The Argosy — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

The Village Blacksmith. 15 with her; and Mrs. Ryot-Tempest was in favour of keeping a dog as a protection against burglars. So the matter was easily settled. “Mind you always feed him yourself, Miss Vera,” said Norah significantly, when she took her leave that afternoon ; and Vera promised to do so. That evening Vera went to see Reuben, a visit she had intended making every day since she had called at the forge, but had never been able to accomplish. Now she had a delicate task to perform, for Mrs. Canter had left Janet’s letter with her to deliver when she saw a suitable opportunity, wisely thinking Vera had more tact in such matters than she herself possessed. Reuben was in his garden when Vera arrived, sitting on a bench smoking a pipe, and looking very sad and lonely. ‘The garden had been neglected during his illness, and he had not done much to it since his recovery. The grass-grown path, and the flourishing crops of coltsfuot and bindweed, rag-wort and fumitory, which choked up his vegetables, his flowering rhubarb, and his roses, which had reverted to type and bore suckers of brambles and large-eyed roses, did not form a cheerful background to the slightly bent figure of the giant blacksmith, who rose to his feet and laid aside his pipe when Vera appeared. She was dressed in white, with a large black hat, and black ribbons on her dress, and a bunch of scarlet geraniums, the first scrap of colour she had worn since her mother’s death, at her bosom. Norah had fastened them on, declaring her pale cheeks could not stand the white dress unrelieved by any colour. ‘The result was that Vera, though looking delicate, had seldom looked more beautiful. Her golden hair seemed fairer than it was by contrast with the black hat, and her great dark eyes had a melancholy longing look in them which added to their beauty. ‘ But for me she would have been in her grave,” thought Reuben, as he greeted her. The sight of Vera brought back that night when he had saved her life, and, as he believed, stained his soul with the blackest of sins, most vividly to him ; and if his first thought was gratitude at having been allowed to save the beautiful girl now standing before him, his next was remorse and sorrow for his unpardonable sin ; for unpardon- able he considered it was. Ever since Mark Brown had told him Janet’s baby was buried, Reuben had believed himself to be its murderer. Over and over again had he been on the point of giving himself up to justice. Over and over again had he dreamt that he was arrested on a charge of infanticide. Hour after hour had he laid awake wondering how it was no one ever mentioned Janet or her baby tohim. Sometimes he wondered how it was no one shrank from him except Mark Brown. Did no one suspect he was guilty of this awful sin ? Was Janet screening him? MHad she found the child herself, and COnnicloookKs mn