United States or Vatican City ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Every instant her handkerchief fluttered out, and when the wind took that, she unwound an azure scarf from her neck and flung it on the breeze. When the boat neared the landing, Mr. Mellen ran across the lawn and received his sister in his arms as she sprang on shore.
More than once Mellen saw the dark brows contract as if under actual distress, and as he ceased to speak, and seemed wholly absorbed in his book, he could see that her reverie became more absorbing and painful. "Elizabeth!" he said suddenly. His wife started.
"She is frightened at her own recklessness," said Mellen, "but will not stop, because it disturbs Tom." "Perhaps there is less danger than we think," began Elizabeth, but a cry from her husband checked the words.
"Be you well, now?" continued the pertinacious old man, who had a habit of asking questions and expressing his opinions with the utmost freedom to people of every degree. "Perfectly well," replied Mr. Mellen. "You have come up about that tree, have you?" "Wal, yes," said Jarvis. "I hadn't much to do this morning, so I thought I'd just come round and find out what's the matter.
The evening of the ball arrived; the house was crowded, and for the scores it was impossible to accommodate, Mellen had made arrangements in his usual lavish way, for a conveyance back and forth in a steamer chartered for the occasion. The old house was a beautiful sight that evening.
The leave-takings were over; Tom Fuller had given his last tempestuous sigh as Mellen drove off with his sister and his bride towards the home where they were to begin their new life.
"I'm safe," she said, faintly, "quite safe. Don't be afraid." It was not a moment for many words. With an exclamation of thankfulness, Mellen snatched Elsie from Tom's arms and carried her into the house. In a few moments their united exertions brought the reckless girl completely to herself. She looked up and saw the anxious faces bent over her.
He was always keen-sighted enough, but just then the thought in his mind made his vision still quicker and more clear. Without pausing for an instant's reflection he darted down the hill as he approached the figure it disappeared. On into the woods Mellen followed the intruder, and before he could look around grasped his arm with a clutch so firm that there was no shaking it off.
Breathless, eager, forgetful of his own great sorrow, Tom cleared the distance between the shore and Piney Cove with enormous strides. He crossed the lawn almost at a run, leaped up the steps two at a time, and found Mellen lying upon a sofa in the balcony, with his face to the wall.
It was still two days before he was allowed to talk to his own satisfaction. Then, one afternoon in her rest hour, Alice Mellen let him have his way and, seated by his cot, she answered tersely to a raking fire of terse questions. "How long have I been here?" "Just a week." "How did I get here?" "Hospital train from Krugersdorp." "What for?" "You had a touch of fever.
Word Of The Day