff without a name knight held on had he any faith in perhaps love is faith	45
and faith like a gathered flower will live on a long time after has ceased nobody would have expected the sun to shine on such an evening as this yet it appeared low down upon the sea not with its natural golden fringe sweeping the farthest ends of the landscape not with the strange glare of whiteness which it sometimes puts on as an alternative with color but as a of red upon a leaden ground a red face looking on with a drunken most men who have brains know it and few are so foolish as to disguise this fact from themselves or others even though an display may be called s c q w knight without it much was above the average and v ox i i of blue eyes help thinking that his death would be a deliberate loss ro earth of good material that such an experiment in killing might have been upon some less developed life a fancy some people hold when in a bitter mood is that inexorable circumstance only tries to prevent what intelligence attempts a desire for a long position and go on tack and after a while the prize is thrown at you seemingly in disappointment that no more is possible knight gave up thoughts of life utterly and entirely and turned to contemplate the dark valley and the unknown future beyond into the solemn depths of these reflections we will not let it suffice to state what followed at that moment of taking no more thought for this life something disturbed the outline of the bank above him a spot appeared it was the head of knight immediately prepared to welcome life again the expression of a face consigned to utter loneliness when a friend first looks in upon it is moving in the extreme in to a light ship or sea light house where without any immediate terror of death tl e inmates experience the gloom of monotonous seclusion the grateful eloquence of their countenances at the greeting expressive of for the visit is enough to stir the emotions of the observer knight s upward look at was of a nature with but far such an instance as this the lines of his face had deepened to and every one of them thanked her visibly his lips moved to the word though the motion no sound his eyes passed all description in their combination of the whole of eloquence from lover s deep love to fellow man s gratitude for a token of remembrance from one of his kind had come back what she had come to do he did not know she could only look on at his death perhaps still she had come back and not deserted him utterly and it was enough it was a novelty in the extreme to see henry knight to whom was but a ch d o had swayed her as a tree a bird s nest who m a pair of blue eyes weep most bitterly at her own thus thankful for a sight of her face she looked down upon him her face with rain and tears he smiled faintly how calm he is she thought how great and noble he is to be so calm she would have died ten times for him then the gliding form of the caught her eye she it no longer how much longer can you wait came from her pale lips and along the wind to his position four minutes said knight in a weaker voice than her own but with a good hope of being saved seven or eight he now noticed that in her arms she bore a bundle of white linen and that her form was so thin and was at this moment that she appeared to bend under the light blows of the rain shafts as they struck into her sides and bosom and into spray on her face there is nothing like a thorough for the of clothes but s seemed to to her like a glove without the attack of the clouds farther than by raising her hand and wiping away the of rain when they went more particularly into her eyes she sat down and hurriedly began the linen into these she knotted end to end and afterwards twisted them like the of a cord in a short space of time she had formed a perfect rope by this means six or seven yards long can you wait while i bind it she said again anxiously extending her gaze down to him yes if not very long hope has given me a wonderful of strength dropped her eyes again tore the remaining material into narrow like knotted each to each as before but on a smaller scale and wound the string she had thus formed round and round the linen rope which without this binding had a tendency to spread abroad now said knight who s a fair of blue eyes intently had by this time not only grasped her scheme but reasoned farther on i can hold three minutes longer yet and do you use the time in the strength of the knots one by one she at once obeyed tested each singly by putting her foot on the rope between each knot and pulling with her hands one of the knots slipped o think it would have broken but for your exclaimed she re tied the two ends the rope was now firm in every part when you have let it down said knight already his position of ruling power go back from the edge of the slope and over the bank as far as the rope will allow you then lean down and hold the end with both hands he had first thought of a safer plan for his own but it involved the disadvantage of possibly her life i have tied it round my waist she cried and i	45
will lean directly upon the bank holding with my hands as well it was the arrangement he had thought of but would not suggest i will raise and drop it three times when i am behind the bank she continued to signify that i am ready take care o take the greatest care i beg you i she dropped the rope over him to learn how much of its length it would be necessary to on that side of the bank went back and disappeared as she had done before the rope was trailing by knight s shoulders in a few moments it moved three times he waited yet a second or two then laid hold the incline of this upper portion of the precipice to the length only of a few feet useless to a was invaluable now not more than half his weight depended entirely on the linen rope half a dozen of the arms with half a dozen of the rope with his feet x m l to the level tbe soil a pair of blue eyes he was saved and by he extended his cramped limbs like an awakened and sprang over the bank at sight of him she leaped to her feet with almost a shriek of joy s eyes met hers and with supreme eloquence the glance of each told a long concealed tale of emotion in that short half moment moved by an impulse neither could resist they ran together and into each other s arms at the moment of embracing s eyes involuntarily flashed towards the it had doubled the point and was no longer to be seen an overwhelming rush of exultation at having delivered the man she from one of the most terrible forms of death shook the gentle girl to the centre of her soul it in a defiance of duty to and a total as to faith every nerve of her will was now in to her feeling as a guiding power had forsaken her to remain passive as she remained now encircled by his arms was a sufficiently complete result a glorious crown to all the years of her life perhaps he was only grateful and did not love her no matter it was infinitely more to be even the slave of the greater than the queen of the less some such sensation as this though it was not recognized as a finished thought faced along the soul of regarding their attitude it was impossible for two persons to go nearer to a kiss than went knight and during those minutes of impulsive embrace in the rain yet they did not kiss knight s peculiarity of nature was such that it would not allow him to take advantage of the and passionate she had made recovered herself and gently struggled to be free he reluctantly her and then surveyed her from crown to toe she seemed as small as an infant he perceived whence she had obtained the rope my he exclaimed x ment i must leave now she said l pair of blue with red of an expression between gladness and shame you follow me but at some distance the rain and wind pierce you through the chill will kill you god bless you for such devotion take my coat and put it on no i shall get warm running had absolutely nothing between her and the weather but her exterior robe or costume the door had been made upon a woman s wit and it had found its way out behind the bank while knight upon the dizzy slope waiting for death she had taken off her whole clothing and replaced only her outer robe and skirt every thread of the remainder lay upon the ground in the form of a and cotton rope i am used to being wet through she added i have been on of times good bye till we meet dry and in our right mind by the fireside at home she then ran off from him through the rain like a hare or more like a when away with a lowered tail it has a mind to fly but does not was soon out of sight knight felt wet and chilled but glowing with nevertheless he fully appreciated s girlish delicacy in refusing his escort in the meagre she wore yet felt that necessary abstraction of herself for a short half hour as a most grievous loss to him he gathered up the knotted and twisted mass of linen lace and work and laid it across his arm he noticed on the ground an envelope limp and wet in to restore this to its proper shape he loosened from the envelope a piece of paper it had contained which was seized by the wind in falling from knight s hand it was blown to the right blown to the left it floated to the edge of the cliff and over the sea where it was hurled aloft it in the air and then flew back over his head ht followed the paper and secured it having done so he looked to i it had been worth securing a pair of blue eyes the troublesome sheet was a banker s receipt for two hundred pounds placed to the credit of miss which the girl had totally forgotten she carried with her knight folded it as carefully as its moist condition would allow put it in his pocket and followed her chapter should acquaintance be forgot by this time smith had stepped out at and breathed his native air a darker skin a more pronounced moustache an beard were the chief additions and noticeable in his appearance in spite of the falling rain which had lessened s what he took a small in his hand and leaving remainder of his luggage at the inn ascended the towards east this place lay in a o own farther inland than	45
the west village and near it had little of physical feature in common the latter east was more wooded and fer it boasted of lord s mansion and park and free from those bleak open which lent such ar of desolation to the of the coast always ing the small valley in which stood the and s old house the had arrived nearly at the summit of the ri when the rain again increased its volume and about for temporary shelter he ascended a steep j which penetrated dense bushes in the lower par its course farther up it emerged upon a ledge over the road and sheltered by an o hanging face of rock with bushes above f reason of his own he made this spot his refuge from storm and turning his face to the left the h as a book he was overlooking the valley containing residence from this point of a live prospect the peculiarity of being t a pair of ue e yes dark brown of distance a sudden dip in the surface of the country lowering out of sight all the prospect in apparent contact with the trees and bushes growing close beside him appeared the distant tract terminated suddenly by the brink of the series of cliffs which in the tall giant without a name small and unimportant as here beheld a leaf on a bough at s elbow blotted out a whole hill in the district far away a green bunch of nuts covered a complete there and the great cliff itself was by a in the bank hard by him had looked upon these things hundreds of times before to day but he had never viewed them with such tenderness as now stepping forward in this direction yet a little farther he could see the tower of west church beneath which he was to meet his that night and at the same time he noticed coming over the hill from the cliffs a white speck in motion it seemed first to be a sea flying low but ultimately proved to be a human figure running with great rapidity the form flitted on heedless of the rain which had caused s halt in this place dropped down the hill entered the and was out of sight while he meditated upon the meaning of this phenomenon he was surprised to see swim into his ken from the same point of departure another moving speck as different from the first as well could be that it was perceptible only by its blackness slowly and regularly it took the same course and there was not much doubt that this was the form of a man he too gradually descended from the upper and was lost in the valley below the ra in had by this time again and returned to the road looking ahead he saw two men and a cart they were soon obscured by the of a high hedge just before they emerged again he heard voices in conversation a must soon be in the too if so be he s a coming said a tenor tongue which instantly recognized as martin s a must a b said s father a pair of blue eyes stepped forward and came before them face to face his father and martin were walking dressed in their second best suits and beside them along a horse and brightly painted spring cart all right mr here s the lost man exclaimed young smith entering at once upon the old style of greeting father here i am all right my and glad i be for t returned john smith to see the young man how be ye well come along home and don t let s bide out here in the damp such weather must be terrible bad for a young chap just come from a fiery nation like hey and about getting home his traps boxes monstrous and noble of foreign description i make no doubt hardly all that said laughing we brought the cart to go right on to afore ye landed said his father put in the horse says martin ay says i so we will and did it straightway now maybe martin had better go on wi the cart for the things and you and i walk home along and i shall be back a most as soon as you s a pretty step still though time d begin to tell upon her as upon the rest o us told where to find his baggage and then continued his journey homeward in the company of his owing to your coming a day sooner than we first expected said john you ll find us in a of a mess sir sir says i to my own son but ye ve gone up we ve killed the pig this morning for ye thinking ye d be hungry and glad of a morsel of fresh mate and a won t be cut up till to night however we can make ye a good supper of which will up well wi a o and a few nice new and a drop of shilling ale to wash it down your mother have the house through because ye were coming and all the furniture and bought a new basin and of a travelling x it c me to our door and the and d l a pair of ue e yes don t know what a ha nt a done never such a steer a b conversation of this kind and inquiries of for his mother s well being occupied them for the remainder of the journey when they drew near the river and the cottage behind it they could hear the master s clock striking off the hours of the day at intervals of a quarter of a minute during which intervals s imagination readily pictured his mother s forefinger wandering round the dial in company with	45
the minute hand the clock stopped this morning and your mother is putting en right seemingly said his father in an tone and they went up the garden to the door when they had entered and had and warmly greeted his mother who appeared in a cotton dress of a dark blue ground covered with a multitude of new and full stars and with an occasional dash of a like aspect to the scene the of cart wheels was heard outside and martin stamped in at the doorway in the form of a pair of legs beneath a great box his body being nowhere visible when the luggage had been all taken down and had gone up stairs to change his clothes mrs smith s mind seemed to recover a lost thread really our clock is not worth a penny she said turning to it and attempting to start the stopped again inquired martin with yes sure replied mrs smith and continued after the manner of certain to whose tongues the harmony of a subject with a casual mood is a greater recommendation than its to the occasion john would spend pounds a year upon the thing if he might in having it when at the same time you may doctor it yourself as well the clock s stopped again john i say to him better have en says he there s five shillings that clock again i say to en better have en a says again that clock strikes wrong john says i better have en he goes on the wheels would have by this i i had listened to s n a pair of blue eyes you we could have bought a faced beauty wi the good money we ve flung away these last ten years upon this old green faced mortal and martin you must be wet my son is gone up to change john is than i should like to be but a calls it nothing some of mrs s servants have been here they ran in out of the rain when going for a walk and i assure you the state of was frightful how s the folks we ve been over to and what wi running and stopping out of the storms my poor head is beyond ever thing tis o fish from morning to night said a cracked voice in the doorway at this instant lord so s who s that said mrs smith in a private exclamation and turning round saw william worm to make himself look passing civil and friendly by his face with a large smile that seemed to have no connection with the humor he was in behind him stood a woman about twice his size with a large umbrella over her head this was mrs worm william s wife come in william said john smith we don t kill a pig every day and you likewise mrs worm make ye welcome since ye left parson william i don t see much of ye no for to tell the truth since i took to the gate line i ve been out but little coming to church o sundays not being my duty now as twas in a parson s family you see however our boy is able to mind the gate now and i said says i let s call and see john smith i am sorry to hear your head is so bad still ay i assure you that o fish is going on for nights and days and you know sometimes t only fish but o bacon and ay i can hear the fat pop and as as life can t i mrs worm who had been all this time engaged in closing her umbrella this statement and now coming in doors showed herself to be a wide faced comfortable looking woman a upon her cheek a small of hair in its c a pair of blue eyes have ye ever tried an to cure yer noise master worm inquired martin o ay bless ye i ve tried everything ay providence is a merciful man and i have hoped he d have found it out by this time living so many years in a parson s family too as i have but a don t seem to relieve me ay i be a poor man and life s a mere true mournful true william worm tis so the world wants looking to or tis all and wi us take your things off mrs worm said mrs smith we be rather in a to tell the truth for my son is dropped in from a day sooner than we expected and the pig is coming presently to cut up mrs worm not wishing to take any mean advantage of persons in a by observing them removed her bonnet and mantle with eyes fixed upon the flowers in the plot outside the door what beautiful tiger lilies said mrs worm yes they be very well but such a trouble to me on of the children that come here they will go eating the on the stem and call em taste wi is quite fancy really and your look as fierce as ever well really answered mrs smith entering into the subject they are more like christians than flowers but they make up well enough wi the rest and don t require much tending and the same can be said o these miller s wheels tis a flower i like very much though so simple having them is like asking your relations to a party they count up for a show and you haven t the trouble of em john says he d never care about the flowers o em but men have no eye for an he says his favorite flower is a and i assure you i tremble in the spring time for tis perfect murder you don t say so	45
mrs smith john round the roots you know in goes his through roots everything that hasn t got a good show above ground turning em cut all to only the very last o when i found every s of blue eyes crooked round he had turned em over in the spring and the cunning creatures had soon found that heaven was not where it used to be what s that long favored flower under the hedge they o lord they are the horrid jacob s instead of em i be mad wi em for being so ready to bide where they are not wanted they be very well in their way but i do not care for things that neglect won t kill do what i will dig drag scrap pull i get too many of em i chop the roots up they ll come strong throw em over hedge there they ll grow staring me in the face like a hungry dog drove away and creep back again in a week or two the same as before tis jacob s ladder here jacob s ladder there and plant em where nothing in the world will grow you get crowds of em in a month or two john made a new last summer and he said now if you ve got any flowers or such like that you don t want you may plant em round my so as to hide it a bit though tis not likely anything of much value will grow there i thought there s them jacob s i ll put them there since they can t do harm in a place and i planted the jacob s sure enough they and they in the and out of the all over the litter covering it quite up when john wanted to use it about the garden a said nation seize them jacob s of yours they ve eat the goodness out of every morsel of my so that tis no better than sand itself sure enough the hungry mortals had tis my belief that in the secret souls o em jacob s be weeds and not flowers at all if the truth was known robert pig and arrived at this moment the animal hanging in the back kitchen was down the middle of its mrs smith being meanwhile engaged in cooking supper between the cutting and ale was handed round and worm and the pig listened to john smith s description of the meeting with with eyes fixed upon the table cloth in order that nothing in the external world should interrupt their efforts to up the scene correctly a pair of ue e yes came down stairs in the middle of the story and after the little interruption occasioned by his entrance and welcome the narrative was again continued precisely as if he had not been there at all and was told to him as to somebody who knew nothing about the matter ay i said as i sight o en through the that s the lad for i d know en by his grandfather s walk for a out like poor father for all the world still there was a touch o the that set me wondering a got closer and i said that s the lad for i d know en by his carrying a black case like a travelling man still a road is common to all the world and there be more travelling men than one but i kept my eye cocked and i said to martin tis the boy now for i d know en by the o the stick and the family step then a closer and a said all right i could swear to en then s personal appearance was next he d look a deal thinner in face surely than when i seed en at the parson s and never en if ye ll believe me said martin ay there said another without removing his eyes s face i should ha en anywhere tis his father s nose to a t it has been often remarked said modestly and he s certainly taller said martin letting his glance run over s form from bottom to top i was thinking a was exactly the same height worm replied bless thy soul that s because he s bigger round likewise and the united eyes all moved to s waist i be a poor man but i can make said william worm ah sure and how he as a stranger and pilgrim to parson s that time not a soul knowing en after so many years ay life s a strange but i suppose i must say sir to ye it is not necessary at present replied though mentally to avoid the vicinity of familiar friends as soon as he had ld x hand of a pair of blue eyes ah well said worm some would have looked for no less than a sir there s a sight of difference in people and in pigs likewise observed john smith looking at the of his own robert the pig here seemed called upon to enter the lists of conversation yes they ve got their particular good now he remarked many s the rum tempered pig i ve i don t doubt it master answered martin in a tone expressing that his convictions no less than good manners demanded the reply yes continued the pig as one accustomed to be heard one that i was deaf and dumb and we couldn t make out what was the matter wi the pig a would eat well enough when a seed the but when his back was turned you might a rattled the bucket all day the poor soul never heard ye ye could play tricks upon en behind his back and a wouldn t find it out no quicker than poor deaf gates but a well and i never seed a pig open	45
better when a was killed and a was very tender eating very as pretty a bit of mate as ever you see j you could that mate through a and another i resumed the after quietly letting a pint of ale run down his throat of its own accord and setting down the cup with upon the spot from which he had raised it another went out of his mind how very mournful murmured mrs worm ay poor thing a did as clean out of his mind as the could g in early life a was very melancholy and never seemed a hopeful pig by no means twas candle s pig that s whose pig twas i can mind the pig well enough john smith and a pretty little a was and you all know farmer s sort every jack o em from the to this da owing to a damp they lived in when they were as well now we ll weigh said o mu a pair of blue eyes if so be he were not so fine we d weigh en whole but as he is we ll take a side at a time john you can mind my old joke ey a good old joke that i do so though twas a good few years ago i first heard en yes said that there old familiar joke have been in our family for generations i may say my father used that joke constantly at pig for more than five years the time he followed the calling and a told me that a had it from his father when he was quite a who made use o en just the same at every killing more or less and pig were pig in those days they were i ve never heard the joke said mrs smith nor i in mrs worm who being the only other lady in the room felt bound by the laws of courtesy to feel like mrs smith in everything surely surely you have said the looking at the females however t much i don t wish to say it is it like this bob will tell the weight of your pig a b says i the congregation of neighbors think i mane my son bob naturally but the secret is that i mane the bob o the ha ha ha laughed martin who had heard the explanation for the time laughed john smith who had heard it for the laughed william worm who had never heard it at all but was afraid to say so thy grandfather robert must have been a chap to make that story said martin to a placid aspect of delighted criticism had a head by all account and you see as the first born of the have all been they ve all been so the story was handed down to the present day poor joseph your second boy will never be able tc bring it out in company which is mrs worm thoughtfully a pair of ue e yes a won t yes was a chap as ye say but i a twas my uncle uncle made a snuff box that should be a puzzle to his friends to open he used to hand en round at wedding parties and in other jolly company and let em try their skill this extraordinary snuff box had a spring behind that would push in and out a where seemed to be the cover a slide at the end a screw in front and and mysterious everywhere one man would try the spring another would try the screw another would try the slide but try as they the box wouldn t open and they couldn t open en and they didn t open en now what might you think was the secret of that box all put on an expression that their united thoughts were inadequate to the occasion the box wouldn t open at all a were made not to open and ye might have tried till the end of revelations have been as naught for the box were all round a very deep man to have made such a box yes twas like uncle all over twas i can mind the man very well man ever i seed a was so he never slept upon a after he up a hard boy chap never could get one long enough when a lived in that little small house by the pond he used to have to leave open his chamber door every night at going to bed and let his feet out upon the landing he s dead and gone now nevertheless poor man as we all shall observed worm to fill the pause which followed the conclusion of robert s speech the weighing and cutting up was pursued amid an animated discourse on s travels and at the finish the first fruits of the day s slaughter in were then turned from the pan into a dish on the table each piece steaming and till it reached their very mouths it must be owned that the gentlemanly son of the house looked rather out of place in the course of this operation nor was mind quite philosophic enough to allow him to be comfortable with these ther s old friends had never lived long at se x a pair of blue eyes childhood the presence of william worm was the most awkward feature of the case for though worm had left the house of mr the being hand in glove with a reminded too forcibly of the s of himself before he went from england mrs smith was conscious of the defect in her arrangements which had brought about the she spoke to privately i am above having people here but what could i do and your father is so rough in his nature that he s more mixed up with em than	45
need be never mind mother said j put up with it now when we leave my lord s service and get farther down the country as i hope we shall soon it will be different we shall be among fresh people and in a larger house and shall keep ourselves up a bit i hope is miss at home do you know inquired yes your father saw her this morning do you often see her scarcely ever mr the calls occasionally but the don t come into the village now any more than to drive through it they dine at my lord s oftener than they used ah here s a note was brought this morning for you by a boy eagerly took the note and opened it his mother watching him he read what had written and sent before she started for the cliff that morning yes j i will meet you in the church at nine to night e s i don t know his mother said r you still think about miss but if i were you i wouldn t concern about her they say that none of old mrs s money will come to her step daughter i see the evening has turned out fine i am going out for a little while to look round the place he said the direct probably by e m w will be gone and we ll have a x chapter xxiv breeze bird and flower confess the hour the rain had ceased since the sunset but it was a cloudy night and the light of the moon softened and dispersed by its misty veil was distributed over the land in pale grey a dark figure stepped from the doorway of john smith s river side cottage and strode rapidly towards west with a light footstep soon ascending from the lower he turned a corner followed a cart track and saw the tower of the church he was in quest of distinctly shaped forth against the sky in less than half an hour from the time of starting he swung himself over the churchyard the wild irregular was as much as ever an part of the old hill the grass was still long the graves were shaped precisely as passing years chose to alter them from their form as laid down by martin and by s own grandfather before him a sound sped into the air from the direction in which lay it was the striking of the church clock distinct in the still atmosphere as if it had come from the tower hard by which in its solitary gave out no such sounds of life one two three four five six seven eight nine carefully counted the strokes though he well knew their number beforehand nine o clock it was the hour had herself named as the most convenient for meeting him stood at the door of the porch and listened he could have heard the v x x of person in the porch nobody was there h v a pair of blue eyes i way sat down upon the stone bench and waited with a beating heart the faint sounds heard only the silence the rising and falling of the sea far away along the coast was the most important a minor sound was the of a distant night hawk among the where all were minute was the light settlement of fragments floating in the air a humbly laboring along through the grass near the entrance the of a dead leaf which a worm was to pull into the earth a of air getting nearer and nearer and at his feet under the burden of a winged seed among all these soft sounds came not the only soft sound he cared to hear the of for a whole quarter of an hour sat thus intent without moving a muscle at the end of that time he walked to the west front of the church turning the corner of the tower a white form stared him in the he started back and recovered himself it was the tomb of young farmer looking still as fresh and as new as when it was first erected the white stone in which it was having a singular amid the dark blue from local of which the whole remaining were formed he thought of the night when he had sat with as his companion and well remembered his regret that she had received even unwillingly earlier homage than his own but his present anxiety reduced such a feeling to sentimental nonsense in comparison and he strolled on over the graves to the border of the churchyard whence in the day time could be clearly seen the and the present residence of the no footstep was upon the path up the hill but a light was shining from a window in the last named house knew there could be o mistake about the time or place and no difficulty about keeping the engagement he waited yet longer passing from impatience into a mood which failed to take any account of the lapse of time he was awakened from his reverie by clock one two three four five six x fi one little fall of the hammer in add v ox o a ti a pair of ue e yes it had been pleasure to hear and what a difference to him he left the churchyard on the side opposite to his point of entrance and went down the hill slowly he drew near the gate of her house this he softly opened and walked up the gravel drive to the door here he paused for several minutes i at the of that time a clear soft laugh came out to his ears through an open window behind the comer of the house it was the laugh of was conscious of a pain at his heart he retreated	45
as he had come there are disappointments which us and there are those which inflict a wound whose mark we bear to our graves such are so keen that no future gratification of the same desire can ever them they become at once as a permanent loss of happiness such a one was s now the crowning of the dream had been the meeting here by and if had come to him only ten minutes after he had turned away the disappointment would have been still when the young man reached home he found there a a letter which had arrived in his absence believing it to contain some reason for her non appearance yet unable to imagine one that could justify her he hastily tore open the envelope the paper contained not a word from it was the deposit note for his two hundred pounds on the back was a form of a check and this she had filled up with the same sum to the bearer was confounded he attempted to divine her motive considering how limited was his knowledge of her later actions he guessed rather that between the time of her sending the note in the morning and the evening s silent refusal of his gift something had occurred which had caused a total change in her attitude towards him he knew not what to do it seemed absurd now to go to her father next morning as he had and ask for an engagement with her a x va all the while that d ow i ic a pair of blue eyes one course recommended itself as wise to wait and see what the days would bring forth to go and execute his in then to return learn if anything had and try what a meeting might do perhaps her surprise at his would bring her forward to show her old warmth as decidedly as in old times this act of patience was in keeping only with the nature of a man precisely of s constitution nine men out of ten would perhaps have rushed off got into her presence by fair means or foul and provoked a catastrophe of some sort possibly for the better probably for the worse he started for the next morning a day s delay would have made no difference but he could not rest until he had begun and ended the programme proposed to himself bodily activity will sometimes take the sting out of anxiety as completely as assurance itself chapter xxv mine own familiar friend during these days of absence lived under alternate conditions whenever his emotions were active he was in agony whenever he was not in agony the business in hand had driven out of his mind by sheer force all reflection on the subject of by the time he commenced his return journey at the week s end had very nearly worked himself up to an intention to call and see her face to face on this occasion also he adopted his favorite route by steamer from to the time saved by speed on the railway being wasted at and in following a course it was a bright silent evening at the beginning of september when smith again set foot in the little town he felt inclined to linger a while upon the before ascending the hills having formed a romantic intention to go home by way of her house yet not wishing to wander in its neighborhood till the evening shades should sufficiently screen him from observation and thus waiting for night s nearer approach he watched the placid scene over which the pale of the west cast a sorrowful that became slowly by the dusk a star appeared and another and another they sparkled amid the yards and of the two coal lying alongside as if they had been tiny lamps suspended in the ropes the rocked to the of the tide which and with idle regularity in and of the harbor wall the was now quite enough for his purpose and as rather sad at y v as ta a pair f blue e yes move on a little boat containing two persons glided up the middle of the harbor with the lightness of a shadow the boat came opposite him passed on and touched the landing steps at the farther end one of its occupants was a man as had known by the easy stroke of the oars when the pair ascended the steps and came into greater he was enabled to discern that the second personage was a female also that she wore a white apparently a feather in her hat or bonnet which spot of white was the only distinctly visible portion of her clothing remained a moment in their rear and they passed on when he pursued his way also and soon forgot the circumstance having crossed a bridge forsaken the high road and entered the which led up the to west he heard a little click softly together some yards ahead by the time had reached the and passed it he heard another click of precisely the same nature from another gate yet farther on clearly some person or persons were preceding him along the path their footsteps being rendered noiseless by the soft carpet of turf now walked a little quicker and perceived two forms one of them bore aloft the white feather he had noticed in the female s hat on the they were the couple he had seen in the boat dropped a little farther to the rear from the bottom of the valley along which the path had hitherto lain beside the margin of the another path now and ascended the slope of the left hand hill this led only to the residence of mrs and a cottage or two in its vicinity no grass covered this path in portions of its length and was reminded that the pair in	45
front of him had taken this route by the occasional rattle of the loose stones under feet climbed in the same direction but for some reason he trod more softly than did those preceding him his mind was unconsciously in exercise upon whom the female might be whether a visitor to the a servant or he put it to himself yet more b y x v a possible reason for her m i a pair of blue eyes to keep the appointment with him returned with painful force they entered the grounds of the house by the side whence the path now wide and well trimmed through the to an called the by reason of the comprehensive view over the adjacent district that its green seats afforded the path passed this and went on to the house as well as to the gardener s cottage on the other side straggling thence to east so that felt no hesitation in entering a which could scarcely be called private he fancied he heard the gate open and swing together again behind him turning he saw nobody the people of the boat came to the summer house one of them spoke i am afraid we shall get a scolding for being so late instantly recognized the familiar voice richer and fuller now than it used to be he whispered to himself and held fast by a to steady himself under the agitation her presence caused him his heart sank within him he dreaded to know the meaning he sought a breeze is rising again how the ash tree said don t you hear it i wonder what the time is the i will get a light and tell you step into the summer house the air is quiet there the of that voice he seemed to recognize its peculiarity as he had recognized some notes of the northern birds on his return to his native as an old natural thing renewed yet not particularly noticed as natural before that renewal they entered the in the lower part it was formed of close nailed and had in the upper by way of windows the scratch of a striking light was heard and a bright low from the interior of the building the light was the mother of a it gave birth to dancing leaf l a pair of blue eyes streaks and threads of silver of all imaginable variety and it awakened which flew towards it revealed shiny threads disturbed gave but little attention to these phenomena and less time he saw in the summer house a strongly illuminated picture first the face of his friend and henry knight between whom and himself an had arisen not from any definite causes beyond those of absence increasing age and sympathies next his bright particular star the face of was more womanly than when she had called herself his but as clear and healthy as ever her of beautiful hair were looking much as usual with the exception of a slight in their arrangement in deference to the changes of fashion their two were close together almost touching and both were looking down was holding her watch knight was holding the light with one hand his left arm being round her waist part of the scene reached s eyes through the bars of which crossed their forms like the ribs of a skeleton knight s arm stole still farther round the waist of it is half past eight she said in a low voice which had a peculiar music in it seemingly born of a thrill of pleasure at the new proof that she was beloved the flame down died away and all was wrapped in a darkness to which the gloom before the illumination bore no comparison in apparent shattered in spirit and sick to his heart s core turned away in turning he saw a shadowy outline behind the summer house on the other side his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness was the form a human form or was it an bush of the lovers arose brushed against the and pursued their way to the house the indistinct figure had moved and now passed across smith s front so completely enveloped was the person that it was impossible t recognize him or her any more tv a shape glided noiselessly on p of blue eyes stepped forward fearing any mischief was intended to the other two who are you he said never mind who i am answered a meek whisper from the folds what i am may she be perhaps i knew well ah so well a youth whose place you took as he there now takes yours will you let her break your heart and bring you to an grave as she did the one before you you are mrs i think what do you do here and why do you talk so wildly because my heart is desolate and nobody cares about it may hers be so that brought trouble upon me i silence said to in spite of himself she would harm nobody never would she how do you come here i saw the two coming up the path and wanted to learn if she were not one of them can i help her if i think of the past can i help watching her if i remember my boy can i help ill wishing her if i him the bowed form went on passed through the and was enveloped by the shadows of the field had heard that mrs since the death of her son had become a forlorn woman and a pitying thought upon her he dismissed her fancied wrongs from his mind but not her condemnation of s that entered into and mingled with the sensations his new experience had the tale told by the little scene he had witnessed ran parallel with the unhappy woman s opinion which however it might have	45
been had become true enough as regarded himself a slow weight of despair as distinct from a violent as starvation from a mortal shot filled him and wrung him body and soul the discovery had not been altogether unexpected for throughout his anxiety of the last few days since the night in the churchyard he had been inclined to the uncertainty to himself his hopes for the best had been but of a fear oi a strange oi mv v a pair of blue eyes of its form that his rival should be knight whom once upon a time he had adored as a man is very rarely adored by another in modern times and whom he loved now added to sorrow and to both henry knight whose praises he had so frequently in her ears of whom she had actually been jealous lest she herself should be lessened in s love on account of hi n had probably won her the more easily by reason of those very praises which he had only ceased to utter by her command she had ruled him like a queen in that matter as in all others could tell by her manner brief as had been his observation of it and by her words few as they were that her position was far different with knight that she looked up at and adored her new lover from below his was even more perceptible than that she had smiled down upon from a height above him the suddenness of s of himself was good for more torture to an it admitted of at least two it might either have proceeded from an endeavor to be faithful to her first choice till the lover seen absolutely overpowered the lover remembered or from a wish not to lose his love till sure of the love of another but to smith the motive involved in the latter alternative made it where was the actor he mused on her letters to him in which she had never mentioned a syllable concerning knight it is desirable however to observe that only in two letters could she possibly have done so one was written about a week before knight s arrival when though she did not mention his promised coming to she had hardly a definite reason in her mind for to do so in the next she did casually allude to knight but had left long before that letter arrived looked at the dark form of the adjacent house where it cut a dark out of the sky and felt that he hated the spot he did not know many facts of the case but could not help instinctively s with the marriage of her father and their introduction to london society re e v the as l v o ii of blue eyes and went into the grassy field here he could see the old the house alone that was associated with the sweet pleasant time of his love for turning sadly from the place that was no longer a nook in which his thoughts might when he was far away he wandered in the direction of the east village to reach his father s house before they retired to rest the nearest way to the cottage was by crossing the park he did not hurry happiness frequently has reason for haste but it is seldom that desolation need scramble or strain sometimes he paused under the low hanging arms of the trees looking on the ground was standing thus scarcely less crippled in thought than he was blank in vision when a clear sound the quiet air about him and spread on far beyond the sound was the stroke of a bell from the tower of east church which stood in a not forty yards from lord s mansion and within the park another stroke greeted his ear and gave character to both then came a slow succession of them somebody is dead he said aloud the death of an of the eastern parish was being an unusual feature in the was that it had not been begun according to the custom in and other in the neighborhood at every death the sex and age of the deceased were announced by a system of changes three times three strokes signified that the departed one was a man three times two a woman twice three a boy twice two a girl the regular of the suggested that it was the rather than the beginning of a the opening portion of which had not been near enough to hear the momentary anxiety he had felt with regard to his parents passed away he had left them in perfect health and had any serious illness seized either a communication would have reached him ere this at the same time since his way homeward lay under the churchyard he resolved to look into the in passing by and speak a word to martin be there reached the brow oi x v ii xv a pair of blue eyes to his idea his mood was such that talking to any person to whom he could not himself would be wearisome however before he could put any inclination into effect the young man saw from amid the trees a bright light shining the rays from which like needles through the sad foliage of the its direction was from the centre of the churchyard mechanically went forward never could there be a greater between two places of like purpose than between this and that of the farther village here the grass was carefully tended and formed a part of the house lawn flowers and shrubs being planted over both while the few graves visible were exact in shape and appearing in the time like newly shaven there was no wall the between god s acre and lord s being marked only by a few square stones set at points among persons	45
who have romantic sentiments on the subject of their last dwelling place probably the greater number would have chosen such a spot as this in preference to any other a few would have fancied a in its trim neatness and would have preferred the hill top of the neighboring site with nature in her most attire the light in the churchyard he next discovered to have its source in a point very near the ground and imagined it might come from a lantern in the interior of a partly dug grave but a nearer approach showed him that its position was immediately under the wall of the aisle and within the mouth of an he could now hear voices and the truth of the whole matter began to dawn upon him walking on towards the opening smith discerned on his left hand a heap of earth and before him a flight of stone steps which the removed earth had uncovered leading down under the edifice it was the entrance to a large family vault extending under the north aisle had never before seen it open and descending one or two steps stooped to look under the arch the vault appeared to be crowded with with the exception an open central space which had been a pair of ue e yes free for and access to the sides round three of which the were in stone or the place was well lighted with candles stuck in slips of wood that were fastened to the wall on making the descent of another step the living inhabitants of the vault were they were his father the master martin and two or three young and old laboring men and workmen s were scattered about the whole company sitting round on which had been removed from their places apparently for some alteration or of the vault were eating bread and cheese and drinking ale from a cup with two handles passed round from each to each who is dead stepping down chapter xxvi to that last nothing under earth all eyes were turned to the entrance as spoke and the ancient him why tis our said his father rising from his seat and still retaining the in his left hand while he held out his right for a grasp your mother is expecting ye thought you would have come afore dark but ye ll wait and go home with me i have all but done for the day and was going directly yes tis master sure enough glad to see ye so soon again master smith said martin the gladness expressed in his words by a strict of countenance in order to the feeling as much as possible with his position in a family vault the same to you martin and you william said nodding around to the rest who having their mouths full of bread and cheese were of necessity compelled to reply merely by looks which they made friendly by their eyes to lines and wrinkles and who is dead repeated lady poor as we all shall said a ay and we be going to the vault to make room for her when did she die early this morning his father replied with an appearance of to a thought yes this morning martin been ever since almost there twas expected she was very delicate ay poor this morning said the a old man whose s too jar e for his body that it d x a ci a fair of eyes she must know by this time whether she s to go up or down poor creature what was her age not more than seven or eight and twenty by poor soul but lord by day a was forty if a were an hour ay night time or day time makes a difference of twenty years to rich m observed martin she was one and thirty really said john smith i had it from them that know not more than that a looked very bad poor lady in faith ye might say she was dead for years afore a would own it poor as my poor father used to say dead but won t drop down i seed her poor soul said a from behind some removed only but last s day of all the world a was arm in wi my lord i says to myself you be churchyard my noble lady although you don t dream on t i suppose my lord will write to all the other noble lords in the nation to let em know that she that was is now no more tis done and past i see a bundle go off an hour after the death wonderful black as they letters had half an inch wide at the very least too much said john smith in short tis out of the question that a human being can be so mournful as black edges half an inch wide i m sure people don t feel more than a very narrow strip when they feels most of all and there are two little girls are there not said nice little girls left now they used to come to parson s to play with miss when were there said william worm ah they did so s the latter sentence was introduced to add the necessary melancholy to a remark which could hardly be made to possess enough for the occasion yes continued worm they d up stairs they d run a pair of blue eyes ss down flitting about with her everywhere very fond of her they were ah well than ever they were of their mother so tis said here and there added a well you see tis natural lady stood aloof from em so was so drowsy like that they couldn t love her in the jolly companion way children want to like folks only last winter i seed miss talking to	45
and a good hearted pair likewise ay i can mind it though i was but a at the time she fell in love with this young man of hers and their were asked in some church in london and the old lord her father actually heard em asked the three times and didn t notice her name being on wi a host of others when she had married she told father and a into a x i b i shouldn a lady p r of blue eyes think of wishing it if he d her twas all she asked and as for a living she was content to play plays with her husband this frightened the old lord and a d em a house to live in and a great garden and a little field or two and a carriage and a good few guineas well the poor thing died at her first and her husband who was as tender hearted a man as ever eat meat and would have died for her went wild in his mind and broke his heart so twas said anyhow they were buried the same day father and mother but the baby lived ay my lord s family made much of that then and put him here with his wife and there in the corner the man is now the sunday after there was a funeral sermon the text was or ever the silver cord be or the golden bowl be broken j and when twas preaching the men drew their hands across their eyes several times and every woman cried out loud and what became of the baby said who had frequently heard portions of the story she was brought up by her grandmother and a pretty maid she were and she must needs run away with the parson that is now then her grandmother died and the title and everything went away to another branch of the family altogether parson wasted a good deal of his wife s money and she left him miss that trick of running away seems to be handed down in families like or and they two women be as like as peas which two lady and young miss that s alive now the same hair and eyes but miss s mother was darker a good deal life s a strange ye see said william worm for if the lord s had descended upon women instead of men miss would be lord lady i mane but as it is the blood is run out and she s nothing to the family by law whatever she may be by gospel i used to fancy said when i seed miss the little ships that there was a likeness a pair of blue eyes but i suppose twas only my dream for years must have altered the old family shape and now we ll move these two and home along interposed john smith as became a master the spirit of labor which had showed unmistakable signs of being nearly by the spirit of chat the of ale we don t want we ll let bide here till to morrow none of the poor souls will touch it a b so the evening s work was concluded and the party withdrew from the abode of the quiet dead closing the great iron door and shooting the lock loudly into the huge copper an act of imprisonment towards those who bad no dreams of escape chapter how should i love frequently dies of time alone much more ie of with a powerful reason why the dis was successful was that the new comer was i greater man than the first by the side of the instructive and she received from knight i general seemed watery by the side of knight s spare love making s continual seemed she had begun to sigh for farther on in was hardly enough of j man perhaps there was a to in ture a nature to those who contemplate it from a stand point beyond the influence of that the most exquisite of all in its and ready sympathies partly too s failure to make his hold on her heart a permanent one was his too timid habit of him self beside her a peculiarity which exercised towards sen men a kindly of attachment that a market would leave untouched but inevitably leading the most sensible woman in the world to who it directly ceases in the man begins in the woman the but no less fact being that the creature never has the ca to appreciate fair treatment from her natural ment the abiding perception of the position of parents had of course a little to do with s to girls like her poverty is not as to the mon masses of humanity a sin in itself but it is a sin because graceful and da seldom abide in atmosphere no woman o c ax xi a pair of blue eyes ly taught that a genius may wear a frock and an common man in one is but a worm to her eyes john smith s rough hands and clothes his wife s dialect the necessary of their ways being constantly under s notice were not without their effect on reaching home after the perilous adventure by the sea shore knight had felt and retired almost immediately the young lady who had so materially assisted him had done the same but she reappeared properly clothed about five o clock she wandered about the house but on account of their joint narrow escape from death the storm which had torn the tree had merely bowed the reed and with the of knight all deep thought of the accident had left her the mutual which it had been the means of occupied a far longer length of her meditations s restlessness was on account of her miserable promise to meet	45
a sigh it is nice to feel that in giving way to to caring for him i have pleased my family but i am not good o no i am very far from that none of us are good i am sorry to say said her father but girls have a right to change their minds you know it has been recognized by poets from time says in what a memory mine is however the passage is that a woman s words to a lover are as a matter of course written only on wind and water now don t be troubled about that ah you don t know they had been standing on the lawn and knight was now seen lingering some way down a winding walk when met him it was with a much greater lightness of heart things were more straight forward now the responsibility of her seemed partly shifted from her own shoulders to her father s still not entirely so ah could he have known how far i went with and yet have said the same how much happier i should be that was her prevailing thought in the afternoon the lovers went out together on horseback not wishing to be observed by reason of the late death of lady whose funeral had taken place very privately on the previous day they yet found it necessary to pass east church the steps to the vault as has been stated were on the outside of the building immediately under the aisle wall being on horseback both knight and could overlook the shrubs which the churchyard look the vault seems still to be open said knight yes it is open she answered who is that man close by it the i suppose a pair of blue eyes yes i wonder if it is john smith s father believe it is said with apprehension dear me can it be i should like to inquire how his son ray is going on and from your father s description of the vault the interior must be interesting suppose we go in had we better do you think may not lord be there it is not at all likely then assented since she could do nothing else her heart which at first had in consternation recovered itself when she considered the character of john smith a quiet man he would be sure to act towards her as before those love passages with his son which might have given a more airs so without much alarm she took knight s arm after and went with him between and over the graves the master recognized her as she approached and as usual lifted his hat respectfully i know you to be mr smith my former friend s father said knight directly he had the and ruddy features of john yes sir i believe i be how is your son now i have only once heard from him since he went to india i you have heard him speak of me mr knight who became acquainted with him some years ago in ay that i have is very well thank you sir and he s in england in fact he s at home in short sir he s down in the vault there a looking at the departed s heart fluttered like an leaf knight looked amazed well that is extraordinary he murmured did he know i was in the parish i really can t say sir said john wishing himself out of the he rather suspected than thoroughly understood would it be considered an intrusion by the family if we went into the vault o bless ye no sir scores of folk have be down tis left open a purpose a p of blue eyes we will go down i am afraid the air is close she said o no ma am said john we the walls and arches the day twas opened as we always do and again on the morning of the funeral the pi ice is as sweet as a then i should like you to accompany me having originally sprung from the family too i don t like going where death is so emphatically present i ll stay by the horses while you go in they may get loose what nonsense i had no idea your sentiments were so formed as to be by a few of but stay out if you are so afraid by all means o no i am not afraid don t say that she held miserably to his arm thinking that perhaps the revelation might as well come at once as ten minutes later for would be sure to accompany his friend to his horse at first the gloom of the vault which was lighted only by a couple of was too great to admit of their seeing anything distinctly but with a farther advance knight discerned in front of the black masses the walls a young man standing and writing in a pocket book knight said one word smith not being in such absolute ignorance of knight s whereabouts as knight had been of smith s instantly recognized his friend and knew by the outlines of the fair woman standing behind him came forward and shook him by the hand without speaking why have you not written my boy said knight without in any way s presence to to the smith was still the country lad whom he had and tended one to whom the formal of a lady to himself would have seemed and absurd why haven t you written to me said ah yes why haven t i why haven t we that s always die which we cannot clearly answer without an unsatisfactory sense of n l have a pair of blue eyes not forgotten you smith and now we have met and we must meet again and have a longer chat than this can conveniently	45
be i must know all you have been doing that you have i know and you must teach me the way stood in the background had read the position at a glance and immediately guessed that she had never mentioned his name to knight his tact in avoiding was the chief quality which made him respectable in which quality he far knight and he decided that a tranquil issue out of the encounter without any of the feelings of either knight or was to be attempted if possible his old sense of to knight had never wholly forsaken him his love for was generous now as far as he dared look at her movements he saw that her bearing towards him would be dictated by his own towards her and if he acted as a stranger she would do likewise as a means of circumstances this course it was desirable also to be rather reserved towards knight to the meeting as much as possible i am afraid that my time is almost too short to allow even of such a pleasure he said i leave here to morrow and until i return to india which will be in a fortnight i shall have hardly a moment to spare knight s disappointed and dissatisfied look at this reply sent a pang through as great as any he had felt at the sight of the words about of time were literally true but their tone was far from being so he would have been gratified to talk with knight as in past times and saw as a dead loss to himself that to save the woman who cared nothing for him he was deliberately throwing away his friend o i am sorry to hear that said knight in a changed tone but of course if you have concerns to attend to they must not be neglected and if this is to be our first and last meeting let me say that i wish you success with all my heart knight s warmth revived towards the end the solemn impressions he was b si from the scene around is x s s blue eyes heart as a any momentary vexation at words it is a strange place for us to meet in he continued looking round the vault briefly assented and there was a silence the blackened were now revealed more clearly than at first the walls and arches throwing them forward in strong relief it was a scene which was remembered by all three as an mark in their history knight with an abstracted face was standing between his companions though a little in advance of them being on his right hand and smith on his left the white daylight on his right side gleamed faintly in and was toned to a by contrast with the yellow rays from the candle against the wall timidly shrinking back and nearest the entrance received most of the light while was entirely in candle light and to him the spot of outer sky visible above the steps was as a blue patch and nothing more i have been here two or three times since it was opened said my father was engaged in the work you know yes what are you doing knight inquired looking at the note book and pencil held in his hand i have been a few details in the church and since then i have been the names from some of the here before i left england i used to do a good deal of this sort of thing yes of course ah that s poor lady i suppose knight pointed to a coffin of light satin wood which stood on the stone in the new and the remainder of the family are on this side who are those two so snug and close together s voice altered slightly as he replied that s lady born and that is arthur her husband i have heard my father say that they he ran away with her and married her against the wish of her parents then i imagine this to be where you got your christian name miss said knight turning to her i think you told me it was three or four generations ago hat your family ok a pair of ue e yes she was my grandmother said vainly to her dry lips before she spoke had then the conscience stricken look of guide s rendered upon a more form she her face partially away from knight and and et her eyes upon the sky visible outside as if her depended upon quickly reaching it her left hand lightly within knight s arm half withdrawn from a of shame at claiming him before her old lover yet to him so that ber glove merely his sleeve can one be and retain he offence said s heart then conversation seemed to have no self power md went on in the shape of remarks one s gets thronged with thoughts while standing so solemnly here knight said in a measured quiet voice how much has been said on death from time to time low much we ourselves can think upon it we may fancy of these who lie here saying for thou to make my fall more great lift me up on high what comes next it is the hundred and i am thinking of yes i know it she murmured and went on in a till lower voice seemingly afraid for any words from the side of her nature to reach my days just hastening to their end are like an evening shade my beauty doth like withered grass with lustre fade well said knight let us leave them occasions as these seem to compel us to ourselves far away from the fragile frame we live in ind to till our perception grows so vast that our reality bears no sort of proportion to it we look	45
jack upon the weak and minute stem ow si growth depends and ask can x n a capacity s a foundation so i t js a pair of blue eyes return to my daily walk in that narrow cell a human body where worldly thoughts can torture me do we not yes said and one has a sense of wrong too that such an breadth as a being possesses should be committed to the frail of a body what one s intentions regarding the future like the thought of this however let us tune ourselves to a more cheerful for there s a great deal to be done yet by us all as knight addressed his thus unconscious of the deception for different reasons by the severed hearts at his side and of the scenes that had in earlier days united them each one felt that he and she did not gain by contrast with their musing physically not so handsome as either the youthful or the s daughter the and integrity of knight illuminated his features with a dignity not even in the other two it is difficult to frame rules which shall apply to both sexes and an girl can hardly be laden with the moral which attach to a man under like circumstances the charm of woman too lies partly in her in matters of love but if honesty is a virtue in itself having none of it now seemed being for being scarcely good enough for knight though for no unworthy purpose was after all and whatever good results grace such if it succeed it seldom draws admiration when it fails on an ordinary occasion had knight been even quite alone with he would hardly have alluded to his possible relationship to but moved by attendant circumstances knight was impelled to be confiding he said this lady is miss i am staying at her father s house as you probably know he stepped a few paces nearer to smith and said in a lower tone i may as well tell you that we are engaged to be married low as the words had been spoken had heard them and awaited s reply in breathless silence if that could be called silence ss at each of her heart shook and c i i a pair of blue eyes rustling also against the wall in reply to the same throbbing the ray of daylight which reached her face lent it a blue in comparison with those of the other two i congratulate you whispered and said aloud i know miss a little you must remember that my father is a of mr s i thought you might possibly not have lived at home since they have been here said knight i have never lived at home certainly since that time i have seen mr smith faltered well there is no excuse for me as strangers to each other i ought i suppose to have presented you as acquaintances i should not have stood so persistently between you but the fact is smith you seem a boy to me even now appeared to have a more than previous consciousness of the intense cruelty of his fate at the present moment he could not repress the words uttered with a faint bitterness you should have said that i seemed still the rural s son i am and hence an unfit subject for the ceremony of o no no i i won t have that knight endeavored to give his reply a laughing tone in s ears and an earnestness in s in both which efforts he failed and produced a forced speech pleasant to neither well let us go into the open air again miss vou are particularly silent you mustn t mind smith i lave known him for years as i have told you yes you have she said to think she has never mentioned her knowledge of me smith murmured and thought with some remorse how much her conduct resembled his own on his first arrival at her house as a stranger to the place they ascended to the daylight knight taking no farther notice of s manner which as usual he attributed to the natural shyness of a young female at being discovered walking with him on terms which left much doubt of their meaning ki advance and passed through x a pair of blue eyes you are changed very considerably smith said knight and i suppose it is no more than was to be expected however don t imagine that i shall feel any the less interest in you and your fortunes whenever you care to confide them to me i have not forgotten the attachment you spoke of as your reason for going away to india a london young lady was it not i hope all is prosperous no the match is broken off it being always difficult to know whether to express sorrow or gladness under such circumstances all depending upon the character of the match knight took shelter in the safe words i trust it was for the best i hope it was but i beg that you will not press me farther no you have not pressed me i don t mean that but i would rather not speak upon the subject knight said no more and they followed in the footsteps of who still kept some paces in advance and had not heard knight s unconscious allusion to her bade him adieu at the churchyard gate without going outside and watched while he and his sweetheart mounted their horses good heavens knight exclaimed how pale you are i suppose i ought not to have taken you into that vault what is the matter nothing said faintly i shall be myself in a moment all was so strange and unexpected down there that it made me faint i thought you said very little shall i	45
get some water no no do you think it is safe for you to mount quite indeed it is she said with a look of appeal now then up she goes whispered knight and lifted her tenderly into the saddle her old lover still looked on at the performance as he leaned over the gate a dozen yards off once in the saddle and having a firm grip of the reins she turned her head as if hy a fascination and for the first time since that memorable parting on the om d st after the passionate attempt at l a i a pair of blue eyes the face of the young man she first had loved he was the youth who had called her his inseparable wife many a time and whom she had even addressed as her husband their eyes met of life should be rather to the intensity of the experience therein contained than to its actual length their glance but a moment was a season in their history to the intense agony of reproach in s eye was a nail piercing her heart with a no words can describe with a effort she withdrew her eyes urged on the horse and in the chaos of memories was of any presence beside her the deed of deception was complete gaining a on which the park transformed itself into wood and knight came still closer to her side and said are you better now dearest o yes she pressed a hand to her eyes as if to blot out the image of a vivid scarlet spot now shone with brightness in the centre of each cheek leaving the remainder of her face lily white as before said knight rather in his old tone of you know i don t for a moment you but is there not a great deal of weakness in your allowing yourself to be so overwhelmed by the sight of what after all is no novelty every woman worthy of the name should i think be able to look upon death with something like composure surely you think so too yes i own it his to the cause of her by his entire freedom from the suspicion of anything behind the scenes showed how incapable knight was of deception himself rather than any inherent in him regarding human nature this clearly perceived by added to her self reproach and she him the more because of their difference even the recent sight of s face and the sound of his voice which for a moment had stirred a or two of ancient kindness were unable to keep down the a v re now that he was again out oi v she had replied to knight s quest v n blue eyes went on to speak of indifferent subjects after they had reached home she was apart from him till when dinner was over and they were watching the dusk in the drawing room knight stepped out upon the terrace went after him very on the spur of a virtuous intention mr knight i want to tell you something she said with quiet firmness and what is it about returned her lover happiness i hope do not let anything keep you so sad as you seem to have been to day i cannot tell you the matter until i tell you the whole substance of it she said and that i will do to morrow i been reminded of it to day it is about something i once did and don t think i ought to have this it must be said was rather a mild way of referring to a frantic passion and flight which much or little in itself only accident had saved from being a scandal in the public eye knight thought the matter some trifle and said pleasantly then i am not to hear the dreadful confession now no not now i did not mean to night responded with a slight decline in the firmness of her voice it is not light as you think it it troubles me a great deal fearing now the effect of her own earnestness she answered though perhaps you may think it light after all but you have not said when it is to be to morrow morning name a time will you and bind me to it i want you to name an hour because i am weak and may otherwise try to get out of it she added a little artificial laugh which showed how her resolution was still i well say after breakfast at eleven o clock yes eleven o clock i promise you bind me strict ly to my word i ik chapter i lull a fancy trouble tv it is eleven o clock she was looking out of her dressing room window on the first floor and knight was regarding her from the terrace upon which he had been idly sitting for some time dividing the glances of his eye between the pages of a book in his hand the brilliant hues of the and and the open window above mentioned yes it is i know i am coming he drew closer and under the window how are you this morning you look no better for your long night s rest she appeared at the door shortly after took his offered arm and together they walked slowly down the gravel path leading to the river and away under the trees her resolution sustained during the last fifteen hours had been to tell him the whole truth and now the moment had come step by step they advanced and still she did not speak they were nearly at the end of the walk when knight broke the silence well what is the confession she paused a moment drew a long breath and this is what she said i told you one day or rather i	45
gave you to understand what was not true i fancy you thought me to mean i was nineteen my next birthday but it was my last i was nineteen k the moment had been too much for pi the crisis had come no oi c v honesty no yearning to make a c xv c x ax c a pair of blue eyes given ess with a kiss could string up to the venture her dread lest he should be was heightened by the thought of yesterday s which might possibly add disgust to his disappointment the certainty of one more day s affection which she gained by silence the hope of a combined with the risk of all the caused by these thoughts on what she had intended to say shook so naturally the words she did say that knight never for a moment suspected them to be a last moment s he smiled and pressed her hand warmly my dear yes you are now no what a nice little woman you are to be so scrupulous about a mere really i never once have though whether your nineteenth year was the last or the present and by george well i may not for it would never do for an old a dozen years older to stand upon such a trifle as that don t praise me don t praise me i though i prize it from your lips i don t deserve it now but knight being in an genial mood merely saw this exclamation as modesty well he added after a minute i like you all the better you know for such moral precision although i called it absurd he went on with tender earnestness for there is one thing i do love to see in a woman that is a soul truthful and clear as heaven s light i could put up with anything if i had that forgive nothing if i had it not you have such a soul if ever woman had and having it secure it and don t ever listen to the fashionable theories of the day about a woman s privileges and natural right to practice depend upon it my dear girl that a noble woman must be as honest as a noble man i specially mean by honesty not only in matters of business and social detail but in all the delicate dealings of love to which the given to your sex particularly looked at the trees now let us go on to the river i would if i had v d ith a sort of woe a pair of blue eyes i will get it for you said knight veiy willing to purchase her companionship at so cheap a price you sit down there a minute and he turned and walked rapidly back to the house after the article in question sat down upon one of the rustic benches which adorned this portion of the grounds and remained with her eyes upon the grass she was induced to lift them by hearing the noise of light and irregular footsteps hard by passing along the path which the one she was in and traversed the outer beheld the farmer s widow mrs before she noticed she paused to look at the house portions of which were visible through the bushes shrinking back hoped the unpleasant woman might pass on without seeing her but mrs silently the house with actions which seemed dictated by a half reason had discerned the girl and immediately came up and stood in front of her ah miss why did you disturb me mustn t i here you may walk here if you like mrs i do not disturb you you disturb my mind and my mind is my whole life j for my boy is there still and he is gone from my body yes poor young man i was sorry when he died do you know what he died of consumption o no no said the widow that word consumption covers a good deal he died because you were his own well agreed sweetheart and then proved false and it killed him yes miss she said in an excited whisper you killed my son how can you be so wicked and foolish replied rising indignantly but indignation was not natural to her and having been so worn and by late events she lost any powers of defence that mood might have lent her i could not help his loving me mrs i that s just what you could have helped you know how it began miss yes om name of better than any other t am i a pair of blue eyes and you knew it was his name and that those you said it to would report it to him i knew it was his name of course i did but i am sure mrs i did not intend anybody to tell him but you knew they would no i didn t and then after that when you were riding on by our house and the lads were gathered there and you wanted to when jim and george and three or four more ran forward to hold your pony and stood back timid why did you to him and say you would rather he held it o mrs you do think so i liked him best that s why i wanted him to do it he was gentle and nice i always thought him so and i liked him then why did you let him kiss you it is a falsehood j o it is it is said weeping with desperation he came behind me and attempted to kiss me and that was why i told him never to let me see again but you did not tell your father or anybody as you would have if you had looked upon it	45
then as the insult you now pretend it was he begged me not to tell and foolishly enough i did not and i wish i had now i little expected to be with my own kindness pray leave me mrs well you harshly dismissed him and he died and before his body was cold you took another to your heart then as carelessly sent him about his business and took a third and look here miss she continued closer you have put it in my power to do unto you as you did to me have you forgotten the would be marriage the journey to london and the return the next day without being married and that there s enough disgrace in that to ruin a woman s good name far less light than yours you may have i have not towards a lover is bad but after playing the wife is p it is a wicked lie i do not say it o do a pair of blue eyes does your new man know of it i think not or he would be no man of yours as much of the story as was known is creeping about the neighborhood even now but i know more than any of them and my time will come i defy you cried do and say all you can to ruin me try put tongue at work i invite it i defy you as a woman look there he comes and her voice trembled a little as she saw through the leaves the beloved form of knight coming from the door with her hat in his hand tell him at once i can bear it not now said the woman and disappeared down the path the excitement of her latter words had restored color to s cheeks and hastily wiping her eyes she walked farther on so that by the time her lover had overtaken her the traces of emotion had nearly disappeared from her face knight put the hat upon her head took her hand and drew it within his arm it was the last day but one previous to their departure for st and knight seemed to have a purpose in being much in her company that day they along the valley the season was that period in the autumn when the foliage alone of an ordinary plantation is rich enough in hues to the of an artist s most of all are the from bright rusty red at the extremity of the boughs to a bright yellow at their inner parts young oaks are still of a green scotch and are nearly blue while occasional of other varieties give and of every tinge the river such as it was here pursued its course amid as level as a pavement but divided by of irregular width with the summer the torrent had till it was now but a thread of crystal clearness along a central channel in the rocky bed of the winter current knight scrambled through the bushes which at this point nearly covered the brook from sight and leaped down upon the dry portion of the bottom e i never saw such a s v e c of blue eyes the the river s course in a perfect arch and the floor is beautifully paved the place reminds one of the passages of a let me help you down he assisted her through the and down to the stones they walked on together to a tiny about a foot wide and high and sat down beside it on the flags that for nine months in the year were beneath a from their feet the thread of water which alone remained to tell the intent and reason of this leaf covered aisle and on in a line till lost in the shade knight leaning on his elbow after contemplating all this looked at does not such a luxuriant head of hair itself and get thin as the years go on from eighteen to eight and twenty he asked at length o no she said quickly with a visible to harbor such a thought which came upon her with an whose force it would be difficult for men to understand she added afterwards with uneasiness do you really think that a great abundance of hair is more likely to get thin than a moderate quantity yes i really do i believe am almost sure in fact that if could be obtained on the subject you would find the persons with thin hair were those who had a originally and that those who start with a moderate quantity retain it without much loss s troubles sat upon her face as well as in her heart perhaps to a woman it is almost as dreadful to think of losing her beauty as of losing her reputation at any rate she looked quite as gloomy as she had looked at any minute that day you shouldn t be so troubled about a mere personal said knight with some of the severity of tone that had been customary before she had him into softness i think it a woman s duty to be as beautiful as she can if i were a scholar i would give you chapter and verse for it from one of your own latin authors i know there is such a passage for papa v c ci it a pair of ue e yes et et etc is that it a passage in which is no defence at all no it is not that never mind then for i have a reason for not taking up my old against you can you guess what the reason is no but i am glad to hear it she said for it is dreadful when you talk so for whatever dreadful name the weakness may deserve i must candidly own that i am terrified to think my hair may	45
ever get thin of course a sensible woman would rather lose her wits than her beauty i don t care if you do say satire and judge me cruelly i know my hair is beautiful everybody says so why my dear miss he tenderly replied i have not said anything against it but you know is said about handsome being and handsome doing poor miss handsome does cuts but a sorry figure beside miss handsome is in every man s eyes your own not mr knight though it pleases you to throw off so said and lowering her voice you ought not to have taken so much trouble to save me from falling over the cliff for you don t think mine a life worth much trouble evidently perhaps you think mine was not worth yours it was worth anybody s her hand was in the little and her eyes were bent the same way you talk about my severity with you you are unkind to me you know how she asked looking up from her idle occupation after my taking trouble to get to please you you wouldn t accept it perhaps i would now perhaps i want to do said knight and the packet was withdrawn from his pocket and presented the third time took it with c the obstacle was rent in twain and x s hers a pair of blue eyes i ll take out these ugly ones at once she exclaimed and i ll wear yours shall i i should be gratified now though it may seem unlikely considering how far the two had gone in converse knight had never yet ventured to kiss far slower was he than smith in matters like that the utmost advance he had made in such had been to the degree witnessed by in the summer house so s being still forbidden fruit to him he said i should like to touch that beautiful ear of yours those are gifts so let me dress you in them she hesitated with a hesitation let me put just one in its place then her face grew much warmer i don t think it would be quite the usual or proper course she said suddenly turning and her operation of in the miniature the stillness of things was disturbed by a bird coming to the to drink after watching him dip his bill himself and fly into a tree knight replied with the courteous she so much liked to hear now you may as well be fair you would mind my doing it but little i think so give me leave do i will be fair then she said and looking him full in the face it was a particular pleasure to her to be able to do a little honesty without fear i should not mind your doing so i should like such an attention my thought was would it be right to let you then i will he rejoined with that singular earnestness about a small matter in the eyes of a ladies man but a momentary for or jest which is only found in deep natures who have been wholly unused to with and which from its is in itself a tribute the most precious that can be rendered and homage the most exquisite to be received and you shall she whispered without reserve and no longer mistress of the ceremonies and then inclined herself towards l x i and a pair of ue e yes her head sideways in doing this her arm and necessarily rested against his breast at the touch the sensation of both seemed to be at the point of contact all the time he was the delicate knight trembled like a surgeon in his first operation now the other said knight in a whisper no no why not i don t know exactly you must know your touch me so let us go home don t say that what is it after all a mere now turn round dearest she was powerless to and turned forthwith then without any defined intention in s mind his ace and hers drew closer together and he supported her here and kissed her knight was at once the most ardent and the alive when his emotions he appeared j when they were moved he was no less han passionate and now without having quite intended n early marriage he put the question plainly it came ith all the which was the of long ears behind a natural reserve when shall we be married the words were sweet to her but there was a bitter ia he sweet these newly acts of his which had in this plain question coming on the very day of way s reproaches painted distinctly her as an loving him in secret had not such thorough going as the same love and acted upon in the face of threats her was interpreted by him at her side as the outward of an unwonted experience i don t press you for an answer now darling he said she was not likely to give a reply take your knight was as honorable a man as was ever loved and by woman it may be said that his x ve proved the point for m tv x a t a pair of ue e yes with meanness in general once the passion had mastered him the intellect had gone for naught knight as a lover was more single minded and far than his friend who in general capacity was shallow beside him without saying more on the subject of their marriage knight held her at arm s length as if she had been a large and looked at her with critical affection does your pretty gift become me she inquired with tears of excitement on the of her eyes undoubtedly perfectly said her lover a lighter tone to put her	45
at ease ah you should see them j you look than ever fancy that i have been able to improve you am i really so nice i am glad for your sake i wish i could see myself you can t you must wait till we get home i shall never be able she said laughing look here s a way so there is well done woman s wit hold me steady and don t let me fall will you by no means below their seat the thread of water paused to spread out into a smooth small pool knight supported her while she knelt down and leaned over it i can see myself really try as as i will cannot help admiring my appearance in them doubtless how can you be so fond of finery i believe you are me into a taste for it i used to hate every such thing before i knew you i like ornaments because i want people to admire what you possess and envy you and say i wish i was he i suppose i ought not to object after that and how much longer are you going to look in there at yourself until you are tired of holding me o i want to ask you something and she turned round now tell truly won t you what o i do you like best now knight did not answer at v a fair of blue eyes say light do she whispered don t say lark as you did that time light brown then exactly the color of my s really said enjoying as truth what she knew be flattery yes and blue eyes too not say yes say yes one is enough for to day no no very well blue eyes and knight laughed and her close and kissed her the second time which he performed with the of a a bunch of grapes so as not to disturb their objected this time and flung away her face the causing a slight of hat and hair thinking what she said in the of the she exclaimed clapping her hand to her ear ah we must be careful i lost the other ear rings like this no sooner did she recognize the significant words than troubled look passed across her face and she shut her as if to keep them back doing like what said knight o sitting down out of doors she replied hastily chapter care thou it is an evening at the beginning of october and the of autumn london even to its eastern end between the eye and the flaming west columns of smoke standing up in the still air like tall trees everything in the shade is rich and misty blue mr and mrs and are looking at these and lurid from the v of a large hotel near london bridge the visit to their friends at st is over and they are staying a day or two in the metropolis on their way home knight spent the same interval of time in crossing over to by way of and st he then passed through and returned to london also his arrival there having been two days after that of and her parents so the evening of this october day saw them all meeting at the before mentioned hotel where they had previously engaged apartments during the afternoon knight had been to his lodgings at to make a little change in the nature of his baggage and on coming up again there was never ushered by a bland waiter into a comfortable apartment a happier man than was knight when shown to where and her step mother were sitting after a day of looked none the better for her change knight was as brown as a nut they were soon engaged by themselves in a corner of the room now that the precious words of promise had been the young girl had no idea of keeping up her price by the x x e which j more accomplished maidens use on w jl a a pair of blue eyes again and it was enough she made her heart over to him entirely dinner was soon despatched and when a preliminary round of conversation concerning their doings since the last parting had been concluded they to the subject of to morrow s journey home that ride through the climate of south how i dread it to morrow mrs was saying i had hoped the weather would have been cooler by this time did you ever go by water said knight never by never i mean not since the time of then if you can afford an additional day i propose that we do it said knight the channel is like a lake just now we should reach in about forty hours i think and the boats start from just below the bridge here pointing oyer his shoulder eastward hear hear said the it s an idea certainly said his wife of course these are rather said knight but you wouldn t mind that no we wouldn t mind and the saloon is a place like the fish market of a ninth rate country town but that wouldn t matter o dear no if we had only thought of it soon enough we might have had the use of lord s but never mind we ll go we shall escape the worrying rattle through the whole length of the metropolis to morrow morning not to mention the risk of being killed by excursion trains which is not a little one at this time of the year if the papers are true too thought the arrangement delightful and accordingly ten o clock the following morning saw two their way round by the and between the high walls of lane towards the river side the first vehicle was occupied by the travellers in person and the second brought up	45
sea sickness by coming this way can it be inquired the with apprehension surely not mr knight just here in our own english channel close at our doors as i may say entrance passages are very places and the channel is like the rest it ruins the temper of sailors it has been calculated by philosophers that more oaths go up to heaven from the channel in the course of a year than from all the five put to they really start now and de q s q a pair of blue eyes throng come to life immediately the man who has been in a rope that bade fair to have no end ceases his labors and they glide down the of the thames anything anywhere was a mine of interest to and so was this it is well enough now said mrs after they had passed the but i can t say i have cared for my voyage hitherto for being now in the open sea a slight breeze had sprung up which cheered her as well as her two younger companions but unfortunately it had a reverse effect upon the who after turning a sort of jam color with of pleaded and vanished from their sight the afternoon wore on mrs kindly sat apart by herself reading and the pair were left to themselves clung to knight s arm and proud was she to walk with him up and down the deck or to go forward and leaning with him against the rails watch the setting sun gradually withdrawing itself over their stern into a huge bank of livid cloud with golden edges that rose to meet it she was full of life and spirits though in walking up and down with him before the other passengers and getting noticed by them she was at starting rather confused it being the first time she had shown herself so openly under that kind of protection i expect they are envious and saying things about us don t you she would whisper to knight with a stealthy smile o no he would answer why should they envy us and what can they say not any harm of course replies except such as this how happy those two are she is proud enough now what makes it worse she continued in the extremity of confidence i heard those two men say just now she s the girl on the beat but i don t mind it you know harry i should hardly have supposed you did even if you had not told me said knight with great s she was tired of o j his answers good bad xv s w a pair of blue eyes might be the evening grew dark and the night came on and lights shone upon them from the horizon and the sky now look there ahead of us at that in the air of silvery brightness watch it and you will see what it comes to she watched for a few minutes when two white lights emerged from the side of a hill and showed themselves to be the origin of the what a dazzling what do they mark the south they were previously covered by the cliff what is that level line of little a town i suppose that s all this time and later soft sheet lightning expanded from a cloud in their path their faces as they paced up and down shining over the water and for a moment showing the horizon as a keen line slept soundly that night her first thought the next morning was the thrilling one that knight was as close at hand as when they were at home at and her first sight on looking out of the cabin window was the perpendicular face of head gleaming white in a brilliant six o clock in the morning sun this fair daybreak however soon changed its aspect a cold wind and a pale mist descended upon the sea and seemed to threaten a dreary day when they were mrs came to say that her husband was so ill that he wished to be put on shore here and left to do the remainder of the journey by land he will be perfectly well he firm ground again which shall we do go with him or finish our voyage as we intended was comfortably under an umbrella which knight was holding over her to keep off the wind o don t le us go on shore she said with dismay it would be such a pity that s very fine said mrs as to a child see the wind has increased her color the sea her appetite and spirits and somebody i mess yes it be a pity certainly a pair of ue e yes tis my misfortune to be always spoken to from a sighed well we will do as you like mrs said knight i myself would rather remain on board interrupted the elder lady and mr particularly wishes to go by himself so that shall settle the matter the now a color was put ashore and became as well as ever forthwith sitting in a retired part of the vessel saw a woman walk aboard among the very latest at this port she was clothed in black silk and carried a dark shawl upon her arm the woman without looking around her turned to the quarter allotted to the second cabin passengers all the mrs had her step daughter upon possessing left s cheeks and she trembled visibly she ran to the other side of the boat where mrs was standing let us go home by railway with papa after all she pleaded earnestly i would rather go with him shall we mrs looked around for a moment as if unable to decide ah she exclaimed it is too late now why did not you say so before when we had plenty	45
a low slow chat about affairs she ran up and slipped her hand through knight s arm partly for love partly for not asleep said knight after moving a few steps aside with her no i cannot sleep may i stay here it is so dismal down there and and i was afraid where are we now due south of bill those are the lights of us look a terrible spot that on a stormy night and do you see a very small light that and rises to the right that s a light ship on the dangerous called the where many a good boat has gone to pieces between it and ourselves is the race a place where currents meet and form a spot which is rough in the weather and terrific in a wind that dark dreary horizon we just discern to the left is the west bay terminated by the beach what time is it harry just past two are you going below o no not to night i prefer pure air she fancied he might be displeased with her for coming to him at this hour i should like to stay here too if you will allow me she said timidly i want to ask you things allow you s l d v wm i a pair of blue eyes round her and drawing her closer i am twice as happy with you by my side yes we will stay and watch the approach of day so they again sought out the sheltered nook and sitting down wrapped themselves in the rug as before what were you going to ask me he inquired as they up and down o it was not much perhaps a thing i ought not to ask she said hesitatingly her sudden wish had really been to discover at once whether he had ever before been engaged to be married if he had she would make that a ground for telling him a little of her conduct with mrs s words had so depressed the girl that she herself now painted her flight in the darkest colors and longed to ease her mind by an instant confession if knight had ever been himself he might she hoped forgive all i wanted to ask you she went on if you had ever been engaged before she added i hope you have i mean i don t mind at all if you have no i never was knight instantly and heartily replied and there was a certain happy pride in his tone i am twelve years older than you and i have been about the world and into society and you have not and yet i am not so unfit for you as strict thinking people might imagine who would assume the difference in age to signify most surely an equal addition to my practice in love making shivered you are cold is the wind too much for you no she said gloomily the belief which had been her sheet anchor in hoping for forgiveness had proved false this account of the exceptional nature of his experience a matter which would have set her rejoicing two years ago chilled her now like a frost you didn t mind my asking you she continued o not at all and have you never kissed many ladies she hoping he would say a hundred at the least the time the circumstances ai d t v c w t as to draw confidences from the tes x e p of ue e yes whispered knight in reply it is strange you should have asked that question but i ll answer it though i have never told such a thing before i have never given a woman a kiss in my life except yourself and my mother the man of two and thirty with the experienced mind warmed all over with a boy s shame as he made the confession what not one she faltered no not one how very strange yes the reverse experience may be and yet to those who have observed their own sex as i have my case is not remarkable men about town are women s that s the and superficial people don t think far enough to see that there may be exceptions are you proud of it harry no indeed of late years i have wished i had gone my ways and trod out ray measure like lighter hearted men i have thought of how many happy experiences i may have lost through never going to then why did you hold aloof i cannot say don t think it was my nature to circumstances me perhaps i have regretted it for another reason this great of mine has had its effect upon me the older i have grown the more distinctly have i perceived that it was absolutely preventing me from liking any woman who was not as unused as i and i gave up the expectation of finding a nineteenth century young lady in my own raw state then i found you and i felt for the first time that my was a blessing and it helped to make me worthy of you i felt at once that as we did in other experiences in this matter i resembled you well aren t you glad to hear it yes i am she answered in a forced voice but i always had thought that men made lots of engagements before they married especially if they don t marry very young so all women think i suppose and rightly indeed of the majority of as a d before but an of s ow v do v a a pair of blue eyes them very awkward when they do come to the point however ii didn t matter in my case why she asked uneasily because you know even less	45
of love making and matrimonial pre arrangement than i and so you can t draw if i do my engaging i think you do it beautifully thank you dear but continued knight your opinion is not that of an expert which alone is of value had she answered yes it is half as strongly as she felt it knight might have been a little astonished if you had been engaged to be married before he went on i expect your opinion of my addresses would be different but then i should not should not what harry o i was merely going to say that in that case i should never have given myself the pleasure of proposing to you since your freedom from that experience was your attraction darling you are severe on woman are you not no i think not i had a right to please my taste and that was for lips other men than those of my sort acquire the taste as they get older but don t find an what horrid sound is that we hear when we pitch forward only the screw don t find an as i did to think that i should have discovered such an unseen flower down there in the west to whom a man is as much as a multitude to some and a trip down the english channel like a voyage round the world and would you she said and her voice was tremulous have given up a sweetheart if you had become engaged to her and then found she had had one kiss before yours and would you have gone away and left her one kiss no hardly for that two well i could hardly say like that too much of that sort of thing certainly l i j a woman but let us confine out o a pair of blue eyes go thinking of might have so had allowed her thoughts to with false and every one of knight s words fell upon her like a weight after this they were silent for a long time gazing upon the black mysterious sea and hearing the strange voice of the restless wind a rocking to and fro in the wind when it is not too violent and cold produces a soothing effect even upon the most highly wrought mind slowly sank against knight and looking down he found by her soft regular breathing that she had fallen asleep not wishing to disturb her he continued still and took an intense pleasure in supporting her warm young form as it rose arid fell with her every breath it was pleasant to realize the trust she placed in him and to think of the charming innocence of one who could sink to sleep in so simple and a manner more than all the musing student felt the immense responsibility he was taking upon himself by becoming the protector and guide of such a creature the quiet slumber of her soul lent a to his own presently her became distinct don t tell him he will not love me i did not mean any disgrace indeed i did not so don t tell harry we were going to be married that was why i ran away and he says he will not have a kissed woman and if you tell him he will go away and i shall die i pray have mercy q started up wildly the previous moment a musical had spread into the air from their right hand and awakened her what is it she exclaimed in terror only eight bells said knight soothingly don t be frightened little bird you are safe what have you been dreaming about can t tell i can t tell she said with a shudder o i don t know what to do stay quietly with me we shall soon see the dawn now look the morning star is lovely over there the have completely cleared off while you have been sleeping what have you been of r a woman in our parish a pair of blue eyes oi don t you like her i don t she doesn t hke me where are we about south of knight said no more on the words of her dream they watched the sky till grew calm and the dawn appeared it was mere wan lightness first then the wind blew in a changed spirit and died away to a breeze the star dissolved into the day that s how i should like to die said rising from her seat and leaning over the to watch the star s last gleam as the lines say knight replied to set as sets the morning star which goes not down behind the darkened west nor hides obscured among the of the sky but away into the light of heaven o other people have thought the same thing have they that s always the case with my they are original to nobody but myself not only the case with yours when i was a young hand at i used to find that a frightful upon subjects i met with which were to me and finding afterwards they had been exhausted by the thinking world when i was in that is delightful whenever i find you have done a foolish thing i am glad because it seems to bring you a little nearer to me who have done many and thought again of her enemy asleep under the deck they trod all up the coast themselves out from recesses then a rosy sky spread over the eastern sea and behind the low line of land flinging its livery in upon the thin airy clouds in that direction every on the land seemed now so many fingers anxious to catch a little of the liquid light thrown so over the sky	45
musing on the subject because it perplexed him it was a gift those were her words admitting it to be a gift he thought she could hardly value a friend more than him and giving the flower into his charge would have made no difference except indeed it was the gift of a lover he murmured i wonder if ever has had a lover before he said aloud as a new idea quite this and companion thoughts were enough to occupy him completely till he fell asleep rather later than usual the next day when they were again alone he said to her rather do you love me more or less for what i told you on board the steamer you told me so many things she returned lifting her eyes to his and smiling i mean the confession you out of me that i had never had a sweetheart before it is a satisfaction i suppose to be the first in your heart she said to him with an attempt to continue her smiling i am going to ask you a question now said knight somewhat awkwardly i only ask it in a way you know not with great seriousness you may think it odd perhaps tried desperately to keep the color in her face she could not though distressed to think that getting pale showed consciousness of deeper guilt than merely getting red o no i shall not think that she said because obliged to say something to fill the pause which followed her s remark it is this have you ever had a lover am almost sure you have not but have you not as it were a lover i mean not worth mention ing harry she faltered knight in as v c ing to be felt some sickness of heart o a pair of ue e yes still he was a lover well a sort of lover i suppose she responded a man i mean you know yes but only a mere person and but truly your lover yes a lover certainly he was that yes he might have been called my lover knight said nothing to this for a minute or more and kept silent time with his finger to the of the library clock in which room the was going on you don t mind harry do you she said anxiously close to him and watching his face of course i don t seriously mind in reason a man cannot object to such a trifle i only thought you hadn t that was all however one ray was abstracted from the glory about her head but afterwards when knight was wandering by himself over the bare and hills and meditating on the subject that ray suddenly returned for she might have had a lover and never have cared in the least for him she might have used the word and meant admirer all the time of course she had been admired and one man might have made his admiration more prominent than that of the rest a very natural case they were sitting on one of the garden seats when he found occasion to put the question to the test did you love that lover or admirer of yours ever so little she murmured reluctantly yes i think i did knight felt the same faint touch of misery only a very little he said i am not sure how much slightly but you are sure darling you loved him a little i think i am sure i loved him a little and not a great deal my love was not supported by reverence for his powers but did you love him deeply said rest ess y i don t exactly d by deeply that s nonsense a pair of ue e yes you and you have let go my hand she cried her eyes filling with tears harry don t be severe with me and don t question me i did not love him as i do you and could it be deeply if i did not think him than myself for i did not you grieve me so much you can t think i will not say another word about it and you will not think about it either will you i know you think of weaknesses in me after i am out of your sight and not knowing what they are i cannot combat them i almost wish you were of a nature harry in truth i do or rather i wish i could have the advantages such a nature in you would afford me and yet have you as you are what advantages would they be less anxiety and more security ordinary men are not so delicate in their tastes as you and where the lover or husband is not fastidious and refined and of a deep nature things seem to go on better i fancy as far as i have been able to observe the world yes j i suppose it is right has this advantage that you can t be drowned there but i think i ll have you as you are yes i will she said the practical husbands and wives who take things are very are they not yes it would kill me quite you please me best as you are even though i wish you had never cared for one before me yes and you must not wish it don t i try not to so she hoped but her heart was troubled if he felt so deeply on this point what would he say did he know all and see it as mrs saw it he would never make her the happiest girl in the world by taking her to be his own for aye the thought enclosed her as a tomb whenever it presented itself to her brain she tried to believe that	45
that well this said knight somewhat unwillingly that experience teaches that your sweetheart no less than your tailor is necessarily very imperfect in her duties if you are her first patron and the sweetheart who is graceful under the kiss must be supposed to have had some practice in the trade and do you mean to say that you wrote that upon the strength of another man s remark without having tested it by practice indeed i do then i think it was for and unfair and how do you know it is true i expect you regret it now since you bring me into a serious mood i will speak candidly i do believe that remark to be perfectly true and having written it i would defend it anywhere but i do often regret having ever w it as well as others of i the sort i have grown o a ix i a pair of blue eyes of writing is calculated to do harm in the world every literary jack becomes a gentleman if he can only pen a few indifferent upon women themselves too have taken to the trick and so upon the whole i begin to be rather ashamed of my companions ah henry you have fallen in love since and it makes a difference said mrs with a faint tone of that s true but that is not my reason having found that in a case of your own experience a so called goose was a swan it seems absurd to deny such a possibility in other men s experiences you can hit cousin said knight you are like the boy who puts a stone inside his and i shall play with you no longer excuse me i am going for my evening stroll though knight had spoken this incident and conversation had caused him a sudden depression coming rather singularly just after his discovery that had known what it was to love warmly before she had known him his mind dwelt upon the subject and the familiar pipe he smoked while pacing up and down the path failed to be a solace he thought again of those idle words hitherto quite forgotten about the first kiss of a girl and the theory seemed more than reasonable of course their sting now lay in their bearing on under knight s kiss had certainly been a very woman from herself under s whether for good or for ill she had well learned a sweetheart s part and the fascinating finish of her in this second campaign did probably arise from her practice with knight with all the rapidity of jealous upon some words she had let fall which he had only partially understood at the time it was during that kiss by the little we must be careful i lost the other by doing this a flush which had in it as much of wounded pride as of sorrow passed over knight as he thought of what he had so frequently said to her in his a c meant to be the first comer in a x a pair of blue eyes or none for me how blind he must have seemed to this mere girl how she must have laughed at him inwardly he absolutely as he thought of the confession she had wrung from him on the boat in the darkness of night the one conception which had sustained his dignity when drawn out of his shell on that occasion that of her charming ignorance of all such matters how absurd it was this man whose imagination had been fed up to size by lonely study and silent observations of his kind whose emotions had been drawn out long and delicate by his seclusion like plants in a cellar was now absolutely in pain moreover several years of poetic study and if the truth must be told poetic pains had tended to develop the side of his constitution still farther in proportion to his active faculties it was his belief in the absolute of male to which had constituted her charm he began to think it was as hard to be earliest in a woman s heart as to be first in the pool of heaven save notwithstanding her it was surely one of the of destiny that knight should have been thus constituted that her second lover should not have been one of the great mass of bustling less given to whose might have for any lack of that her throbbing self heart should have to defend itself against the keen scrutiny and logical power which knight now that suspicions were awakened would sooner or later be sure to exercise against her was pitiable a miserable is apparent in the circumstance of a strong mind upon a heart which the owner of that mind loved better than his own s devotion to knight was now its own enemy clinging to him so she taught him in time to presume upon that devotion a lesson men are not slow to learn a slight occasionally would have done him no harm and would have been a world of advantage to mi him and was proud to be his bond chapter a worm i the bud one day the said let us go to the again and without consulting her wishes he moved as if to start at once the cliff of our dreadful adventure she inquired with a shudder death me in the face in the person of that cliff nevertheless so entirely had she sunk her individuality in his that the remark was not uttered as an and she immediately prepared to accompany him no not that place said knight it is ghastly to me too that other i mean what is its name windy windy was the second cliff in height along that coast and as is frequently the case with natural	45
told you once he said following out his thoughts that i never kissed a woman as a sweetheart until i kissed you a kiss is not much i suppose and it happens to few young people to be able to avoid all and caressing except from the one they afterwards marry but i have peculiar weaknesses and because i have led a peculiar life i must suffer for it i suppose i had hoped well what i had no right to hope in connection with you you naturally granted your former lover the privileges you grant me a yes came from her like the last sad whisper of a breeze and he used to kiss you of course he did yes very weakly and perhaps you allowed him a more free manner io his love making than i have shown in mine no i did not this was rather more spoken but he adopted it without being allowed yes how much i have made of you and how i have kept aloof said knight in deep and shaken tones so many days and hours as i have hoped in you i have feared to kiss you more than those two times and he made no scruples to crept closer to m w v c n d a pair of ue e yes her dread that the whole story with random additions would become known to him caused her manner to be so agitated that knight was alarmed and perplexed into stillness the actual innocence which made her think so fearfully of what as the world goes was not a great matter her apparent guilt it may have said to knight that a woman who was so in the must have a dreadful to her tale i know continued knight with an indescribable drag of manner and i know lam scrupulous about you that i want you too exclusively mine in your past before you knew me from your very cradle i wanted to think you mine i would make you mine by main force he on vehemently i can t this jealousy over you it is my nature and must be so and i hate the fact that you have been before yes hate it she drew a long deep breath which was half a sob knight s face was hard and he never looked at her at all still fixing his gaze far out to sea which the sun had now resigned to the shade in high places it is not long from sunset to night dusk being in a measure banished and though only evening where they sat it had been twilight in the valleys for half an hour upon the dull expanse of sea there gradually itself into existence the gleam of a distant light ship that lover first kissed you was it in such a place as this yes it was you don t tell me anything but what i out of you why is that why have you suppressed all mention of this when casual confidences of mine should have suggested confidence in return on board the why were you so secret it seems like being made a fool of to think that when i was teaching you how desirable it was that we should have no secrets from each other you were in words but in act me confidence would have been so much more promising for our happiness if you had had confidence in me and told me willingly i be wa xx l p of blue eyes everything and i shall question you did you live at at that time yes she said faintly where were you when he first kissed you t sitting in this seat ah i thought so said knight rising and facing her and that accounts for everything the exclamation which you explained and all forgive the harsh word forgive it he smiled a surface smile as he continued what a poor mortal i am to play second fiddle in everything and to be by o don t say it don t harry where did he kiss you besides here sitting on a tomb in churchyard and other places she answered with the slow of despair never mind never mind he exclaimed on seeing her tears and i don t want to grieve you i don t care but knight did care how much he cared few who have failed to realize the man s nature will be able to imagine it makes no difference you know he continued seeing she did not reply i feel cold said shall we go home yes it is late in the year to sit long out of doors we ought to be off this ledge before it gets too dark to let us see our footing i dare say the horse is impatient knight spoke the merest commonplace to her now he had hoped to the last moment that she would have volunteered the whole story of her first attachment it grew more and more distasteful to him that she should have a secret of this nature such entire confidence as he had pictured as about to exist between himself and the innocent young wife who had known no lover s tones save his was this its beginning he lifted her upon the horse and they went along the poison of suspicion was doing its work well an incident occurred on this homeward journey which was long remembered by k shade to knight could riot keep i x a pair of ue e yes adam s reproach to eve in paradise and at last them to himself and by him thou i by thee what did you say inquired it was only a quotation they had now dropped into a hollow and the made its appearance against the pale evening sky its lower part being hidden	45
by some intervening trees being denied an answer was looking at the tower and trying to think of some quotation she might use to regain his tenderness after a little thought she said in winning tones thou hast been my hope and a strong tower for me against the enemy they passed on a few minutes later three or four birds were seen to fly out of the tower the strong tower moves said knight with surprise a corner of the square mass swayed forward sank and vanished a loud followed and a cloud of dust arose where all had previously been so clear the church have done it said at this minute mr was seen approaching them he came up with a bustling apparently much engrossed by some business in hand we have got the tower down he exclaimed it came rather quicker than we intended it should the first idea was to take it down stone by stone you know in doing this the crack considerably and it was not believed safe for the men to stand upon the walls any longer then we decided to it and three men set to work at the corner this afternoon they had left off for the evening intending to give the final blow to morrow morning and had been home about half an hour when down it came a very successful job a very fine job indeed but he was a tough old fellow in spite of the crack here mr wiped from his face the perspiration his excitement had caused him poor old tower said yes j am sorry for it said w is interesting piece of antiquity a v i a pair of blue eyes ah but my dear sir we shall have a new one mr a splendid tower designed by a first rate london man in the style of art and of christian feeling indeed said knight o yes not in the barbarous clumsy architecture of this neighborhood you see nothing so rough and pagan anywhere else in england when the men are gone i would advise you to go and see the church before anything farther is done to it you can now sit in the and look down the through the west arch and through that far out to sea in fact said mr significantly if a wedding were performed at the altar to morrow morning it might be witnessed from the deck of a ship on a voyage to the south seas with a good glass however after dinner when the moon has risen go up and see for yourselves knight assented with feverish readiness he had decided within the last few minutes that he could not rest another night without farther talk with upon the j subject which now divided them he was determined to j know all and relieve his in some way would gladly have escaped further converse alone with him that night but it seemed inevitable just after th y left the house how little any expectation of the prospect which was the reason of their pilgrimage had to do with knight s real motive in getting the gentle girl again upon his arm no less than himself well knew chapter had i before i i it was now october and the night air was chill after looking to see that was well wrapped up knight took her along the path they had ascended so many times in each other s company when doubt was a thing unknown on reaching the church they found that one side of the tower was as the had stated entirely removed and lying hi the shape of rubbish at their feet the tower on its eastern side was still firm and might have the shock of storms and the siege of years for many a generation even now they entered by the side door v ent eastward and sat down by the altar steps the heavy arch the of tower and formed to night a black frame to a distant misty view stretching far westward just outside the arch came the heap of fallen stones then a portion of churchyard then the wide and sea behind it was a which had never been possible since the first attached the old tower to the older church it dignified and hence must be supposed to have had an interest apart fi om that of simple moonlight on ancient wall and sea and shore any mention of which has by this time it is to be feared become one of the cries which are heard but not regarded rays of crimson blue and purple shone upon the twain from the east window wherein saints and angels with each other in gorgeous surroundings of landscape and sky and threw upon the pavement at the feet a softer of the same hues amid which the shadows of the two living heads of knight and were and prominent the moon became covered s a c o a k died away fa a of blue eyes there it is gone said knight i ve been thinking that this place we sit on is where we may hope to kneel together soon but i am restless and uneasy and you know why before she replied the moonlight returned again that portion of churchyard within their view it brightened the near part first and against the background which the cloud shadow had not yet uncovered stood brightest of all a white tomb the tomb of knight still alive on the subject of s secret thought of her words concerning the kiss that it once had occurred on a tomb in this churchyard he said with a superficial which did not half cover an of reproach do you know i think you might have told me voluntarily about that past of kisses and without giving me so much uneasiness and trouble	45

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