If you will permit
me, I will tell you the thoughts that occasioned it as a proof of my
friendly confidence. May I tell you?"
"Yes, if you think it right," she said, with slightly heightened
color.
"It seems to me both right and natural that I should tell you;" and he
put the thoughts which preceded his sigh into words.
"Yes," she replied, gravely; "I think you have escaped much that you
would regret. Please don't talk about it any more."
"What were you thinking about, Madge?" he asked, looking into her
flushed and lovely face.
"I have thought a great deal about Tilly and what passed between us.
That is the house there, and it will always remain in my mind as a
distinct memory."
Farm wagons and vehicles of all descriptions were gathering at
the dwelling. They were driven by men with faces as rugged and
weather-beaten as the mountains around them. By their sides were
plain-featured matrons, whose rustic beauty had early faded under the
stress of life's toil, and apple-cheeked boys and girls, with faces
composed into the most unnatural and portentous gravity. There was a
sprinkling of young men, with visages so burned by the sun that they
might pass for civilized Indians. They were accompanied by young women
who, in their remote rural homes, had obtained hints from the world of
fashion, and after the manner of American girls had arrayed themselves
with a neatness and taste that was surprising; and the fresh pink and
white of their complexions made a pleasing contrast with their swains.
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