i6o 



R EC RE A TION. 



" Oh, Rob," said his mother. " I'd 

 almost sooner you had never comeback, 

 if you're going to bring disgrace into 

 the family with that hussy." 



" But I can't undo what's done, 

 mother, if I wanted to." 



"'It isn't done, boy," cried the old 

 man, striking the table again. " Now, 

 look you ; this is our last word. Mother 

 and I have made up our minds — and 

 more, we've made our wills, and will 

 never change them. If you are minded 

 to marry Nelly Cole, why go ; but bid 

 us good-bye. You won't starve. Maybe 

 she can support you as dressmaker's 

 porter and milliner's errand boy. But 

 look for nothing from my estate — not a 

 cent ! Every atom will go to your 

 cousin, James, both by will and deed of 

 gift ; and all the lawyers in Iowa can't 

 upset both. But, if you stay with us, 

 and marry some respectable woman that 

 we can accept as our daughter-in-law, 

 you will be our sole heir, beside having 

 an easy living while I live. I need you 

 to help manage my business. There ! 

 Not a word now ! Think it over a few 

 days before you answer." 



Rob had learned obedience in the 

 army. He had also become familiar 

 with deception, all forms of outrage and 

 violence, small regard for women, con- 

 tempt for civil rights and civil law — in 

 brief, many things that are crimes in 

 peace but allowed in war. So he lay 

 and thought, uneasily, most of the 

 night. Four years of absence, with few 

 letters, had certainly weakened his love. 

 Her image, looked at across leagues of 

 battle, march and camp, seemed a dim 

 and unsubstantial memory. He was 

 now old enough and wise enough to 

 know the value of heirship to such a 

 property as his father's ; and the idea 

 of marrying another woman, pretty, of 

 course, who would be accepted by the 

 village as a lady, attracted him. But 

 he could not turn villain in a moment. 

 He asked for more time to consider, 

 and his father told him to take all the 

 time he wished, so long as he did not go 

 to Nelly Cole. 



The village hailed him as a patriot 

 hero, returned from victory. As they 

 grew familiar, the young men joked him 



about his " scrape " with Nelly Cole, 

 and the older men spoke of it as his 

 " wild oats," awfully wrong, but all past 

 now. Some of the leaders in the com- 

 munity expressed their expectations 

 that now he would " steady down to 

 business," marry well, and make himself 

 as good a man as his father. Every 

 body seemed to consider his connection 

 with Nelly Cole only a by-gone folly. 



On Sunday he attended church with 

 his parents. Gazing about the con- 

 gregation and studying the changes 

 time had made in old acquaintances, he 

 felt his mother suddenly start, as a 

 family group entered. He recognized 

 farmer Gurley and his wife and children. 

 With them was a young woman, lead- 

 ing a little boy, barely old enough to 

 accompany her. Surely that was not 

 Nelly Cole. But why was his mother 

 trembling? Slowly he recognized her. 

 He had been remembering a slender and 

 pretty girl, whose chief charm was her 

 timid eyes, her happy laugh, her bash- 

 ful blushes, her dimpled smiles and 

 merry, incessant prattle. Here was a 

 pale, modest, but calmly unabashed 

 woman, tastefully dressed, as became 

 her occupation. She was undeniably 

 fine looking, but he wondered why he 

 had ever considered her superlatively 

 pretty, so missing were the girlish 

 charms which had once caught his fancy. 



Presently she cast a sedate, ac- 

 customed glance around the congrega- 

 tion. Her eyes met his and dilated 

 with a quickly subdued surprise. A 

 faint color tinged her face and then 

 faded ; and she continued her calm 

 survey of the assembly with all the quiet 

 propriety befitting the place and day. 

 Several times he caught her calm regard, 

 dwelling upon him with gentle dignity. 



Perhaps if she had expressed love 

 and invitation in her looks — but her 

 countenance indicated nothing of her 

 emotions. She wore that baffling mask 

 of serene propriety behind which dis- 

 ciplined women conceal their souls. 

 So he allowed his parents, the moment 

 the benediction was pronounced, to 

 hurry him home, talking by the way of 

 everything except the one thing of 

 which all three were thinking. 



TO BE CONTINUED. 



