RECREA TION. 



377 



"Impossible ! I am going to town on 

 important business." 



"Can I attend to it for you ?" 



" You could attend to it," he answered 

 with a sneer ; " but I am afraid not in 

 the way we would desire." 



" Then I will go with you." 



" No ; I expect to bring back com- 

 pany." 



'•Who is it?" 



" Oh, never mind, just now ; you will 

 know later." 



"Well, perhaps you can do what I 

 desire better than I. I kicked a young 

 girl's hat over the bank of the creek, 

 and in attempting to recover it, she 

 slipped and sprained her ankle. She 

 refused my assistance, and I left her 

 sitting on a stone a short distance on 

 the other side of the bridge. Will you 

 take her home ?" 



" It is a nuisance ! but I will see her 

 as far as Main street to oblige you. I 

 will not have time to go farther." 



"That will do, but above all, do not 

 inform her I sent you to her assistance 

 until you arrive in town." 



11 Very well," he answered, a little im- 

 patiently. 



" Oh ! by the way, Steve," I said, as 

 he gathered the reins and was about to 

 drive on. " I have thought of our talk 

 this morning, and have concluded I am 

 not fitted to be a farmer ; I am going to 

 York to study medicine !" 



" Indeed !" And the same disagree- 

 able sneer lighted his otherwise fine 

 face. " Living in York is somewhat 

 expensive ; but I suppose you have 

 means unknown to us." 



" I have not a cent outside of the 

 farm," I answered hotly. "The farm 

 has been making money and I have a 

 right to a portion of the income, even if 

 father did not owe me an education." 



Choking with passion, unable to speak, 

 he bestowed on me a dark frown, and 

 gave the horse a vicious cut of the whip. 

 The next instant he was moving rapidly 

 down the road. 



I now felt that the breach between us 

 had perceptibly widened. He seemed 

 to take delight in thwarting me, and 

 many times had thrown out dark hints 

 concerning the future of the farm. 



I stopped short in the road. " Per- 

 haps," I thought, "he may thwart me 

 in refusing to give assistance to the 

 maiden." My blood boiled with indig- 



nation at the thought. I clenched my 

 hands, and vowed he should answer to 

 me if he did not keep his word. 



I am impulsive. The hot Saxon blood 

 inherited from my mother often impels 

 me to action regardless of circumstances. 

 In a moment I was speeding down the 

 road, and did not stop until I saw the 

 carriage standing beside the rock upon 

 which the maiden still sat. Steve was 

 just alighting, and presently I saw him 

 assisting her into the buggy. 



He had not played me false, then, for 

 which I mentally thanked him. I envied 

 him the pleasure he would have in the 

 long ride, and bitterly I regretted the 

 boorish country manners that had caused 

 me to offend her. 



The longing to look once more on 

 her animated face overcame me. This 

 could be accomplished by a short cut 

 across the fields, and by hiding behind 

 a fence or a rock. I was speeding 

 across lots ere the thought was fairly 

 formed, and took up a station on a knoll 

 that commanded the road up to Brom- 

 ley's turn-pike. 



Fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes passed, 

 when I saw them driving slowly down 

 the road. I was about to descend and 

 secrete myself, when, to my amazement 

 they turned into Bromley's road. It 

 was a good three miles farther by that 

 route, and for Steve, who was in such a 

 hurry, I knew not what it meant. I de- 

 termined to head them off by the other 

 road. As I had plenty of time I walked 

 leisurely, brooding on the future. Now, 

 for the first time, I regretted the idle 

 life I had lived, and determined in the 

 new profession I had chosen, to make 

 a name and fortune for — . I stopped 

 short and gazed wildly around, lest some 

 one should discover my secret. 



Yes, like an inspiration from Heaven 

 came the divine feeling that transforms, 

 for good or evil, the natures of all men. 

 This delicate creature, this dainty 

 stranger, coming into my life like a fairy 

 out of the woods, bringing with her the 

 beauty and perfume of, to me, an un- 

 known world, had in a morning changed 

 me from a wild impetuous boy to a 

 mature, thoughtful man. I loved the 

 graceful fairy and determined to make 

 every effort to win her. 



Some of my new-born happiness must 

 have been reflected in my face, for I 

 was startled by hearing a voice exclaim : 



