CHAPTER I.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 427, 11 December 1889, Page 6

CHAPTER I.

THE SISTERS. 1 But if tliou wilt be constant then. And faithful of thy word, I'll mako thee glorious by my pen And famous by my sword. I'll serve thee in 3iich noble ways Was never heard before : I'll crown and deck thee all with bays And love thee evermore. jAMIiS GItAIIAM.

* Well, if there be any truth in the old adago, Herman Brudenell will have a prosperous life ; for really this is a lovely day for the middle of April :— the sky is just as sunny and the air as warm as if it wpre June,' said Hannah Worth, looking out, from the door of her hut, upon a scene as beautiful as ever shone beneath the splendid radiance of an early spring morninsr. * And what is that old adage you talk of, Hannah ?* inquired her younger sister, who stood braiding the locks of her long black hair, before the cracked looking glass that hung above the rickety chest of drawers. • Why, la, Nora, don't you know ? The adage is as old as the hillsand as true as the heavens, and it is this, that a man's twenty-first birthday is an index to his after life :— if ib be clear, he will be fortunate ; if cloudy, unfortunate.' •Then I should say that young Mr Brudenell's fortune will be a splendid one ; for the sun 13 dazzling V said Nora, as she wound the long sable plait of hair around her head in the form of a natural coronet, and secured the end behind with — a thorn ! ' And now ! how do I look ? Ain't you proud of me?" she archly inquired, turning with ' a smile of conscious beauty born ' to the inspection of her elder sister. That sister might well have answered in the affirmative, had she considered personal beauty a merit of high order ; for few palaces in this world could boast a princess so superbly beautiful as this peasant girl that this poor hut contained. Beneath those rich sable tresses was a high broad forehead white as snow ; slender black eyebrows so well defined and .«o perfectly arched, that they gave a singularly open and elevated character to the whole countenance; large dark grey eye?, full of light, softeried by long, sweeping black lashes ; a small, straight nose ; oval, blooming cheeks ; plump, ruddy lips that, slightly parted, revealed glimpses of the little/ pearly teeth \vithin ; a wellturned chin \'h face with this peculiarity, that when she was pleased it was her eyes that smiled and'ndb her lips'; a face, in 'short, full of intelligence and feeling that might become thought and passion. Her iorm was noble — being tall, finely proportioned an 3 richly developed." Her beauty owed nothing to her toilet ; — her only decoration -was^the coronet of her own rich black hair ; .her only hair-pin was a thorn ; her dress indeed was a masterpiece o£ - domestic manufacture, — the cotton from "which it was made having been carded, spun, woven and dyed by Miss Hannah's own busy hand 3 ; but as it was only a coarse blue fabric after all, it would nob be considered highly ornamental ; it was new and clean, however, and Nora was well pleased with it, as with playful impatience she repeatsed her question : ' Say ! ain't you proud of me now ?' 'No,' replied" the elder sister, with assumed gravity ; • I am proud of your dress because it is my own handiwork, and ib doe* me credit, bub as for yon — ' ' I am Nature's handiwork, and I do her credit !' interrupted Nora, with gay selfassertion. ' I am quite ashamed of you, you are so vain !' continued Hannah, completing her sentence. ' Oh, vain am I? Very well then, another tim^l will keep my vanity to myself. It is quite as easy to conceal as to confess, you know ; though it may nob be quite as good for the soul,' exclaimed Nora, with merry perversity, as she danced off in search of her bonnet. She had not far to look ; for the one poor room contained all of the sisters' earthly goods. And they were easily summed up — a bed in one corner, a loom in another, a spinning-wheel in the third, and a cornercupboard in the fourth ; a chest of drawers sat against the wall between the bed and the loom, and a pine table against the opposite wall between the spinning-wheel and the cupboard ; four wooden chairs sat just wherever they could be crowded. There was no carpet on the floor, no paper on the walls. There waa but one door and one window to the hut, and Chey were in front. Opposite them, ab the back of the room, was a wide fireplace, with a rude mantel shelf above it, adorned ■with, old brass candlesticks as bright as gold. Poor as this hut was, the most fastidious fine .lady need not have feared to sit down within it ; it was so purely clean. The sisters were soon ready, and after closing up their wee hut as cautiously as if ib contained the wealth' of India, they set forth, in their blue cotton gowns and white cotton bonnets, to attend the grand birthday festival of the young heir of Brudenell Hall., Around khem spread out a fine, rolling, well- wooded country i behind them stood their own little hub" upon the top of its bare hill ; below them lay a deep, thicklywooded valley, beyond which rose another hill crowned with an elegant mansion of white freestone. That was Brudenell Hail. 1 Thus the hub and bbc hall perched upon opposite hills, looked each other in the face • across the wooded valley. And both belonged to the same vast plantation — the largest in the , country. The morning was indeed delicioup, the earth everywhere springing with young grass and early flowers ; the forest budding with tender leaves ; the freed brooks singing as they ran ; the birds darting about here and there" in search of materials to build their nests ; the heavens benignly smiling over all ; the^ sun glorious ; the air intoxicating ; mere breath, joy ; mere life, rapture ! All Nature singing a Gloria in Excelsis ! And now while tho sisters sannter leisurely on, pausing now and then to admire some exquisite bib of scenery,/ or to .watch some^ bird or some flower, taking their own time for passing through the valley that lay between the hub and the hall, I must tell you who and what they were. Hannah and Leonora Worbh were orphans, living alone together in the hut on the hill and supporting themselves by aping ning and weaving.

Hannah, the eldest, was but twenty-eight years old, yet looked forty ; for, having been the eldest sister, the mother-sister of a large family of ophan children, all of whom had died except the youngest — Leonora, her face wore that anxious, haggard, careworn and prematurely aged look peculiar to women' who have the burden of life too soon and too heavily laid upon them. Her black hair was even streaked here and there with grey. But with all this there was not the least trace of impatience or despondency in that all-enduring face. When grave, its expression was that of resignation ; when gay — and oven see could be gay at times — its sinilo was as sunny as Leonora's own. Hannah had a lover patient as Job, or as herself, a poor fellow who had been constant to her for twelve years and whose fate resembled her own ; for he was the father of all his orphan brothers and sisters as she had been the mother of hers. Of course, these poor lovers could notdieam of marriage ; but they loved each other all the bettor upon that very account, perhaps. Leonora was ten years younger than her sister, eighteen, well grown, well developed, blooming, beautiful, gay and happy as we have described her. She had not a care, or regret, or soirow in the world. She was a bird, the hut was her nest and Hannah her mother, whose wings covered her. These sisters wei c very poor ; not, however, as the phrase is understood in the large cities, where, notwithstanding the many charitable institutions for the mitigation of poverty, scores of people psrish annually from cold and hunger ; but as it is understood in the rich lowercounties of Maryland, where forests filled with game and rivers swarming with fish afford ahundanceof food and fuel to even the poorest hutters, however destitute they might be of proper shelter, clothing or education. And though these orphan sisters could not hunt or fish, they could buy cheaply a plenty of game from the negroes who did. And "besides this, they had a pie, a cow, and a couple of sheep that grazed freely in the neighbouring fields, for no one thought of turning out an animal chat belonged to these poor girls. In addition, they kept a few fowls and cultivated a small vegetable garden in the rear of their hut. And to keep the chickens out of the garden was one of the principal occupations of Nora. Their spinning-wheel and loom supplied them with the few articles of clothing they required, and with a little money for the purchase of tea, sugar, and salt. Thus you see their living was good, though their dress, their house, and their schooling were so very •bad. They were totally ignorant of the 'World beyond their own neighbourhood ; they could read and write, but very imperfectly ; and their only book was the old family Bible thab might always be seen proudly displayed upon tho rickety chest of drawers. Notwithstanding their lowly condition, the sisters were much esteemed for their integrity of character by their richer neighbours, who would have glauly made them more comfortable had not the proud spiiit of Hannah shrunk from dependence. They had been invited to the festival to be hold at Brudenell Hall in honour of the young heir's coming of age and entering upon his estates. This gentleman, Herman Brudenell, was their landlord ; and it was as his tenants, and not by any means as his equals, that they had been bidden to the feast. And now we will accompany them to the house of rejoicing. They were now emerging from the valley and climbing the upjjuoito hill. Hannah walked steadily on in the calm enjoyment of nature, and Nora darted about like a young bird and carolling as she went in the effervescence of her delight.