[TO BE CONTINUED.]




A VILLAGE HAMPDEN.

by ANTONY E. ANDERSON.


It was Saturday evening, and the slender hands of the clock in the
village schoolhouse were just crossing each other in their eager haste
to tell the Berryville Literary Society that it was nearly ten o'clock,
and time to put out the lights.

The girls had taken the hint when the clock struck the quarter-hour, and
they were chattering like a group of magpies in the darkest corner of
the room as they helped each other with their cloaks and wraps.

The boys had already drawn their overcoat collars up to their ears. They
stood, solemnly and silently, near the door, each one ready to frame the
momentous question, "May I have the pleasure of seeing you home?" when
the girl of his choice should pass. Some of them looked nervous; others
had assumed an air of indifference, which deceived no one.

John Hampden stroked his cap, wishing that girls weren't so slow about
getting ready. But he forgot the girls in a moment, and began to repeat,
under his breath, a few lines of the poem they had been reading that
evening: