Argosy, Vol. 111, No. 1 — page 62: what you’re looking at

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

D2 promise me never again to mention your past to any one here.. It would embarrass these good people, and they would not like it. I think you can depend also on the'r never embarrassing you by referring to it.’ CHAPTER XI. A YEAR IN EDEN. OR a week, Bradwell remained at the little cottage on the hill as the guest of the judge and his gentle wife. The latter seemed to take him for granted as an honored guest. Never by word or look did she hint at her knowledge of his past. Nor did the judge ever again refer to it in any way. The young man at once found himself greatly attached to these good people. But often as the two men sat talking of many things connected with the outer world with which, for a back-country lawyer, the older man seemed unusually well informed, the other would note again the troubled look in his new friend’s face. Was the judge in doubt, after all, as to the wisdom of thus harboring a dubious character? : In the demeanor of the citizens of the village of Eden, however, try as he might to surprise them off their guard, Bradwell could discern no more than the ordinary curiosity over the stranger within the gates. A few days later the judge secured em- ployment for Bradwell at Deacon Ward’s store. At the same time he found him a boarding-place with an aged widow at the other end of the village. “T’d like to keep you with us,” he apologized, ‘“‘but my daughter Agnes is coming home to spend the rest of her college vacation. We’ve only the one spare room.”’ A placid fortnight passed. Eden quickly adopted him as a fixed institution. Brad- well had reached the point where he could fill a sugar order without first making a false pass at the nail-bin, and had assumed the air of one who had been in the general store business all his life. Then suddenly his tranquil, gray horizon trembled and broke into brilliant, auroral hues. THE ARGOSY. One morning a light step aroused him from a professional study of the labels on the canned goods shelf. He turned, and looked squarely into a pair of brown eyes. They were the kind which express at the same time infinite innocence, ineffable sweetness, and keen intelligence, and all those subtle qualities instantly smote Brad- well’s consciousness to the quick. The eyes shone at him from a physical altitude of not more than five feet four inches. Their spiritual range overtopped Parnassus. They were surrounded by a collection of soft, dark hair, clear, sun- kissed complexion, a slightly tilted nose, and a mouth bounded at the corners by two humorous dimples. Some kind of white frock or other made a misty addition to the picture. The ensemble represented not over twenty years of ripening. An impatient drumming of fingers on the counter roused the clerk. ‘ Please send a half a pound of Oolong tea over to Judge Thurston’s,” sang a celestial flute from the Parnassian summit, and the vision vanished. | “So that’s the old chap’s daughter!” gasped the dazed young man. And for the rest of that day the development of our rising merchant showed signs of blight that gave a distinct setback to the rapidly grow- ing confidence of his employer. Agnes regularly attended to the family marketing. Each day he was destined to look into the brown eyes and exchange brief business converse with their owner. He was relieved to find in her none of the usual village informality that would have led her to claim his acquaintance on her father’s account. ‘“ Perhaps it’s because she despises me,” he thought in moments of depression. Ever since his withdrawal from the Thurstons’ home they had been inviting him to Sunday dinner. These occasions had been pleasant breaks in the routine of satisfying the trade. But now, with the coming of the third member of the family and the accompanying psychic disturbance, he looked forward to the next Sabbath visitation with distinct dread. He half hoped that paternal cautiousness would save him from an invitation. GoMmiGcsoo S (CO