Indianapolis Sentinel, Volume 34, Number 123, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 May 1885 — Page 14

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THE INDIANAPOLIS DAILY SENTINEL, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 3, 1885

MISS PRISCILLA.

All the Tear Round. I. 1 consider your conduct so foolish as to t Inexcusable," the re-.-tor said severe! y. This from Mr. Hornby was scathing censure, ami as Miss Priscilla heard him her scb incrt-a-!. "I am very sorry," she murmured" heartbrokenly. "If I had known you would have cared so much, I should not hare dared to dolt" "As if my caring mattered P he sai l to himself w:ta de-pondent amazement "Why. you poor foolUh creature, what can It matter to me except for your sake? But to think that you have beggared yourself literally, act lally beggared yourself, and at your age. to-P I am only a little over 40," Miss Priscilla ventured with meek protect. "But 43, and penniless and incapable of anything!" Mto Priscilla made a faintly rebeliouj movement. "I mean to teach," she said, with wavering confidence. "Teach! Why, you are years behinl the times. Nowa laj's girls learn astronomy, and chemistry and Greek, ma'am Greek!" Miss Pri-cil'a sobbed again. "And for a young scapegrace who never was worth his salt. And all that money in 3 per cents., too! Oh, I have no patience with it all P Miss Priscilla rubbed her eyes, and looked up at him pitifully. "Would yon have bad me let him go to prison r sho askod. "I woulL" Mr. Hornby closed his mouth determinedly a? he spoice. "In this world whoso sins should bear the punishment" "He was Ix-tty's son," Miss Pri-dlla said, "and Letty was more to ma than ever sister was before. How could I let him be ruined, jut that I might fare sumptuously and live at eaeP "Of course you felt that," the rector admitted, reluctantly; "but, all the same, he was a criminal, and as such had a right to bear his own punishment" i Mis3 Pri cilia rose to go. "If the Deity you preach were as merciless as you are, is bad been a .-ad thing for the world," she said. "I toll you his sin, poor boy, because I wished to have nothing secret from you, for tho sakp of your old friendship, and 3'ou only ta ant me with it Oh, you are very cruel P He .ut ont hi Land to stop her. "You must forgive me if I have spoken harshly," he said. "I am only harsh because I feel so much. "What do you mean to do? This is a hard world for women who are penniless." "The Lord takes care of fools and children," Miss Priscilla answered with a break In her voice. "Are you an?ry still? He extended his hand as Le spoke. And Miss Priscilla took it, her heart softening. "We havo Leon friends always, and I should not like us to quarrel now at the last,"s he said. At the lastr he echoed, looking at her inquiringly. "Of course I must leave the village. One does not live at I have done hitherto, on nothing." "Nothing ! And is it as bad as that?'' "I have a couple of hundrel left and the furniture," she answered, smiling at him faintly. "You have not told me how it came about the necessity for your sacrifice, I mean," he said: "I do not know ull the particulars, but I can guess.' Sue shivered slightly as she spoke. "There was an extravagant youth, and a position of trust, and temptation and a fall and ruin, unloss a miracle interposed." "An J you wrought the miracle P Mr. Hornby paid, with a rather uncertain smile quivering about his lips?. "I did all I could to pave him from the consequences of his deed." "And was the the deficit for a large sum?" "For 3,700 pounds sterling. Had it been for much more, I -should have been power--In your place, I should not have interfered," Mr. Hornby said, signing. "The very magnitude of the offense shows a hardened nature." Miss Friscilla was weeping bitterly now. "It is too late to think of that," she said; "The thing is done ami irrevocable. I did not tell you bafore, lest you should try to hinder me. Ü9 ha pone abroad to make a fre-h start and to do well. I truitand bolieve. II was Letty's son." "And you mean toteachp looking at her pittitully. "It is all I can think of." "Put it is such a hard life, and so difficult to find a place in even, nowadays, without a special training." "Xo matter: I can only try ray very best" She bald out her hand to him. "Good-bye," she said; "don't fret about me; I ammre hopeful tLan you are. I have good health and all my wits about me, and 1 am ready to d" my best at anything that offers." She shook bands with him, the perturbation in his eyes meeting the striving smile in hers, and then she went out and down the rectory lawn; and through the little gate that led into the village street It was a beautiful sunshiny June day. Fro n hill top to hill-top the light seemed suspended in gossamer webs, and the slumberous peace tht stretched over land and tea was too perfect for common sounds to break. In Fairview village drowsy quiet was paramount Even the roses growing in front of rustic porticos, swayed their languid heads in the faint breezes somnolently. A few children busied vrith dust-pies in tho shadow of the houses smUed on Miss Pri-cilla as she ra-sediafew ristics loitering in the thoroughfare touch kl their forelocks with slow civility. Al) tl- neighborhood knew Mis; Priscilla, and knowing her know all her history. She had lived among them always. She was Squire Compton's only surviving child, and she was reputed fabulously wealthy here, where mrney was so rare. It did not mattar that Squire Compton had been held poor enough in his day, and that all he left had been divided equally between Priscilla and Edward Glynn, his grandson. Miss Priscilla must be wealthy, judged by her large henevolencis. Of coursj money does accumulate in the hands of women, and Miss Priscilla was economical in her personal expenditures, and beside, did not the way of life of Mr. Edward Glynn prove how much wealth mut kao fallen between them? It was not often that Mr. Edward Glynn had chosen t honor Fairview with his presence, but from the few occasions when it had been favored, it retained a vivid memory of his elegant bearing, hi3 costly equipments, and his general suggestive ness of In dry and ease. Fairview was quite croud that such a distinguished g"tr--"

owed nis cngin to it, however remotcTy, though a few of the oldest inhabitant d.d venture to whisper anvmg themselves that Mr. Edward Glynn was very like his father, and that his father had ten a curs to every one who had 3ver trusted him. Of course, they would not have said this to Miss Priscilla for th world, an 1 thv cnlv bifatH"l It to each other in confidential moments for Mi-s Priscilla was a kind of little ProviJence in the neighborhood, and a word against auht belonging to her was disloyalty. As phe passed down the still street that calm Jun? afternoon, one and another offered her a friendly greeting; and, obsorvation being none too acute here, no one noticed with what a frozen smile she answered. She was almost at her own door when a little girl on crutches hobbled after h?r and put a rose Into her hand. bIt is off tho lu-h you gave me," she said, and then Miss Priscilla drew down her veil and hurried on, weeping. How was she to leave the-o hearts that loved her and the happy home in which she had spent her entire lifetime? Her little maidservant oponeJ the door for her without waiting for her knock and took her bonnet and shawl and brought he slippers and a cup of tea. Miss Priscilla 'drank the cheering beverage to give her courage, and then sho went into the little kitchen where the little maiden sat sewing by the hearth. "Jan9," Miss Priscilla paid, clearing her throat, "Jane, I wish to say that at the end of the month you and I shall be obliged t part." Jane's face assumed an expression of dismay, tut she only said "Lorl" She felt at that mom -nt a whole voluma of things, but being an uncultured person, she only said "LorP "It is no fault of yours, Jane," Mis Priscilla continued with painstaking precision; "I have found you everything a girl should be, and I oniy part with you because I have decided to leave Fairview." Jane sighed faintly, and her round eyes grew rounder. "I cannot tell how soon I may leave the village," Miss Priscilla went on, "but in any ca-e you will have your month's waes." "I don't want no wages but wbat I've earned ma'am," Jane answered with severity. "I would take you with mo if it vrere possible," Miss Priscilla ventured explanatorily, "but it is quite out of the question." "Don't mention it, ma'am; it's no matter, Tm sure, though I have served you faithful." And then Jano clattered among the fire irons, anl hunted the cat from his cozy nook by the fire, with mattered exclamations' of contempt for his lazinass, and finally drove Miss Priscilla from the kitchen, thus depriving both of them of the solace of mutual sympathy. Mi-s Priscilla was disappointed in Jane, but Miss Priscilla's ideas on many things were likely to suffer metamorphoses. It was only now that this quixotic lady was beginning to realize the entire consequences of all she had done for the sake of Letty's boy. When danger and disgrace had loomed large and terrible above him, her only thought had been, was there ime to save him, and would the sacrifice of her whole fortune be enough? But when the deed was done, when tho culprit had sailed scathle&s away, and when she was left to break to her friends the story of her changed fortunes, then sho realized tho import and consequences of her action. The old life, the life of prosperous, easy independence was over; sha was a beggar, or but little better ono who fronts the world to a-k something at its hands. Her small stock of powers and possibilities was now to be brought to juJgment and what were her powers and possibilities? Old fashioned acc mpli-hmeats, antiquated erudition, half-forgot ten sciences, whose very outlines later developments had obliterated. As Mr. Hornby had said, she was ages behind the times. But it was too late to think of this now; too late to reinamber her shyness, her spinster timidity; too lata to regret her quiet life, and simple pleasures and small sphere of usefulness. She had sacrificed all this to Letty's son, who, perhaps, scarcely thanked her, and she hail no alternative now but to accept the consequences of her action. iL Mr. Thomas Hornby sat at broakfast in a large, luxurious diuing-room; and Mrs. Thomas Hornby looked large and luxurious herself. She wore a gown of conspicuous pattern, and had bits of ct lor interspersed in the laces of her cap, and many rings on her plump hands. Opposite was her husbani, the rector's brother, a man who asserted himself seldom. On either hand were the young Hornbys, who asserted themselves often. The silver urn was hissing vigorously, and the other pieces of plate caught th sun's rays a they came broadly through the open window. Mr. Tom was reading the newspaper; Mrs. Tom w as giving lessons in deportment to her offspring, who received instruction as reluctantly as is the wont of youth. It was only as Mr. Toni was about t take his way toward the omnibus that would bear him to the city, that his wife addressed him. "I have had a letter from your brother George, t-day." Mr. Tom stopped in mid -career. "Indeed 1 George is not a great correspondent" "No, but, like ether people, he can write when he wants anything." "Has he been beggin of you, for another pot hobby P Mr. Tom smiled faintly, as people do with whom smile are rare. "iot this time, but he has some woman on his hands, and he wants me to dispose of her." "A woman. George P A flicker of amusement played over Mrs. Tom's face. "Some person in his parish has got into trouble; a lady, he says, who has been comfortably provided for, but has chosen to bestow her fortune on a worthless relative, and so finds herself, ia middta life, at the mercy of the worl L Serve hr right say L I can do nothing for her," "Now, I wonder who that could be? There arrftiot many moneyed ladies in Fairview." Mr. Tom looked reflective. fcLet mo see. Ha gives her name. Compton yes, Miss Priscilla Compton." "Priscilla Compton." Mr. Tom sat down and let his less particular omnibus follow its predecessors. Why, she is our oldest friend. It washer father's influence that got George Fairview. What can have happened to herP "He only says that she has sacrificed her Independence to the needs of some undeserving relative, and now wishes to work for her bread. Such folly, as if the world could find work for a woman grown old in idle nessp - "Priscilla Compton working for her board ! Dear, dear! I remember her, a pretty girl who held her head as high as any one. Why, once upon a time George worshipped the Terr cround she walked on. and now to

ttiuc oi mm trying to get ner a Situation! Well, time does work wonders P "Your brother loved her.'" Mrs. Tom said, looking at tin letter with new interest "Yes, though I would not venture to say that he ever V Id her so." "Yet be married another?" "Yes; men do somet'im?s. whan an energetic woman catches them on the rebound He looked at her and uttered a little dealing lauh, that came awkardly, as thou ashamed of itself. UI surprise he is free to marry Lis r love now, if he will," Mrs. Tom sa.d cl !J "And he'ii do it as sura as I live h-'il tfP Mr. Tom dr ic!c l is hands to't?'. fce spoke. "Iow that things are at a crlsa with h-?r " "You would like it I do believe you would like it though you know that our children are his heirs." "Oh, hang it. Itebecca! Our children will be as rich as Jews, and why should we grudge him a fragrant of contenUusnt in his old agP Becoming suldenly conscious of the passage of time, Mr. Tom made his exit hastily, and his wife was left alone to ponder. The rector was a widower and childless, his parish was a good one, and as he had always lived economically, he must have a goodly store cf accumulations now. Mrs. Tom liked money, and Mrs. Tom hid managed tmake many indirect streams trickle into her own pockets ere this through management. Mrs. Tom would not Lave been guilty of a criminal action for the world, neither would she permit herself any course that might sein like scheming; but in her time Mrs. Tom had known tha valuo of miny artfully simple little dod 'es, and the ckief of these was to remove temptation when she "knew it might be formidable. Mr-. Thomas Hornby hal as many annual thousands as her husband's brother had hundreds, but what did that matteri Busin--s was uncertain, said prudence; who could tel what a godsend the rector's savings might prove one day to her poor children? If she could help it, she would not permit this second marriage. Mrs. Tom discussed the matter with herself, pondered on the jiossibility of circumstances playing into her hands, and finally decided that it was safest to rely on ber-elf. ßhe sat quite still for half an hour, and th-n she rose with a rustle expressive of decision, and took her way up the wide, softly carpeted stairs. Fine rooms opened on eit'ier hand, fine pictures smiled down on her from the wall-; but Mrs. Tom went on to her room at the end of the corridor, and opened the door. A pale woman, who stood buttoning her 1 gloves by the window, looked up timidly as Mrs. Tom mailed in. "Are you goiyg out, Miss SpenceP "Yes; the children haveakeJ for an early walk s;nce the weather has grown so hot, and so I have taken them to the park for the last week after breakfast" "You should have consulted me about it," Mrs. Tom said coldly. "I did not think it mattered," the governess answered, shrinking a little. "They are to have a walk, and when they get it at the best time " "The best time is questionable; in any car-e, you should have consulted me." Miss Spence did not answer. Ad i resting this large, prosperous, self-assertive woman was an ordeal from which she ehrank. "Indeed, I have often thought lately that you assume too much," Mrs. Tom went on. "You aro too independent in your ways, too confident of your own infallibility." Miss Spence looked up at her with the soft, pleading e3es that were the sole beauty in her pale, plain little face. Mrs. Torn did not care to meet them as she continued: "And so I have decided that it would be better for us both to make a change." "Very well, Mrs. Hornby." The little governess . accepted the flat calmly, for the absence of hope teaches endurance; and then she went out with her pupils and paced the park, where the glory of the sunlight was falling like a benediction, and wondered way she had ever had the burden of life cat on her. Meantime Mrs. Tom, indifferent to the fact that the had pushed heaven further into the background of a desolate life, was writing a gushing letter to her dear brother at Fairview. It wa? a hot afternoon in early July; there was not a cloud in the lofty dome of the 6ky, and the few trees dotted along the dusty highway flung dense shadows here and there, while in the distance the heat seemed to set the landscape dancing to a measure cf its own. Mr. Hornby sighed saveral times as he weut down tho Fairviow street, and more than ouco In fro.vnel, as people d) to whom, either in sngestion or in reality, something unpalatablo has been offerel Perhaps the heat oppressed him, perhaps the dust annoyed him. For surely there could be nothing in tho cheery letter folded in his breast-pocket that could vex any ono. Is Miss Priscilla at homeP He had stoppxl by the little oak door over which th& roses and honeysuckle clustered so lovingly. "Yes. sir." Jine had appeared in answer to his knock, anl he noticed that sue had lost the brLk, ccmplacent bearing of former dajs. "Then tell her I am here, plea-e." Mr. Hornby entjrel and seated hims?lf on one of thj pretty, chintz-covered chairs in Mis Pris .-ilia's cool, fresh little drawiug-ing-rooxn. IIjw pretty everything was, from th? haul ful of roses and ferns in the glass dish to th-3 light curtains swaying in the breeze! Bat how could any adjunct of Miss Priscilla'. owmrship bj other than pretty And to fancy her toiling for a pittance in his brother Tom's household! Again tho disgusted look sproal itself over his countenance, and this tim it couli not be due either to the dust or tho Min. "Have you heard of anything? he said, anxiously, as Mis Priscilla entered. "No; but you have." She wi r.- a snowy cap and a gown of som soft stuff, and she was smiling at him, although there were troubled li.-iijs about brov aul eyes. "I! Ou, no; it is worth nothing; only a letter from Tom's wife." "And is she like all the re?t, anxious to help and so sorry so very sorry, that she knows of nothing suitable jat nowp There was a little anprer in the smile that p'ayel over Miss Prescilla's lij as she put her question. "No; she does not write that exactly." lie rose hurriedly, and went to the window, and stool looking out at the hone3sweet blosloms of tue woolbina that pressed against the panos. "Then what dois sb.9 write? It is very important to me." Mr. Hornby groaned. "You will believe that I have done my very best for youP he said anxiously. "Ye, yes; but what is itP "Mrs. Tom Iloraby wants a governess for her five children, and because I know you and recommend you she will engage you if you wish."

"Oh, how good you are now g ate ful I amP Her lips quivered as she t-poke, but the coull not let the tears fall, though they nearly blinded her. ' "An 1 you would think of itP looking at her mournfully. "Of cour-e I would; beggars must not be cho sers. There are not likely to be many peopb eaer to engage an oil woman brought up to no employm2nt Besides, I wiüt t i teach, and I am very glad that I can make my e sayinthe household of a frien 1 of your?." i do W't 1 myself responsible fr Mrs. To:." l e cf.swered. "Y.'ii ni-anto say she is not perfect?" Vc, . .-'.t.:er am I. so we are likely to suit ich ii r. Will you write to her, and ask e.- t if' rr.e know all she requiresP -1 ! ;i - t learit It hurts ma horribly," , ir ct. r said, wit!i r.eel'.o-vS w.irmth. I) i . .c l.j.i. I a.ivo brought it all . It- wpl l.f ti i.e enough to pity "You would never do that not if things were killing you." "Pos-ibly not I was always better at colJiug other people than at -p-'akin of myself. But never mind me now. What will you say to your sistjr-in-lawp "I shall tell her to come and meet you at my house, anl make all her own arrangements, since you are willing to nccept hf r offer." Mi?s Priscilla looked at him with a little scorn. "Mrs. Toni has been the first to offer me tangible help, and you will kindly write and say that I am very grateful, and that I await her orders." She was more like her old self as sho spoke t'aan she had been since the hour of her sacrifice. "I shall write to her that you will meet her at my house any time she wishes to see you," Mr. Hornby answered doggedly. "But what will she think of that when my own house is here? Remember that she is my future employer, and that I want her approval in everything." "But sin is my sister-in-law, and a domineering woman, and I want hor to understand what I think of you, and what place I whh you to take in her household." Miss Priscilla looked at him doubtfully. "If only you don't make a mess of things after all " she said. III. "She has not come." "Did I not tell you so?" Dismay and triumph struggled oddly for matery on Priscilla's face as she answered. Sbe was at the rectory door, where Mr. Hornby had come out to meet her, and a3 she faced him now, consternation began to creep over his countenance. "Sho said she would come," he answered sheepishly. "Of course; but that was before she had begun to consider. You know there was no reason in the world why I cou'd not receive her at my own house." "I thought it was best to hav hor here." "Anl she did not think so." Miss Priscilla sat down as she spoke, and untied her bonnet strings, and the rector noticed that she was flushed and breathed hurriedly, as though but little would be needed to make her cry. "I am very sorry," he said, penitently. "It was not your fault; you meant well, and in any case I am no worse off than I was." She wiped her eyes furtively as she spoke, and her hot grew-,till more miserable. "1 never dreamed of this," he said: "and no onj else would have played me such a shabby trick." "Well, never mind. Lt us take it for the best But it does seem hard, when a likely thing arose, to lose it like this!" "But lie may come yet Therj is anothe" train at 5, and she s-aid positively that I might expoct her. You will wait, wof.l you?" "If you think there is any chance." Ho had meant kindly, and he was very down-hearted, and so she could not bear to be hard on him. His face cleared. "It will be quite liice old timas to have you here for an afternoon," he said. Miss Priscilla assented, but not very cordially. Where thpro are diverse periods of old times in a iiie, it is sometimes difficult to tell which is referred to. "It is a long time since you have Fjent a day here," Mr. Hornby continued, eager to make conversation. I have not been hero since Mrs. Hornby died," Miss Priscilla answered gravely. "You will notice chan es," sighing. Miss Priscilla assented, but did not commit herself to a statement of tho form the changas seemed to take. "We used to le a good deal about the rectory in our young days, Priscilla,"" he contixmed after a pause. I think Mr. Maxwell was partial to us. Why, it seems like yesterday that he used to take us birds-ne-stia; in th9 woods." "Yes; it does not seem an age ago though you and I aro old people. " "I mi pi ose we are; anl yet you know, Priscilla, I lwver felt myself 3'ounger than now? I never remembered enjoying nature more or finding more likable qualities in ordinary people." "Ajro makes us tolerant," Miss Trkcilla said, with a flicker of frightful mirth. "Yes, I suj pose so; and yet I can't realiza that it is so very long ago sinc3 I was a lad and you the most beautiful girl ia the world to nie." "You were very young then," Miss Priscilla aid coldly. It must have beoa quite a year before you got married." The rector's whole, form seemed to droop from its iromentary happy attitude, "You never understood that, and it was sudden, I own," he said; "but I suppose in every life there are inexplicable occurrences," "As if every one did not know that she marrie 1 you, and not you her, you poor g osel And er ved you right, too; I never pitied you," Miss Priscilla suil to herself very clearly and emphatically; for she wa only a woman, and his defection, though twenty years old, had pjwer to move her still. Not that she held him wholly inexcusablefor it, for it had bejn the foolish time of life with her then the tim? when sh had believed ia heroes and felt a fine scorn of ordinary men. And so she had flouted him and held him aloof till it was too late. It had been a little hard on her, though neither he nor any one ever guessed It; and afterward, when he returned as rector to the parish where he had been born (her influence working always for his benefit), she was one of the first to welcome him, and the readiest to End something good to say of the peevish, fretful wife who made life as hard for him as she knew how. But all that was over long ago, though for a moment Miss Priscilla felt as if the past were not so long past, and in that moment she had called Mr. Hornby, mentally a poor goose; but, looking at his troubled face, her heart softener "One ueod not understand ons friends to prrove of them," she said heartily. Mr. Horubr shihed; his momeatarr ax-

rasr.CTi was over, ror the Um he tZlt that old thing wvre qiito ended. "Jooked back on, life is different from" ont-'s anticipations," he said, sadly. "Not that I have not got more than my deserts, but still the award has been dinerent from anything I expected." "I think it is better, even for our happiness, that results of all we do are in other hands than ours," she answered gently. "No d jubt no doubt; but still " i He stopped, as though his thoughts would not 6hape themselves to any words that fitted the occasion. They had been sitting all this time In the bleak, damp little drawing-room, and, whether from the conversation or the atmosphere, she felt chilled and depres-el, thou;h bright sunshine lay athwart the land. Tüe rectory was a cheerless house now, with duty decorations draggling from the spotted grates, and lmg cobwebs hanging unnoticed i:i dim corners. Anl once sbe hid known him so fond of brightness, and free air, and sunlight Poor George! Of course he was no more r.egh-ctel than are other lonely men, but having known him young and hopeful, his circumstances struck her with melancholy seuse of contrast It was like Miss Priscilla to forget her own immediate troubles in pitying some one else. Tli. lunch made a diversion, though it was not what could be called, strictly -speaking, an enlivening repast A grim servinjwo:nan waited on them and handed them cold plates with an air of protest, and her presence, taken ia conjunction with the di m glass3.s and spottad cutlery mads Miss Priscilla very unhappy. "He has seven hundred a year if he has a p?nny; and y?t everything is perfectly dreadful," she said to herself, whila hisgfodnatured hospitality over the so iked potatoes and hard peas and underdone mutton gave her a tremulous inclination to laugh and cry together. But all this time dark clouds had been piling themselves in the west, and a sharp wind had begun to blow coldby, so that when a messenger came to call the rector urgently to a death-bed, Miss Priscella became suldenly aware that a storm was threatening. "You must wrap up w?ll," she said, as he prepared to go; "you know you are not young enough to run needless risks" and he thanked her smilingly for the unpalatable information. " Vou will make your.-elf quite at home during my absenc-3," he said, and went away cheerfully on his melancholy errand. Tho house looked worse to Miss Priscilla when she was left alone in it The furniture seemed to acquire an uncomfortable human ness suddenly; the mirrors stared ath?r, the chairs hell themselves stifHy aloof, an 1 ths arabesques on the wills developl countenances which eye 1 her inquisitively. She bora it as long as she could, then she rang the bell n?rvoudy. "I shall tike off my bonnet if you will kindly show me to a bed-room," she said, accosting tho grim woman servant with friendly warmth. The woman surveyed her. with hostility, sniffed unpleasantly and preceded her up the staircase without answering. Arrived in a neglected chambex, Mis Priscilla looked round her with the inevitable curiosity that spinsters bring to bear cn the abodes of bachelors or widowers. The pretty paper on the wads was mildewed, the brown Holland blinds were drooping from their rusty nails, and the mirror was so dim that she could not refrain from drawing a finger across its surface. Then she blushed at her action. "What on old maid I am growing!" she said, and effaced tho traces of her handiwork. "Master allows no one in the study," the servant informed her as she approached tha door on her descent "Your master will not mind me," she said, turning the handle and entering. Here, too, the demon of neglect and disorder reigned supreme; the grate was reddened in spots by the last shower down the chimney; tho ink-stand was filled, with a thick sediment, and a heap of pre-Adamite pens lay beside it; when she selected a nook from the shelves it blackened her fingers; when she sat down the chair retained an outline of her form. "It is perfectly disgraceful!" she said, flu-hing angrily; "and to think- of that horrible woman pretending to serve him! And, of course, be, por dear, notices nothing.' Mi-s Priscilla was in a scornfully indignant mood, ether wise she would not havo ventured to jerk the bell as she did. "Bring me a duster, please." she said, when the wman appeared. The latter tossed her head wrathfully and waited for an explanation. None being vouchsafed, she flounced off, and presently returmd with a nondescript article, which she offered at arm's length. M'"ss Pri cilia thanked her pditely, closed the door after her carefully, and then set to work. Sho did not reason about what she was doing, she ouly felt that if she was to sit in that room it must be cleaned first, an 1 with her snowy cuffs laid a-ide and her sleeves tucked up, she got so into the spirit of her occupation that she tang softly to herself over" it There was not a thing that she touched that she did not renovate, an 1. when nil was tidy, and the ro es, gathered an hour ao, were pouring their fragrance from a jar on the centertable, Miss Pri-cilla sat down and sighed. Meantime, tho rain had begun to fall sharply, and the wind to whistla shrilly, in the keyhole, an 1 Miss Priscilla bethought herself of ?h luckless pedestrian. " hen Mr. Hornby is out in tho rain what do you do?' she said, walking boldly into the kitchen and assailing the enemy in her stronghold. uD ji Why, nothing What is there to do?' gruffly. "Do j-ou not have a fire lighted for him and his warm things waiting?" "Tho master has no oil maid's ways that I know of, and, if you please, mi-si--, you will leave me to mind my own business in tho house where I have given great satisfaction for over five years." This telf-satisfied person leaned h?rs)lf in a threatening attitude against the table, and looked at the intruder sourly. fcYour business is to make your master comfortable, and I am sure you have no stronger desire than to do so," Miss Priscilla answered sweetly. "We never have fires in the rooms before September.". -And in a general way that is quite right," Miss Priscilla pursued with the same serpentlike smoothness; "but on exceptional days would you think it wise to brak your ruleP "Master never asks for a fire, not if it rains ever so," was the uncompromising rejoinder. "Then would you not think it well to surprise him for once! He and I have been friends for nearly forty years, and as he is not very strong, I should like to know that he is not running any risk. Wettings are dangerous you know, and I dare fay you and I would have difficulty in finding his like again." The woman hesitated still, and then this clever Miss Priscilla looked at her watch and notified the necessity that f he would be under of returning horn seam,

a', was mvz? o now. nt ail c?iance dt Jtr lorn s app?arance taat day was ended, but, in the ardor of her work, Mbs lYciiIa had momentarily forgotten the object of her JSi t to the rectory. Three things in her last remarks had modi, fled Miss Gaunt; fir.-t, fche had known Mr. Hornby for forty years, and, therefor, was not likely to prove fatal to his peace of mind; second, she was about to remove her obnoxious presence from the rectery forthwith; third, the rector was really a phenomenon anion masters. Actuated by a variety of motives Miss Gaunt ie-tirred hr-elf, and in ten rainutej a good fire was piled in the grat, and after a little sputtering aud puffing cot-entd to burn cheerfully. Ju t as if to convince the rector's guo-t that she kaew what was what and could have things right when she chose, the attenient spread a spotless cloth for tea, and brought forth honey and fresh butter, reserve!, no doubt, for her own use in a general way, anl made tbs toast delicately and crisply, and being then molli

fied by her succe-s, grew amiable, an-1 urged Miss Pri -cilia not to think of venturing out in such soaking weather, as Mr. Hornby was sure to lo in presently. Miss Priscilla went to the window and looked out dubiously. The wide-open roses were banging their heads dejectedly, the mignonette was stirring rebelliously in the win 1, and the vivid greenness of the spongy turf showed how thoroughly it had been soakett. Ilain was falling still, but occasional rifts in the clouds p;ave promise of improvement by and by. She decided, therefore, to await it The rector felt on his return, as if a change had cjme to the whole worid. To find himself cozily and comfortably and cheerfully at tea by his own flreskle, with Miss Triscilla, rosy from her past exertiona, smiling opposite him, and expressing A kindly interest in all he had to tell, delighted him somehow. He could not have accounted for it, but he felt as if he would like t) go t3 sleep th -n and there, to the musical accompaniment of clinking silver and china und a woman's voice. Not that he ever indulged in an afternoon's nap, but he felt s soothed and rested, it seemed as if tie next step must be slumber. But Mr. Hornby was polite, if he was anything. He shook off de drowsy influence, di-cussed Mrs. Tom and the best way to rer.ch her, feeling m re than ever how sad it was that Priscilla should fall into her clutches, so that before bis guest was bonneted for her return home, the ?un had set an 1 tba crescent moon had asserted it self boldly in the watery sky. "I shall go down to the village with you," Mr. Hornby said when she wished to say good-b-e; anl in spite of herdemurrings, h got his thick lx.xts and overcoat, and sallied forth by her sid?. In the air there was the softness of recent rain; the stocks and gilly flowers were pouring out incense to the moon, wh.la an undaunted nightingale sang lustily in a neighboring tree. In tho faint light Miss Priscilla looked as pretty as she had done twenty years before, and more than once Mr. Hornby caught himself looking at her furtively, as hi had d?ne when she had be?n a dainty girl and ho a great undeveloped school-boy. An 1 to think of her now as the governess to Mrs. Tom's children, snubbed and patronized by that pompous person, alternately, and placed in that p sition by his intervention, too! He grew f lite hot as he spoke of it. It would Le bad enough to loe her out of his life; to put her into Mrs. Tom' clutches was unbearable. "But what alternative have If" she asked with a littlj scorn of his pusillanimity. "When one is in a strait, one must fit one'f self to hard circumstances." They were closs to her door now, and ha put out his band to detain her when she wouli have raise 1 tho knocker. "Would you not be happier at Fairview with me as my wife?" he said, hsitatinW "Is it pityP ihe said with a 'quiver in be voice "Pity I Who couid connect the idea of pity with you? Why. I only feel as if I bad nothing to offer you worthy of your acceptance." She did not speak, and he went on after a pause: "I have hoked upon you always as the one woman in the wcrld worth being faithful to, whether your love rewarded the faithfulness or not" For a moment she had a tremulous In clination to laugh, but f he npprossod it, as she suppressed the apt and saucy answer that rose to her lips. Life was sal enough without the further complication of needless quarrels. "Would you have told me this only for my extremity? sho asked stoftly. "I do not think I should have dared." "The, in that case, I am glad I gave my money to Edward Glynn." And all this tim Mrs. Tom's telegram, in its orange envelope, was calmly rep-jsing in Miss Priscilla's parlor. Telegrams were rare at Fairview, the neorest office being three miles away, and Miss Priscilla's Jane had never seen oae before. Jane concluded, from its envelop, also from its undamped condition, that it was far less impr'ant than a letter, anl never thought that it might be wise to send it after her mistress. "Sorry I can not go to Fairview," so ran Mrs. Tom's mes-age. "Circumstances have arisen to detain me at home. I consider you engaged and shall expect you on the 1st", "Am grateful for your kindness but wa previously engaged to remain at Fairview," Mis3 Pricilla telegraph! back, while blessing the laconic mo I? cf communication which spared her feelings and her old-maidenly Llushe-. Mrs. Tom never thought of the rector's second marriage w ithout wrath and "scorn. At his age, an l with a wet golchild like Georgia to be-tow his affections on I Anl to marry a ie:iniless, old-fashioned woman, wbon tbere was a sifter of her own and other suitable persons within reach, if making u fool of himelf was imperative! With a strong conviction of her owa probity, Mrs, Tom mada up her mind to ignore the rector and his wife throughout tbe ir future. Whatever anguish this decision may hare caused at the rectory, all signs of it were carefully concealed by George and Priscilla, and no one sing them, as hand in hand they go down the hillside of life, wou'd ever guess that a canker Is gnaw ing at the root of their content. Jane has replace 1 Miss Gaunt in the reo tory kitchen, but the latter indemnifies herself for her wrongs by relating to all bmr go-sips in the village how Miss Priscilla swept and dusted herself into tbe rector's affections. And to Mr. Edward Glynn, thsre is every probability that he will prove himself better than Mr. Hornby's opinion of him, and it may be that the bread literally Ler dairy bread which Miss Priscilla flung so lavishly on the waters, will return abundantly afUr viany dayi .-