The Argosy — page 104: what you’re looking at

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

Q2 The Village Blacksmith. pared to argue audibly with the parson and knock down the clerk, if they showed any signs of coupling Rex with a strange bride. On the completion of the ceremony, she declined all offers of sight- seeing out of respect to the late Canter’s memory, greatly to the relief of the bride and bridegroom ; and, having seen them depart on their brief honeymoon, she awaited the next train for Marling seated on the platform, her plump hands folded below her portly figure—a silent but severe critic of porters and passengers. A week after, Janet returned to her father’s cottage, and a few days later her young husband sailed for Manitoba. Rex had expressed a wish that she should not return to her work at the mill, and as there was really no need for her to do so— indeed, Reuben, as we have already stated, had never been anxious for her to work at a factory—Janet gave it up; on the pretext that now her Aunt Norah had left, she would have the washing to do; and what with making and mending her own clothes, cooking, and cleaning the house, she really had no need to be idle. Nevertheless, she had plenty of spare time in which to fret for Rex, and grieve over her fault in deceiving her father—a fault Reuben would find it very hard to forgive, for he looked upon a lie as the blackest of sins ; and pro- bably Janet would have been happier if she had had her usual regular work. A few days after Rex sailed the Ryot Tempests left Woodford for Avranches, where for the first week they lived at the hotel, a fairly comfortable one. But Mr. Ryot Tempest soon tired of it. He disliked the hours of the table-d’héte ; the cuisine upset his digestive organs ; moreover he had nothing to do, no marketing, no housekeeping. Consequently his mornings hung heavily on his hands, and he became nervous and fidgety, not to say cross. So that when he announced to his wife and daughter that he had taken a fur- nished house for the rest of their visit, Mrs. Ryot Tempest was not sorry. Vera was very indignant. The hotel life suited her exactly. It amused her to see fresh faces every day, even though she had no chance of making acquaintance with anyone; for she was always placed at the table between her father and mother, Mrs. Tempest holding very French notions as to the amount of liberty to be accorded to girls. ‘I'he very first day of their arrival, Vera’s attention had been attracted by an English gentleman who that day sat at the top of the table ; but he ordered his place to be changed, so that the next day Vera found he was her vis-a-vis, and he listened to her lively conversation with apparently much amusement. He was a tall, thin man, with the unmistakable air of an English officer about him. He had large dark eyes, which seemingly cost him an effort to open, for he raised them very languidly ; indeed, ECOMiCcOOolkKS —_— (CO