Violet Lisle — page 15: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Lo - GUY DARLINGTON. 9. CHAPTER II. GUY DARLINGTON. It was a charming afternoon, and the poor gentleman’s beautiful daughter enjoyed it with all the zest of perfect health. After the first sorrow for Martin Jenkins had passed away on the crisp autumn air she tripped along more rapidly, now warbling the snatch of some old ballad, now stooping to pick a delicate shrub, or reaching up to pluck a leaf of richer coloring than she had seen. She passed out of the oaks into the open sunshine of the road, and that delighted her as much as the flickering shadows of the woods had done. Everything was a source of pleasure to Violet. She looked up laughingly at a squirrel that sat watching her from. his lofty perch; she called a merry “good by” toa rabbit that dashed in a panic across the road into the shelter of the woods. | At the little bridge over the brook she stopped and leaned on the rail, searching the dancing waters for a darting trout that had its lair under a rock there, but the trout would not come forth, and she started on again. Then she noticed a plank in the bridge loose and likely to be misplaced dangerously by the next crossing horse. Tt ought to be putin place. She looked around for some weer y, ‘ i nn Tn Ge, a, - rat= 2 man, but there was no man in sight, and she looked in- quiringly at her gloved hands, and from them at the heavy plank. Then she smiled rather gleefully, as if it were a very pleasant thing to have the opportunity to do a thing which no manin Penarth would let her do if he had known it. She pulled off her gloves from her dainty _ white hands, with their tapering fingers and pink nails, and began studying the plank. “I suppose,” she said to herself, “that a man would just - take hold of it and put it in its place. Now, I——” She turned her head to listen, for it seemed to her that she heard the gallop of a horse. Yes, if was quite certain that she did. Should she try to put the plank in place, or should she merely warn the horseman of his danger? Well, it was very likely that the horseman would be some acquaintance, and it would be a pleasure to have accom- plished it without his help. She immediately stooped and did as she sunnosed p.man On ff a