yet shrink from
contact with the befriended brothers and sisters at the same social meal
or in the same church. Shakspeare might have blackened Othello's skin by
toil, instead of nature, and the obstacles to a happy love would have
been in no degree lessened."

I paused; yet not a word did Miss Darry utter. Her face was so pale and
rigid that all my suspicion was confirmed; and I exclaimed, more
vehemently than before,--

"Remember, you cannot avoid the fact that I, a mere blacksmith, am your
lover; if rejected and despised, your lover still. I shall think of you
daily. You will not come to me alone the companion of my studio, one of
those delicate visions which flit through an artist's brain. You shall
stand beside my anvil. I will whisper your name when rough men are about
me. You shall be the one gold thread embroidered into the coarse garment
of my life,--my constant companion; yes, though you marry the first man
in the land."

Still she stood immovable, as if carved in her favorite marble.

"Miss Darry," I implored, "I know how unworthy my character is of your
love. Speak! If it is that you reject, I say no more; but what if your
prophecies are fulfilled,--if I become what you desire?"

Then my statue glowed with life,--a deep color on the cheek, a frank,
loving smile on the lips, banishing the doubtful, troubled expression I
had watched so narrowly.

"You do not understand the woman you profess to love, Sandy," she
replied, "if you suppose her capable of staking her favor on your future
distinction. Not as blacksmith or artist, but as the man I love, I think
of you to-night," she added, in a lower tone, returning to my side.

My happiness for the next few moments was complete. I held her closer in
that fading light, and studied with delight the sweet, half-yielding,
half-reproving expression with which she met my protestations of
gratitude and devotion, and which I fondly fancied my love had stamped
upon her face forever. Then I heard a quick step in the shrubbery, as of
some one sent to summon us, and reluctantly released from my hold the
embodiment at that instant of all I esteemed noblest and loveliest in
woman. With characteristic composure, Miss Darry answered the message by
gathering some of the roses beside us, and turning to reenter the
house. Afraid of my own lack of self-control, I would gladly have gone
home like a blushing girl; but my new pride of protecting Miss Darry
under all circumstances