His Sombre Rivals | Page 5

Mrs.
Mayburn's cottage to the street. Evidently some one was playing with
the little creature, and was pretending to be kept at bay by its
belligerent attitude. Suddenly there was a rush and a flutter of white
draperies, and the dog retreated toward Graham, barking with still
greater excitement. Then the young man saw coming up the path with
quick, lithe tread, sudden pauses, and little impetuous dashes at her
canine playmate, a being that might have been an emanation from the
radiant apple-tree, or, rather, the human embodiment of the blossoming
period of the year. Her low wide brow and her neck were snowy white,
and no pink petal on the trees above her could surpass the bloom on her

cheeks. Her large, dark, lustrous eyes were brimming over with fun,
and unconscious of observation, she moved with the natural, unstudied
grace of a child.
Graham thought, "No scene of nature is complete without the human
element, and now the very genius of the hour and season has
appeared;" and he hastily concealed himself behind the curtains,
unwilling to lose one glimpse of a picture that made every nerve tingle
with pleasure. His first glance had revealed that the fair vision was not
a child, but a tall, graceful girl, who happily had not yet passed beyond
the sportive impulses of childhood.
Every moment she came nearer, until at last she stood opposite the
window. He could see the blue veins branching across her temples, the
quick rise and fall of her bosom, caused by rather violent exertion, the
wavy outlines of light brown hair that was gathered in a Greek coil at
the back of the shapely head. She had the rare combination of dark eyes
and light hair which made the lustre of her eyes all the more striking.
He never forgot that moment as she stood panting before him on the
gravel walk, her girlhood's grace blending so harmoniously with her
budding womanhood. For a moment the thought crossed his mind that
under the spell of the spring evening his own fancy had created her, and
that if he looked away and turned again he would see nothing but the
pink and white blossoms, and hear only the jubilant song of the birds.
The Spitz dog, however, could not possibly have any such
unsubstantial origin, and this small Cerberus had now entered the room,
and was barking furiously at him as an unrecognized stranger. A
moment later his vision under the window stood in the doorway. The
sportive girl was transformed at once into a well-bred young woman
who remarked quietly, "I beg your pardon. I expected to find Mrs.
Mayburn here;" and she departed to search for that lady through the
house with a prompt freedom which suggested relations of the most
friendly intimacy.

CHAPTER II

MERE FANCIES
Graham's disposition to make his aunt a visit was not at all chilled by
the discovery that she had so fair a neighbor. He was conscious of little
more than an impulse to form the acquaintance of one who might give
a peculiar charm and piquancy to his May-day vacation, and enrich him
with an experience that had been wholly wanting in his secluded and
studious life. With a smile he permitted the fancy--for he was in a
mood for all sorts of fancies on this evening--that if this girl could
teach him to interpret Emerson's words, he would make no crabbed
resistance. And yet the remote possibility of such an event gave him a
sense of security, and prompted him all the more to yield himself for
the first time to whatever impressions a young and pretty woman might
be able to make upon him. His very disposition toward experiment and
analysis inclined him to experiment with himself. Thus it would seem
that even the perfect evening, and the vision that had emerged from
under the apple-boughs, could not wholly banish a tendency to give a
scientific cast to the mood and fancies of the hour.
His aunt now summoned him to the supper-room, where he was
formally introduced to Miss Grace St. John, with whom his first meal
under his relative's roof was destined to be taken.
As may naturally be supposed, Graham was not well furnished with
small talk, and while he had not the proverbial shyness and
awkwardness of the student, he was somewhat silent because he knew
not what to say. The young guest was entirely at her ease, and her
familiarity with the hostess enabled her to chat freely and naturally on
topics of mutual interest, thus giving Graham time for those
observations to which all are inclined when meeting one who has taken
a sudden and strong hold upon the attention.
He speedily concluded that she could not be less than