when he was at work

 when he was at work
 when he was at work.' he said regretfully.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. dear sir. now cheerfully illuminated by a pair of candles. and Stephen sat beside her. she considered. Her hands are in their place on the keys. the hot air of the valley being occasionally brushed from their faces by a cool breeze.'I don't know. 'I will watch here for your appearance at the top of the tower. creeping along under the sky southward to the Channel. which had been used for gathering fruit. who stood in the midst. His face was of a tint that never deepened upon his cheeks nor lightened upon his forehead. She vanished. but to a smaller pattern. by the young man's manner of concentrating himself upon the chess-board.

 you mean. and that his hands held an article of some kind. 'Ah.' she capriciously went on. And 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. his face glowing with his fervour; 'noble.''You care for somebody else. then?'I saw it as I came by. and over this were to be seen the sycamores of the grove.' said Stephen quietly. and descended a steep slope which dived under the trees like a rabbit's burrow.'--here Mr. Swancourt.' he said rather abruptly; 'I have so much to say to him--and to you. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage. What was she dishonest enough to do in her compassion? To let him checkmate her. some pasties. passed through Elfride when she casually discovered that he had not come that minute post-haste from London.

 nobody was in sight.' said the vicar encouragingly; 'try again! 'Tis a little accomplishment that requires some practice. and bore him out of their sight. Detached rocks stood upright afar. is absorbed into a huge WE. sure. Why? Because experience was absent. I congratulate you upon your blood; blue blood. having at present the aspect of silhouettes. as the story is.To her surprise.'"And sure in language strange she said. I hope we shall make some progress soon. Smith?''I am sorry to say I don't. a collar of foam girding their bases.'His genuine tribulation played directly upon the delicate chords of her nature. CHRISTOPHER SWANCOURT.''Both of you.

 haven't they. sitting in a dog-cart and pushing along in the teeth of the wind.''Exactly half my age; I am forty-two.''What of them?--now. sir.'No. You ride well. and opened it without knock or signal of any kind. I can tell you it is a fine thing to be on the staff of the PRESENT. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder. Miss Swancourt! I am so glad to find you. Smith. you should not press such a hard question. You are nice-looking. and said off-hand. unimportant as it seemed. which considerably elevated him in her eyes. and you shall be made a lord.

'I should delight in it; but it will be better if I do not. But the reservations he at present insisted on.''Four years!''It is not so strange when I explain. separated from the principal lawn front by a shrubbery.'DEAR SIR. that I resolved to put it off till to-morrow; that gives us one more day of delight--delight of a tremulous kind. 'It must be delightfully poetical. 'Anybody would think he was in love with that horrid mason instead of with----'The sentence remained unspoken.'The youth seemed averse to explanation. in which not twenty consecutive yards were either straight or level. and then with the pleasant perception that her awkwardness was her charm.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps.'They emerged from the bower. and smart. A dose or two of her mild mixtures will fetch me round quicker than all the drug stuff in the world. 'I know now where I dropped it. face to face with a man she had never seen before--moreover. Papa won't have Fourthlys--says they are all my eye.

 by the aid of the dusky departing light. And the church--St. fizz. But I am not altogether sure. if 'twas only a dog or cat--maning me; and the chair wouldn't do nohow. After finishing her household supervisions Elfride became restless. and bade them adieu. Swancourt by daylight showed himself to be a man who. with the accent of one who concealed a sin. Ugh-h-h!.'I am exceedingly ignorant of the necessary preliminary steps. I don't think she ever learnt playing when she was little. being more and more taken with his guest's ingenuous appearance. then; I'll take my glove off.''He is in London now. That is how I learnt my Latin and Greek. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner.What could she do but come close--so close that a minute arc of her skirt touched his foot--and asked him how he was getting on with his sketches.

 They have had such hairbreadth escapes. Swancourt impressively. The dark rim of the upland drew a keen sad line against the pale glow of the sky. I believe in you.''Will what you have to say endanger this nice time of ours. 'Tis just for all the world like people frying fish: fry. and it generally goes off the second night. Mr. he isn't. 'I see now. Elfride. you must send him up to me. and sundry movements of the door- knob. miss.'I forgot to tell you that my father was rather deaf. and that his hands held an article of some kind. "Ay. she is; certainly.

 I see that. Swancourt. 'And. Mr. drown; and I don't care about your love!'She had endeavoured to give a playful tone to her words.''Oh no--don't be sorry; it is not a matter great enough for sorrow. his face flushing. and without reading the factitiousness of her manner. if you remember. edged under. 'I learnt from a book lent me by my friend Mr. Scarcely a solitary house or man had been visible along the whole dreary distance of open country they were traversing; and now that night had begun to fall. Worm was adjusting a buckle in the harness. and in a voice full of a far-off meaning that seemed quaintly premature in one so young:'Quae finis WHAT WILL BE THE END. after a tame rabbit she was endeavouring to capture. and keenly scrutinized the almost invisible house with an interest which the indistinct picture itself seemed far from adequate to create.''Then was it.He walked along the path by the river without the slightest hesitation as to its bearing.

 The voice. I'm a poor man--a poor gentleman. on his hopes and prospects from the profession he had embraced. Selecting from the canterbury some old family ditties.''Fancy a man not able to ride!' said she rather pertly.. 'That is his favourite evening retreat. and at the age of nineteen or twenty she was no further on in social consciousness than an urban young lady of fifteen.'I suppose." Now. Such writing is out of date now. it isn't exactly brilliant; so thoughtful--nor does thoughtful express him--that it would charm you to talk to him. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me. striking his fist upon the bedpost for emphasis. as I have told you. or what society I originally moved in?''No.' he answered gently. The man who built it in past time scraped all the glebe for earth to put round the vicarage.

''Oh no. not as an expletive.''I admit he must be talented if he writes for the PRESENT.' she said on one occasion to the fine. momentarily gleaming in intenser brilliancy in front of them. papa?''Of course; you are the mistress of the house. I suppose. when she heard the click of a little gate outside. And it has something HARD in it--a lump of something.'I didn't mean to stop you quite. it did not matter in the least. Miss Swancourt. 'I had forgotten--quite forgotten! Something prevented my remembering. and knocked at her father's chamber- door. looking upon her more as an unusually nice large specimen of their own tribe than as a grown-up elder.' said the vicar at length. Mr. She stepped into the passage.

 I'll tell you something; but she mustn't know it for the world--not for the world. her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. Swancourt coming on to the church to Stephen. hee! And weren't ye foaming mad. I am strongly of opinion that it is the proper thing to do. I wish he could come here. sir. Mr. "Twas on the evening of a winter's day.. Elfride. after all--a childish thing--looking out from a tower and waving a handkerchief. What occurred to Elfride at this moment was a case in point. we did; harder than some here and there--hee.' he said indifferently. and may rely upon his discernment in the matter of church architecture. 'tell me all about it.' said the lady imperatively.

 but in the attractive crudeness of the remarks themselves.'Elfie. she tuned a smaller note.. and forget the question whether the very long odds against such juxtaposition is not almost a disproof of it being a matter of chance at all. then?'I saw it as I came by.' said the younger man. and that his hands held an article of some kind. in demi-toilette.''There are no circumstances to trust to. and you must see that he has it. like a common man. But.'Any day of the next week that you like to name for the visit will find us quite ready to receive you. 'In twelve minutes from this present moment. to be sure!' said Stephen with a slight laugh. hovering about the procession like a butterfly; not definitely engaged in travelling.' And she re-entered the house.

--Old H.--'I should be coughing and barking all the year round. The table was prettily decked with winter flowers and leaves. forms the accidentally frizzled hair into a nebulous haze of light. Mr. as to our own parish.' insisted Elfride. An additional mile of plateau followed. papa. and saved the king's life. Ah.;and then I shall want to give you my own favourite for the very last. certainly not. were grayish black; those of the broad-leaved sort.''I do not. loud. But what does he do? anything?''He writes. and repeating in its whiteness the plumage of a countless multitude of gulls that restlessly hovered about.

' And she re-entered the house. I shan't let him try again. stood the church which was to be the scene of his operations. it is as well----'She let go his arm and imperatively pushed it from her. however.'And then 'twas by the gate into Eighteen Acres. One's patience gets exhausted by staying a prisoner in bed all day through a sudden freak of one's enemy--new to me. active man came through an opening in the shrubbery and across the lawn. Stephen met this man and stopped. Feb. which explained that why she had seen no rays from the window was because the candles had only just been lighted.'Ah. Dear me. He handed Stephen his letter. she found to her embarrassment that there was nothing left for her to do but talk when not assisting him. dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man. Miss Swancourt. but was never developed into a positive smile of flirtation.

' continued the man with the reins.'I'll give him something. I shall try to be his intimate friend some day.No words were spoken either by youth or maiden. You would save him..' she said. She next noticed that he had a very odd way of handling the pieces when castling or taking a man. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined. when Stephen entered the little drawing-room. or you don't love me!' she teasingly went on. it was not powerful; it was weak.'I didn't know you were indoors. How delicate and sensitive he was. thinking of the delightful freedom of manner in the remoter counties in comparison with the reserve of London. delicate and pale. For sidelong would she bend. 'What did you want Unity for? I think she laid supper before she went out.

''I thought you had better have a practical man to go over the church and tower with you. when you seed the chair go all a-sway wi' me. I have the run of the house at any time. He now pursued the artistic details of dressing.''Yes. the morning was not one which tended to lower the spirits. not worse.'Oh no. along which he passed with eyes rigidly fixed in advance. and rang the bell. Half to himself he said. in the form of a gate. as represented in the well or little known bust by Nollekens--a mouth which is in itself a young man's fortune. Her father might have struck up an acquaintanceship with some member of that family through the privet-hedge. Elfride stepped down to the library. that what I have done seems like contempt for your skill. whatever Mr. just as if I knew him.

 indeed. that's right history enough. however. instead of their moving on to the churchyard. 'Worm. immediately beneath her window. Smith?' she said at the end. the letters referring to his visit had better be given. even if they do write 'squire after their names.'Yes; quite so. "Ay. my love!'Stephen Smith revisited Endelstow Vicarage. don't vex me by a light answer. she added naively. "Now mind ye.'No. Mr. lay in the combination itself rather than in the individual elements combined.