THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 202, 15 August 1908, Page 4

THE STORYTELLER.

£ LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE

Hk" (B> Floy Pascal Cowan). , Bfflf.was *asy enough to run a choo- ! ■Sf'tTiiin, and to be a conductor, and ■Sneer, and brakesman, and iireman Sgfjjjp game time, but what the use if ' En was nobody to ride in the pas|ffjp>T car? Little Brother was a heap HnrlitUe to ride, and everybody else Bt «o quiet and solemn. "Muver " hau B»j; aw ay—Auntie said she had gone Hot Auntie and "Jb'aver" were in gEpe now just talking. They might gmic and play with a fellow. the quiet house Auntie anu i HfaTer" were confronting each othei 1 jtjlther coldly and with evident con Mrtint. iM'You needn't worry about the chilSkb," Agnes said, looking anywhere but Sjjio the man's face. " I will stay and | ■t»ke care of them." sCHe lojkcd at her incredulously. " lmigMMbk! Xot even for the children stQuld 1 accept such a sacrifice." 5> " It i-> the little babies who are chiefly •jo be i onsidered," she answered colujv. j**! thii k Amelia would have wanted we ao take care of them—and there is no s?taer woman, young woman, near to

!But your work," he persisted, " your he regarded him fleetingly through narrowed eyes, noting with sensitive reciation the tones, of his voice, and deepened lines of his face. The bitaess, then, had rankled! She turned the window and caught eight of the esome little figure under the trees, ;h its chubby legs and wistful face. 'I think-I'll go out and play with jrry," she said, dismissing the sub-1 t. "'He looks lonely." rhai night Kobert was hastily gummed and sent for the doctor. The ly, motherless baby was fighting for life And the fight went on for days, e small soldier growing weaker and sbler till sometimes the pitiful cry emed to Agnes more than she could ar. She looked down into the little ce, so old and full of suffering to be i tin*, with strange new feelings of impassion. Slowly it began to seem lat the fight would be won. During tesc days when the weight of anxiety as oomewhat lifted* Agnes found her toughts lingering upon the grave, silent an who hovered over his poor helpless ibe so tenderly, yearningly, as a woran might have done. With her old itnition and understanding of him sh< sad hi-, present suffering. There was ttle grief in his heart for her sisters eath And how, really, could then ave been! How Amelia must havi tarved his beautv-loving soul—Amel'.i rith her matter-of-fact nature, materi 1, thriftv, superficially pretty am

I- proper. .* But, then, why had he mars' Tied her! Why, need a man be desperSi- ate because he can't be happy! And %, then her conscience sniptejier Jor her iS injustice Co'liim'.~Sfieknerf only too j. well whv he had married Amelia. It ** had seemed to his chivalrous nature h~ that there was nothing else to do when &\ he found that the young girl was desX- peratelv in love with him. rf" She spent many of these hours looiCine into her own heart, and thinking t of what these five years had meant to !■'' her. Such busv years tliey had been! f It seemed to her now that she had hnrdk. It stopped to think at all-such a mad ',- pace she had gone. She had done good f- work, too. Yes, altogether she was :* fair.y well content with those years. | But had she been happy 1 Ob, that was 4. beggino the question. She had not been I- 1 looking for happiness. She stopped be-1 5* fore the question of whether her soul t" i had been satisfied, evading it as she had y:• done since making the choice of a career. ?-: And, it is not easy, it does not even i* always seem necessary to put audi a t question to yourself in the first Hush Ps of -uecess. K \\ hen the baby was well, Robert s.nd it to her one day. gravely and kindly—hei staying now seemed to be tacitly I settled:""l don't want you to tax your--1 selt more than can.be helped with the * children. The nurse can take cave of them if you will just superintend." With a man's helplessness he did ma T know just what that might mean, lie was trusting his babies to her wouiaul linevs and instinctive motherliness. She neaiehed her nature and experience, whimsically concluding that her hclpi*' lessucss more than matched his. Nh it duTghe know of a child and its needs? She realised with some trepidation and * no small timidity that the day of cnf. liglttenment was now at baud. Hairy was like his father, she found, and Mr''l opeaed the Jittle book and read soniewh. t reverently, she realised, and with growing humbleness. She did not think am h of herself by the time she had ~ associated with Harry a week or so. But sh,e tactfully tried to hide her ignorance and answer his little needs.. The greatest of all seemed to be his need for love. How many times a day would he come to her and ask, "Do 'oo v lovi me, Auntie !" So she must love him' That had not been in the calcu-lations,-but it did not seem that it would be very difficult to do. A-, the days .passed there were an infinite number of occupations and perplexities she had never dreamed of before. To have a chubby figure run up to her with his cherub mouth all puckered up, and his cherub hands squeezing a small box, and to be ordered to " put a tubing in it, Auntie," was quite diverting. It took time and no end of imagination to find out just what " selling" meant. And when -she did find out, and saw him strutting about pulling the tiny white thing by it with infantile delight, she experienced an odd sense of pleasure. There was a charm in thus being ordered, about, and in feeling her efficiency, under the orders ; that _. she did not sect to analyse, i*' &he also had to every time it got hurt, or. thougHPit' had—which amounted to~tjte jjaine thing. She found, too, of a few small „■=' burning the tip " . •of her finger, hand against * '"asliarppoinfP«^^&Mfe"tissed" by the " [ - liciously soft aid>®BK#» The "child wag. fond of tales, seeming to spend most of hi*lime in the "land of make-believe." Unconsciously, she began to spend a goodly portion Of her; time there also. Botiprt came into the sitting-room suddenly due. day and found Jier standing upon a high stool, while Harry danced about her brandishing a toy hatcliet. She broke into a peal of laughter at sight of him. "Would you dream," she said, "thai I was Bean-Stalk, and in a few minutes would be cut to the ground by Jack the giant-killer?" He joined in her laughter. '-Have you ever had the honour of being a Tar Baby!" he asked. "I find it is a grout concession to be allowed to be that, ll is only when I'm real good." &he shook her head, smiling down at him. "I'm never good enough for th-u. But I've been Brer Babbit, and tinman who 'eats 'em alive,' and upon rare occasions I've been Pegasus and allowed to soar." "And I've rode her! I've rode IVgasu-!'' cried Jack the giant-kilie,, boastfullv, forgetting his role. They both laughed at that, and th n the Bean-Stalk blushing, stepped to tinground and said that dinner must ..-.- yeady. Quite often as the months passed, n her old mocking spirit she would take a critical survey of herself in her new capat ity of domestic woman. "Youar" reallv, really, doiug exceedingly wi-'l. Agnes. Much better than I wuuld have thought. You don't forget to order delicious meals, you keep the ml; fair!) well off your lingers, and y-m are —well, you are almost sociable wli.v the neighbours drop in to talk alnnr the servants and how to dress the baby. You are in a fair way to becoming i respe. table, conventional woman, l'retr. soon v«u will be contributing articles/; the A Toman's Home Cheer, on '\Uieh Spool to Use when You Are A>>l Hung y,' and—come to think of it, tho e Jast articles arc just the things for a woman's page. Agnes, Agnes, degeneracy h.ts set in!" To tell the truth, the situation in which she found herself here in Kobcrl - home taking can- of his children and managing his househloil, struck even her unconventional mind as a bit startling. to sa- the least. She had a feeling of unreality about it all as if it would vanish—H was just a little too bizarru t" be true. And, even seeking to look ar it in a matter-of-fact way. the dilliculiy of ad.nsting herself to it, and to the daily companionship with Bolicrt waconsiderable. It is not ea-y. after icjecting a man (certainly not liccan.--.-you did not care for him, but becnii-i----you loved your work and had sworn n . maiden fealty to.it) to enter his home ," and brine up his children in the way should'go- She comforted herself 'VIW reflection that at least propriety ' was saved by the presence ui.stairs, . - the- white-haired, helpless old laii\ -- •Robert's mother. She was grateliil to , Bobert for making il as easy as pos- , Bible for her by his own attitude. Wic- \ wondered how much scorn ot her was hid by his quiet, unfailing courtesy. i As Agnes progressed m compliant' t with Harry's demand to be loved, sHo ;

found herself watching with mure intentness Robert's feeling lor the eliil-

drcn. Here was no duty, but the greatest joy in the giving of self that she

had ever seen, lie was doing a man's work in the world—and a big man's work, too—she had been watching his career from afar. Hut when he came home in the evening he seemed to leave the world behind him, and give himself up to the children with joyous abandon. j Harry would run up to meet him with cries of delight, and climb into his arms. Together they go up to the nursery and play with ihe baby, who i .;ave gurgles of uelight upon the appearance of the big man. Then what Holies there would be! Agues was often then, when they came in, and sometimes she I would stay, rather timidly, and watch I with wonder while Kobert gave himself up to the delight of the hour. Now he was a big bear roaring frightfully from a corner while Harry scampered round the room to escape capture, and the baby crowed appreciative-

ly and opened his blue eyes wider and | wider at each new demonstration of

bear-like ferocity. Now he was a most marvellously gaited horse, running round the room on all-fours with Harry as jockey on his back, or a Uon roaring liis eagerness to eat all liuiu boys. Oiien lie would sit in the big rockingchair with a boy on each knee and teil stories; such stories; such woudcrfu. giants, and beautiiul fairies, and marvellous deeds, succeeding each other with a rapidity that was most surprising and delightful. From her shadowy corner by the fireplace Agnes would watch the look of wonder creep over the little faces eagerly turned up to their father's. But o'ftener her eyes lingered upon the man's face, marvelling over the look upon it as he gazed down into the clear, beautiful eyes of his boys. Such a look of protecting love and tenderness she had never seen before on the face of . man or woman. Sometimes something r wistful and lonely stirred in the depths of her woman's heart, as of one stand--1 ing at the outer gates and looking jn

upon the joys of Paradise. One evening as they thus sat she said, quite unexpectedly, "You ate so happy, aren't you, Robert r He looked at her with the old sweet, far away look in his eyes that she found the most difficult to try to forget, and drew his babies closer to him. " I think it is that I have joy rather than happiness," he said slowly. "All the conditions of my life eould be wretched and I could still have this joy. It lies too deep in the heart for anything external to touch it. You-uuderstand?' She had leaned back into the shadows, seeking to hide her eyes and the emotion that was mastering her. ..yea—" s he faltered, "1 think fdo It was a few days after that he told her to come upstairs with him, to his den he had something to show her. "Oh, how pretty!" she exclaimed. " Whv, you've changed it, haven't you.' "A little," he said, "I've taken out tk>. horrid smoking tilings, and a few offensively masculine belongings. You see it is this wav. I don't need this LI and I thoight-I thought that maybe you might like it-to write in. u\ quiet up" here." He ho* »™cd away Ms head from her, but not bclou. she had seen the slight tremor on his lips. Suddenly her eyes filled wit" tears and she ran away from him without a word, down to her room when, from some cause that she couldn't exactly figure out in any logical way. she cried like her heart would break, it is very hard to be forgiven. But a completer revelation of hermit came one evening as Robert held Harry in his arms for a good-night kiss, the child, pressing his rosy lips against his father's, suddenly held out his little arms to Agnes invitingly. "Come on, Auntie, let's have aieecornered tiss." Robert turned a dull red from brow to neck, and Agnes bent her face away from him, scarlet, frightened, her heart beating wildly. Never in all her life had she wanted anything like she did that ''fee-cornered tiss." Then days came that sorely puzzled the nian, and pained him. Agues avoided him. She hardly dare lilt her eyes to his fate, knowing how they mint look upon beholding him. She scarcely spoke to him, fearing that she would cry out, "I iove you! I love you!" Why, indeed, should she not, since her heart was singing it by day and nightV And' these days made her ashamedashamed through all her being for having denied her womanhood, for sacrificing this big, splendid, lovable man :o ambition and all that success might bring. And these little children, these darling little el.ildren! They might have been hers—her children and his! Visions crowded in upon her—beatitie visions that filled her with ecstasy—of life as it might be to its high priests, to those who could and who would see its glorv and its joy: visions of the perfect circle of life, winding round the man and the woman, • and the little child, in a union of body and of heart, of mind and of soul. She dreamed dreams of the daily life of the. man and the woman, both ' doing their " world work," both sailing out into the great ocean of thought and achievement, and both bringing back to their home and to the little child of their love the richest treasures of their quest. How paltry all her former life and aims seemed to her now, how he must scorn her! For he had seen the vision, and dreamed the dream. And he had weighed her in the balance and found her wauling. She grew pale and thin. She might have seen the sadness in Robert's eyes as he watched her; but she would not look, and never saw it, and so went on getting thinner, and paler, and qui .iter, till one day it happened as she stood in the garden, holding a small flower pot containing a tiny blossom, that he came out to her, his face a 3 pallid and worn as her own. •' I'm going to be married," he said, almost brusquely. Poor little blossom! She never knew that she broke its frail life in two as her head drooped over it. But he sawit, and his voice trembled with emotion as he came close to her and looked 1 into her downcast face. "Oh, Agnes, Agnes. I'd do anything, I'd even do—that—to save you any sacrifice. It's breaking my heart to sec you—giving up everything—for—us — and drooping " "Oh. don't, don't!"' she cried, half sobbing. Then she looked up into his face, and both saw what they might have seen 50 long before. A joyous little voice broke iu upon them, and looking down the path they saw Harry coming along, stepping high like a big man. and singing "Reuben Rastns .lohnson' IVown". '■Suddenly he spied the garden chairs and the two prospective passenger* standing near, and he made a rush for them. "Xow, I'm going to make a chooehon!" he cried joyously, putting the chairs in a row. "Come on Favor—come on Auntie! Xow I'll be conductor!" „ , , Agnes sank into the rear seal. Koli-vt bent" low above her and laid his strong hand upon the trembling one resting on the seat in front. The sweet, boyish look of other days was upon his face, and his eyes sought hers tenderly, compellingly. „ ~ '•JIv Moved, my beloved! Don I vnu tiiink we might travel into a very iwautifiil country on this little train'.' Iwant so to go. Come with me. dear! She pulled him down beside her and, pressing her face timidly against his. called To the conductor with lips tremulous and happy. ••Come on. lilt!" conductor, "e are ..oiii" on a long, long journey with von. and we've got our tickets " And the little conductor, feeling Ho" there was something unusual in such ■■< '."Let state of things, forthwith 'limbed into the laps of his two passengers and began to talk.