The Old Stone House and Other Stories | Page 6

new adorer? I went there to-night
and Colonel Schuyler sat at her side as you and I never sat yet,
and--and--" he stammered frantically, "I did not kill him."
"You--Come back!" I shouted, for he was flying by like the wind. But
he did not heed me nor stop, but vanished in the thick darkness, while
the lessening sound of his horse's hoofs rang dismally back from the
growing distance.
So this man has loved her passionately too, and the house which is
destined to rise in the woods will throw a shadow over more than one
hearthstone in this quiet village. I declare I am sorry that Orrin has
taken it so much to heart, for he has a proud and determined spirit, and
will not forget his wrongs as soon as it would be wise for him to do.
Poor, poor Juliet, are you making enemies against your bridal day? If
so, it behooves me at least to remain your friend.
* * * * *
I saw Orrin again to-day, and he looks like one haunted. He was riding
as usual, and his cloak flew out behind him as he sped down the street
and away into the woods. I wonder if she too saw him, from behind her
lattice. I thought I detected the curtain move as he thundered by her
gate, but I am so filled with thoughts of her just now that I cannot
always trust my judgment. I am, however, sure of one thing, and that is
that if Colonel Schuyler and Orrin meet, there will be trouble.
* * * * *
I never thought Orrin handsome till to-day. He is fair, and I like dark
men; and he is small, and I admire men of stature. But when I came
upon him this morning, talking and laughing among a group of lads

like ourselves, I could not but see that his blue eye shone with a fire
that made it as brilliant as any dark one could be, and that in his manner,
verging as it did upon the reckless, there was a spirit and force which
made him look both dangerous and fascinating. He was haranguing
them on a question of the day, but when he saw me he stepped out of
the crowd, and, beckoning me to follow him, led the way to a retired
spot, where, the instant we were free from watching eyes, he turned and
said: "You liked her too, Philo Adams. I should have been willing if
you--" Here he choked and paused. I had never seen a face so full of
fiery emotions. "No, no, no," he went on, after a moment of silent
struggle; "I could not have borne it to see any man take away what was
so precious to me. I--I--I did not know I cared for her so much," he now
explained, observing my look of surprise. "She teased me and put me
off, and coquetted with you and Lemuel and whoever else happened to
be at her side till I grew beside myself and left her, as I thought, forever.
But there are women you can leave and women you cannot, and when I
found she teased and fretted me more at a distance than when she was
under my very eye, I went back only to find--Philo, do you think he
will marry her?"
I choked down my own emotions and solemnly answered: "Yes, he is
building her a home. You must have seen the stones that are being piled
up yonder on the verge of the forest."
He turned, glared at me, made a peculiar sound with his lips, and then
stood silent, opening and closing his hands in a way that made my
blood run chill in spite of myself.
"A house!" he murmured, at last; "I wish I had the building of that
house!"
The tone, the look he gave, alarmed me still further.
"You would build it well!" I cried. It was his trade, the building of
houses.
"I would build it slowly," was his ominous answer.

* * * * *
Juliet certainly likes me, and trusts me, I think, more than any other of
the young men who used to go a-courting her. I have seen it for some
time in the looks she has now and then given me across the
meeting-house during the long sermon on Sunday mornings, but to-day
I am sure of it. For she has spoken to me, and asked me--But let me tell
you how it was: We were all standing under Ralph Urphistone's big tree,
looking at his little one toddling over the grass after a ball one of the
lads had thrown after her, when I felt the slightest touch on my arm,
and, glancing round,