LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2341, 4 October 1881, Page 4

LITERATURE.

THE DEAN'S MEDITATION. Mi»s Dormer was persuaded that Providence had specially arranged her circumstances, so that tho bringing up of her orphan niece, Winifred Grantham, should be a crowning success. What could be more conducive to a subdued and wholesome frame of mind than living within tho shadow of that grand old cathedral ? What influences more desirable than those produced by the conversation of a maiden aunt, and the intimate society of an unmarried Dean and his unmarried sister ?

Tho unmarried Dean bore his perilous position meekly and calmly. He was not blind to the fact that, when, in the pulpit or taking an hour's exercise, his portly form was the butt for an artillery of eyes that might have made sad havoc ; he was not un> conscious that his pleasant generality of conversation was sometimes met by faint sighs and reproachful glanoea. Yet, like a hero, he bore it all and showed no sign. When Winnie Grantham had turned eighteen there was no alteration in the bright freedom with which she had from childhood invaded and cheered the Deanery. So sweet a vision as the golden-haired girl could not but be welcomed anywhere; and Miss Dormer, from the serene placidity of forty, four years, passed in entire ignorance of the world and its ways, actually believed that her darling's rosy blushes and pleasant excitement were the result of the edifying conversation of the Dean and his sister. Blessed innocence!

Now, you see, tha Dean had a neighbor, a widow lady, who was rejoicing in the visit of her eoldier son, Captain Uharles Burnett. This gallant young officer had been amongst the many brave fellows who left England{not bo very long ago, and had the] misfortune of emulating the exploits celebrated by the rhyme which says, ' The King of France with forty thousand men Drew their sworda—and put them back agnin I' And chafing from the recollection of tho general disappointment he and other aspirants for British honour and glory had experienced, it was very soothing to have the quiet of his mother's house unhanced by many pleaiant hours at tbe Deanery, where certainly Winnie's bright face was not the least attraction.

Misa Dormer objected to men as a olass. • c hs thought it a jjicy that tbey existed, and considered them absolutely nnsif- uoleso clad in ecclesiastical garments. This opinion had not been arrived at through any disappoint' meat attendant on the tender pasjionj in-

deed, I think the fact that aever had her heart been assailed nor her hand sought bad a good deal tc do with Mies Dormer's very uncharitable views. At any rate, she bo firmly adhered to them, thot Winnie was afraid to tell her aunt what had made the Dean's house so charming of late : her only confidant, a very safe one, was her dog Punch.

* Flo's very nice, isn't he, Punchle, darling ?' always met with an approving wriggle of the short tail that spoke volumes. At last the Dean could not help noticing that more than common interest was evinced by the young peop'e; and he was plaoed in a most awkward position by having the declaration of love made at his house, and being asked to further the gallant soldier's suit.

• Goodness me ! Why, Winnie what made you do this ?' he enquired in his perplexity, fixing his glasses on bis nose, and staring at the blushing face before him. ' I did'nt do anything,' faintly protested the young lady. *lt was my fault, sir! Who could help it ?' ardently explained the suitor. The Dean would have admitted the truth of this if he had not been terribly puzzled. ' I must think it over. Go home, Winnie, and tell your aunt I'm coming over for a quiet talk in an hour's time.' Slowly and shamefacedly Winnie walked away through the Deanery garden, followed by Punch, who. as appropriate to the occasion, allowed his tail to hang down, and an expression of wretchedness to pervade his appearance. They went home the longest way with much the air which distinguishes naughty children who have played truant from school, and are painfully aware that they will be castigated on coming before their irato parents. Having gained the room where Miss Dormer sat in a softly-shaded light, placidly engaged in embroidering a huge sunflower in the centre of a table-over. Winnie timidly broached her subject, feeling thankful for the shade whioh rendered her blushes less visible.

* The Dean Is coming over in an hour, aunt—l mean half an hour, to have a quiet ohat with you.' • Dear me, how very extraordinary !' exclaimed Miss Dormer, hastily rising. 'Are yoa sure of what you say, Winnie ?' 'Yes, quite sure; and,' she hurriedly went on, ' I think the Dean is bo nice, so kind, don't you, aunt ?' ' He is my most valued friend,' replied her aunt gravely, and looking more and more mystified. 'Then—then—please do what he asks you,' blurted out Winnie, and she vanished from the room, leaving Miss Dormer more tumultucusly overcome than she ever remembered to have been before.

Having escaped from her aunt's presence, Winnie retired to one of her favorite retreats —a curious quiet room which opened on the old-fashioned garden. Here she presented the kitten with a saucer of milk, and sat down on the window-sill to think over matters. Punoh eccnpied her lap, and cogitated the pros and cons of the situation with an earnestness that would have made him the beet of advisers if he could only have spoken. Failing that, he would have.liked to have bitten somebody. Very tenderly the Dean managed hia explanations, and he had much to bear. The shock to Miss Dormer was great ; and her excitement made her express suoh 1 cruel doubts of mankind in general that the Dean needed ail his eloquence and the exhibition of some personal sorrow to convince Miss Dormer that a sex to which he had the misfortune to beiong was not without its redeeming points. Then the good lady assured him that he was the exception which proved the rule, and that soldiers we-e the most unreliable beings ; and that after all her care of Minnie it seemed hard, very hard ! However, he was so far successful that Miss Dormer r quested him to go home and fetch that beaat of prey, Captain Charles Burnett, that she might consider him and his aspirations.

So it came ab nt that when a manly step, which she could not hop« was anything better than the Dean's, approached the room where Winnie still sat in the window, Punch looked Berionsly disturbed; and when the door opened to admit, not the Dean, but a handsome, broad-shouldered young man, Punch turned his back (whether in disgust or discretion is not known), and the birds in the garden whispered to each other that there was soon to be a wedding. ' What did auntie Fay ?' asked Winnie, anxiously, when she found her mind capable of interesting itself in common mortal things. ■ Don't dearly remember —nothing very savage.' ' Was she angry with the Dean ?* ' She did not yield to any unseemly exhibition while 1 was present, dear; but yon see I was thinking more of you and myself than the Dean ; and when she told me to come to yon, of course I left them to settle the rest. Suppose you take me over this jolly old garden.' It was by no means disagreeable, strolling in shady places sacred from the vulgar gaze of menials, and chaperoned by that indefatigable, faithful creature, Winnie's dog. Ponch thought it right to go with them; but whenever there was a pause in a shadier corner than usual, the refinement of the animal made him affect to be interested in botanical specimens as known by the smell, and he seldom gazed enriously on the lovers. Possibly this was caused by jealousy, as hitherto his own licks had been Winnie's only caresses. In the midst of one of those bursts of rapture so interesting to two, so hideously absurd to the world at large, Captain Burnett felt his arm clutched convulsively. 1 Charlie, I hear auntie's voice close to us !'

' By Jove,' stopping short near an arbour. ' there's the old Dean !'

' Old Dean, Indeed! The arrogance of young lovers la proverbial. He was only fifty, and she was forty-four—and blushing like a girl. ' This accounts for the simplicity of our arrangements,' whispered the Captain, in high amusement. ' What an old fox that Dean is !'

And then the birds began gossiping again, and this time they announced two weddings. ■Scandal always gains with each telling ; bnt the facts were these —The force of the arguments he had used in favor of the hopes of another couple first opened the Dean's eyes to the thought of trying matrimony for himself; and but for having had to use all his persuasion to prove to Miss Dormer that ' man was not born to dwell alone,' and that in consequence it was the bounden duty of right thinking persons to help him to double his existence, the kindly Dean would never have discovered that it was possible for a long and pleasant friendship to warm into a tender passion.

' Shall we both be married together, auntie ?' asked Winne mischievously. ' O, no, my dear 1' said Miss Dormer nervously. ' I must see you well out of my hands first; and I could not attend to two important matters at the same time.' ' Then,' urged the Dean mil&ly, but firmly, ' our wedding (a quiet one) shall be direotly after these scapegraces are gone; and they can return from their travels to find us at home in the Deanery ' ' Capital!' cried Captain Burnett, who had his arm round Winnie's waist, and was delighted with everything just now. ' Three cheers for the result of the Dean's media* tion I'