412 



RECREA TION. 



the groan that escaped my lips. I raised 

 my head and encountered a fierce burn- 

 ing light in Steve's eyes. His face was 

 a shade paler than usual, and such was 

 the intensity of his expression, that it 

 lashed me into a passion. I replied 

 with a sneer: 



" Your conversation must have been 

 interesting not to have noticed the road 

 your horse was taking." 



" It was," he remarked. " It was of 

 you." 



"Of me !" I cried in astonishment. 



" Certainly. She inquired if I had 

 met a rough, country lad with a gun 

 on his arm. I said I had. She then 

 said you had assisted her, and that had 

 it not been for you, 

 she would have been 

 unable to regain the 

 bank, and in all 

 probability would 

 have fallen into the 

 river. I told her no 

 gratitude was due 

 you ; that instead 

 you had earned her 

 cordial disapproba- 

 tion, for had you not 

 kicked her hat into 

 the stream she would 

 not have sprained 

 her ankle in attempt- 

 ing to recover it. 

 She was highly in- 

 dignant and ex- 

 pressed her dislike 

 of you in unqualified 

 terms." 



"I listened in 

 speechless amaze- 

 ment at this cool 

 confession of treachery 

 I leaped to his side at a bound. 



" You treacherous hound!" I said, as I 

 seized him by the throat, "did you not 

 promise not to mention my name to her." 



In a moment I was forcibly torn from 

 him by father, who forced me into a 

 chair. As soon as Steve recovered his 

 breath, he said. 



"I promised not to mention you had 

 sent me to her assistance, a promise I 

 kept ; what I told her was only the 

 truth." 



"Told to you in confidence, and to 

 her to humiliate me ; the finesse and 

 brutality of which is only exceeded by 

 your treachery!" 



As he finished. 



A flush overspread his face, as he 

 answered. " I do not see what this 

 stranger is to you. She insisted on 

 trudging two miles on a lame foot, in 

 preference to accepting your assistance 

 and company." 



" Come, come, boys," said our father. 

 " This has gone far enough, we do not 

 want a Cain and Abel affair to grow out 

 of this." 



" For my part," answered Steve, " I 

 merely talked to the young lady to pass 

 the time, and had no thought of injur- 

 ing Allen. How was I to know he had 

 fallen heels over head in love with a 

 girl he had met for the first time this 

 morning ?" 



" No !" I replied, 

 with a withering 

 glance of contempt, 

 k 'you could not keep 

 the innate treachery 

 of your disposition 

 from gaining the 

 ascendancy; espec- 

 ially as you found 

 Miss Sheldon as in- 

 teresting as I had 

 found her." 



"Well, Allen, I 

 suppose you will not 

 condone my offence, 

 but to prove I am 

 sincere, I will give 

 you the sum you. 

 consider necessary 

 to pay your expen- 

 ses in York, or 

 Philadelphia, while 

 studying medicine ; 

 the session opens 

 this month and you 

 can start at once." 



I gazed at his face and saw a trembl- 

 ing eagerness for my acceptance of his 

 offer, that contrasted strangely with his 

 cold indifference of the morning. Is it 

 possible he is willing to pay to get me 

 out of Miss Sheldon's way, I thought. 



" Come, Allen. You will accept my 

 offer to pay your expenses at college." 

 " How is it," I inquired, ignoring his 

 offer, " that you had business of such 

 importance at the farm with lawyer 

 Farrington, that I, older than you, was 

 not consulted ?" 



My father sprang to his feet, while 

 my brother dropped into a chair, each 

 with the guilty look of a detected 



