Ruth

orth

inn in a little mountain village of North Wales, through a long July morning. The valleys around were filled with thick cold mist, which had crept up the hillsides till the hamlet itself was folded in its white dense curtain, and from the inn-windows nothing was seen of the beautiful scenery around. The tourists who thronged the rooms might as well have been "wi' their dear little bairnies at hame;" and so some of them seemed to th

hen a Welsh car, drawn by two horses, rattled briskly up to the door. Every window of the ark was crowded with faces at the sound; the leathern curtains were undrawn to thei

uperintended the unpacking of the carriage, and paid the postillion; then, turning round with his fa

friend on such an evening as this. If I remember right, Pen trê Vo

Pen trê Voelas is not above eighteen miles-we only charge for eighteen; it ma

nd, you can find lodgings out for some of y

ng there yourself; I could get you the best rooms, and send over a

old. Can't you persuade some one who is not an old friend to move across? Say, if you like, that I ha

, sir-there's no one there just now; the lady is keeping her bed to-day for a cold, a

re a fire? if not, one must b

ith youth and hope within, and sunny lights creeping down the purple mountain slope, and stealing over the green, soft meadows, till

before," said Ruth, as Mr Bellin

o months, attracted by Jenny's kind heart and oddities; but driven away finall

ir? I thought I heard her

ke excuses to some poor devil, and send him over to the other side; an

o the house on the

e, to say nothing of having no one to scold for bad cooking!

but she did not end her sentence, for Mr Bellingham formed his

before she succeeded in turning out a gentleman and lady, who were only planning to remain till the ensuing Saturd

self with tea in her own little parlour, and shrewdly

ce as many airs about the sitting-rooms; while this poor miss never spoke, but kept as still as a mouse. Indeed, and young men wil

d her mind at the sight of the mountains now first beheld in full majesty. She was almost overpowered by the vague and solemn delight; but by-and-by her love for them equalled her aw

to her. She sat in the window-seat of their parlour (she would have gone out gladly, but that such a proceeding annoyed Mr Bellingham, who usually at such times lounged away the listless hours on a sofa, and relieved himself by abusing the weather); she saw the swift-fleeting showers come athwart the sunlight like a rush of silver arrows; she watched the purple darkness on the he

rain before; it quite wearies me to see you sitting there watching this detestable weather with such a placid countenance; and for the last

dull for a man accustomed to all kinds of active employments to be shut up in the house. She was recalled from

eather as this; but Howard and Johnson were capital whist players, and Wilbraham no

eggar-my-neighbour," answered Ruth, hu

our. Then he sprang up, and rung the bell violently. "Ask Mrs Mor

rds were flung across the table-on the floor-anywhere. Ruth picked them up. As she rose, she sighed a litt

"Go out before dinner; you know you don't mind this cursed weather; and see that you com

ng there for a while, ran on between broken rocks down to the valley below. The waterfall was magnificent, as she had anticipated; she longed to extend her walk to the other side of the stream, so she sought the stepping-stones, the usual crossing-place, which were over-shadowed by trees, a few yards from the pool. The waters ran high and rapidly, as busy as life, between the pieces of grey rock; but Ruth had no fear, and went lightly and steadily on. About the middle, however, ther

low height of the speaker, for then she saw he was deformed. As the consciousness of this infirmity came into her mind, it must have t

; will you take my hand?

ross in a moment. He made way for her to precede him in the

face, though there was something in the countenance which told of the body's deformity, something more and beyond the pallor of habitual ill-health, som

he hand-rail is blown away from the little wooden bridge by the storm last night, and the rush of

him among the strangers at the inn; and yet he spoke English too well to be a Welshman; he knew the country and the pa

the path permitted them to walk abreast. "Last night I

all that rain?" a

es a new beauty to such a country as this. Besides, my time

not live her

ce. I live in a busy town, where at tim

this loud s

care an

the melo

verlasti

music in t

y lane and c

r task with

cret souls a hol

generally spend in Wales; and ofte

choice," replied Ruth. "I

eople, and history, and traditions. I have picked up enough of the language to understand many

ion by any remark of her own, although hi

ere bursting from their green sheaths, "I dare say, you don't know what makes this fox-glove bend and sway so gracefully. You think it is blown by t

s the wind. What is it?

them, and all spiritual beings who pass by, and that it bows in deference to them as they waft along. Its

uch interested, and wishing that he woul

ross, and then, bowing his adieu, he had taken a differen

r; and it roused and amused him till dinner-time

quet-with-the-Tuft. He's not a gentleman, though. If it had not been for his deformit

, sir?" asked

over that horrible candle and cheese shop, the smell of which is insufferable twenty yards o

his face, sir

t ensemble has character enou

!" said she, softly; but the subject did not