United States or Liberia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
At last, at last we shall have somewhere a sweet chez nous to ourselves." The loveliness of the oleander blossoms and the sunset over the garden made a harmony with her dream. To the widow who had been no wife, the girl who had seen no girlhood, the child who had never had a home, the lady who was losing her life in gilded servitude, that dream was dear.
Beside a very lowly mud cabin was a tall oleander, branches and leaves hidden in gorgeous bloom, imparting a cheerful, joyous aspect even amid all this squalor and poverty. Close at hand upon the adobe wall hung a willow cage imprisoning a tropical bird of gaudy plumage; but the feathered beauty did not seem to have any spare notes with which to greet us.
Sharpe sat with the face of a wooden figure-head, intent on the business of eating and drinking. "Miriam and I had a long and confidential talk," the young artist continued, "and came to the conclusion that Doctor Oleander was at the bottom of the matter, and that, wherever you were, you were an unwilling prisoner.
Oleander and Sally were vividly interested, and again each purchased something. Again Mrs. Sharpe said she wanted nothing, and again she knelt down to examine the contents of the pack. The peddler pressed his goods, Mrs. Sharpe obdurately declined. He persisted, Mrs. Sharpe grew angry.
His mother's answer was a stifled scream, which Sally echoed. "Well, what now?" demanded the doctor. "You look like a ghost! Gracious me, Guy!" cried his mother, in consternation; "you're whiter than the tablecloth." Dr. Oleander ground out an oath. "I dare say I am. I've just had a scare from that little, crazy imp that would blanch any man.
Summoning up her courage, she glided along in the shadow of the wall and sat down behind the oleander bush on the sharp edge of the tub. No one noticed her, but she was afraid that a fit of coughing might betray her presence, so she pressed her apron firmly over her lips and sat straining her ears to listen.
After riding some miles across a monotonous tract of stony desert, we came to a majestic sierra of crag, down which fell a dozen water-falls, narrow and bright as sword-blades. A thin little stream threaded the ravine, and on its banks grew clumps of the tamarisk, the oleander, and the thuya, making an oasis grateful to the eyes.
"I'm to be your nurse, miss. Doctor Oleander hired me and brought me down." "Doctor Oleander is a villain, and you are, I suspect, his tool." "I'm sorry you think so, miss," Mrs. Susan Sharpe said, composedly. "Is there anything I can do for you?" But Mollie did not reply. She was staring at her new attendant with all her might. "Who are you?" she said, breathlessly. "Surely someone I know."
And again willful Mollie submitted, and dropped asleep as soon as her head was fairly on the pillow. Motherly Mrs. Sharpe "tucked her in" and kissed her, and then, with the remains of the supper, went down-stairs to partake of her own evening repast. Mrs. Oleander took tea with her servants, and was very gossipy indeed. So, too, was old Sully; so, likewise, was old Peter.
"You know I wouldn't," Mollie answered, blushing beautifully at her new name; "but, then, you're different." "How, Mollie?" "Well well, you see I hate Doctor Oleander, and I don't hate you." "You like me a little, Mollie, don't you? Ah, my darling, tell me so. You know you never have yet." And then Mollie put her two arms round his neck, and held up her lovely, blushing face. "Dear, dear Hugh!
Word Of The Day