CASTLE DEAN- HURST SARAH S.HAMER ORNIA UNJVERSr S CfLITY REGIONAL Frontispiece. Seepage 8. DEAN - H u RST SARAH SELINA HAMER AUTHOR OF "CHRISTINE'S CROOK" KTC. CHARLES H. KELLY 2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD. ; AND 66, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. l8 95 MORRISON AND OIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. r CONTENTS CHAP. I. THE HOME-COMING II. DEAN HEAD MANSE in. "DEAN HEAD CHAPEL" AND "DEAN-HURST iv. IN THE CHAPEL-KEEPER'S COTTAGE V. UNDERCRAGG .... VI. IN DEAN HOLLOW VII. A PLAIN SERMON VIII. AN AFTERNOON AT DEAN-HURST IX. LOVE-MAKING .... X. A CRISIS. .... XI. A CATASTROPHE XII. RESCUE . PAGE 7 . 20 . 37 . 53 . 68 . 86 . 102 . 120 . 139 . 155 . 173 183 2049798 DEAN-HURST CHAPTER I THE HOME-COMING " All is not lost, th' unconquerable will, , . . And courage never to submit or yield." Milton. " Beautiful as sweet ! And young as beautiful ! And soft as young ! And gay as soft ! And innocent as gay ! " Young. T was the evening of a September day, and though on the hills the light still lingered, the dusk was deepening fast in Beck Dean, and other valleys which ran north and south. The mill at Higher Dean had been shut up an hour, and the hands dispersed to their homes up or down the dale or on the hillsides; the sluice or " clou " had been closed, and the full fall of the water down the weir into the beck made music in the twilight. But a woman who opened the door of the grey stone house which adjoined the grey stone mill noted it not she was listening intently for some other sound. A 8 DEAN-HURST moment she stood on the threshold, then she walked the few steps down the narrow garden which ran along the front of the house and listened at the gate ; and finally, hearing nothing there, she opened it, and, skirting the garden wall, stepped into the road, towards which the house had its gable-end. " Surely Bryan cannot have missed the later train," she said, speaking to herself as she looked down the valley road; "whatever makes him so late, I wonder." She could only see a short distance, the valley having many turnings and curves, though her eyes looked bright enough, and keen enough almost, to pierce the intervening hill-slopes. She was a middle-aged woman, had a tall, spare figure and a remarkable face vigour, purpose, determination were stamped upon every feature, as well as seen in the dark, keen eyes. She was plainly, almost shabbily, dressed in black. Mrs Dean, for that was her name, lifted her firm chin, raised her right hand to her ear, and listened again. " Ah ! he's coming now," she said, as the sound of wheels greeted her ears, though nothing was yet in sight ; and the chin dropped, the thin lips curved into a smile, and the dark eyes softened. " It's all right, he's coming now," she repeated. She did not re-enter the house, but waited at the angle of the garden wall. Almost instantly a one-horse gig appeared in sight, rounding a bend in the road. " Why," she said the next moment, " who has he got with him? That's not Sam ; it's a woman or a girl." Yes, it was a girl, unmistakably ; but what girl it was too dusk to see until Bryan, her son, was drawing rein by her side. "Do you see whom I have here?" asked the young THE HOME-COMING 9 man, bending forward, as he brought his horse to a stand. He had to speak to his mother past his passenger, and he glanced at the latter with a smile as he spoke. " Perhaps you are like Mr. Bryan, and don't know me again 1 " said the girl, bending down and holding out a small, neatly-gloved hand ; "he actually passed me twice at the station without " " Oh yes, I know you, Miss Joyce," said Mrs. Dean, taking the girl's hand ; " though you have grown and altered, of course." There was a certain coldness in her voice, and her grasp of the hand she had taken was not very cordial. " Yes, I daresay ; I have been away a long time," said the girl ; " it has seemed long to me, at anyrate two years and a half ! And then, to think that there was not a soul to meet me ! I don't know what I should have done if Mr. Bryan had not been there." " It is as I said, no doubt," said the young man ; " they can't have got your letter up at the Manse, Miss Joyce ; letters are behind sometimes in Beck Dean, at anyrate. But you are all right ; I shall soon have you at Dean Head ; " and as he spoke, Bryan Dean tightened his grasp of the reins and intimated to Boxer, by means of an unspellable sound, that he might go on. " Good-night, Mrs. Dean," said the girl, as that lady stepped back and the gig started again. "Tell Zillah I shall come to see her very soon; she is not in, I suppose ? " " I shall not be long, mother," called back Bryan ; and then the gig gradually disappeared in the gathering gloom. Mrs. Dean stood perfectly still, until it could be neither seen nor heard. Then, with compressed lips, she re-entered io DEAN-HURST the house, turning as she did so into the left-hand parlour there was one each side the door, in the good old- fashioned Stonyshire style. In the firelight the room looked comfortable ; but a stronger light would have revealed the fact that the carpet was threadbare, the crimson moreen curtains faded and shabby, and the beautifully white cloth on the table, spread for Bryan's tea, much darned. To make use of a catch phrase, often repeated in our childhood's days, there was no " abundance on the table." There was plenty of bright silver, which was ornamented with a crest, and some choice old china ; but very little, and very plain, food. Mrs. Dean seated herself in a low rocking-chair to the left of the fire, and took up some knitting she had put aside when she went out ; but she soon let it drop on her lap and gazed into the fire, the expression of her face becoming every moment more grim. "Come to see Zillah, will she?" she repeated to herself more than once ; " I think not I must see that that friendship is not renewed. I'll not have her coming here ; 1 will not." The door opened, and a middle-aged servant-woman appeared, carrying a lighted lamp. " You shouldn't have lit that yet, Rebecca," said her mistress rather sharply. "Why, I thought I heard th' gig an' as masther 'ould be in any minute," said the woman, setting down the lamp. " So you did hear it," said Mrs. Dean ; " but Mr. Bryan has gone on to Dean Head with Joyce Warwick ; he met with her at the station. There ought to have been somebody to meet her, but, with their usual bungling ways, there wasn't." THE HOME-COMING \ \ 'Just like them," said Rebecca with u sniff, and lowering the light in the lamp. " Of course your master could do no other than drive her home, under the circumstances ; but I don't like it." Mrs. Dean's tone w r as low but emphatic. The servant-woman stood by the table, and looked at her mistress intently. "Why," she said, "she's only a bit of a child." " Child 1 " echoed Mrs. Dean ; " you should see her, Rebecca. You forget what two or three years does for a girl of fifteen." " Why, what is she like now then, mistress 1 " asked Rebecca, drawing nearer the hearth ; " she was plain enough as a little lass." " She's grown from a plain girl into a beautiful young lady there's no denying the fact. And Mr. Bryan is quite taken with her; I saw it by the way he looked at her ; it is no use denying that either it will have to be faced." " Mistress ! " cried Rebecca, with a world of meaning in the expression. "It is true," said Mrs. Dean, looking sternly in the fire. " And you think she'll spoil everything ? " asked the woman, dropping on her knees on the hearthrug and looking up in her mistress' face. "I do not think so," said Mrs. Dean sharply; "she must not she shall not ; but it will take all our wits yours and mine, Rebecca to prevent it." The woman's face, which was plain almost to ugliness, lit up at the expression " yours and mine." It had been purposely used ; it strengthened the bond between them a strong bond of very many years' standing. 12 DEAN-HURST " Nothing on earth must be allowed to interfere with that," continued the mistress. The servant nodded her head, which was adorned (?) with an ugly black cap, two or three times, and looked again up in her mistress' face. In the firelight it looked like bronze in colour, and as hard and fixed as a face in that metal. But even as she looked the expression relaxed, and the face became troubled. " All was going so well," she said bitterly ; " Miss Zillah and Miss Whaite becoming fast friends, and Miss Whaitq ready to Oh, I cannot bear to think of it ! " she cried, springing up from her seat. Rebecca sprang up too. "Nay, nay, mistress," she said, venturing to touch Mrs. Dean's arm; "aren't yo' frightened too soon? Why, there's many a bonnier lass than Miss Joyce can be as goes to Dean Head Chapel, there's Miss Warwick, for one, an' Mr. Bryan takes no more notice of 'em than if they was so many crow-boggarts ; an' why should he " " There is no ' why ' or ' wherefore' in these things, Rebecca," interrupted Mrs. Dean grimly; "and I tell you I saw it in him." " Well," said Rebecca musingly, " even if it should be so, there's t' way we've thought on all along, t' old way left." "The old way," said Mrs. Dean contemptuously ; " we should each have one foot, if not both feet, in the grave before we reached the goal that way, and I am more and more persuaded of that. There is always something happening to run away with the savings a fire, or a flood, or a bad spell of trade." " Then," said Rebecca, " is all our ' nippin' ways,' as my sister Marihda calls 'em, of no good at all, mistress ? " THE HOME-COMING 13 I didn't say so," said Mrs. Dean, in a tone of alarm ; we must go on save, save, saving just the same ; the money may be wanted in any case for fathers are not always like daughters there must be no relaxation in that." "I understand, mistress," said Rebecca, stooping to pick up a fallen cinder and putting it back on the fire, which sadly wanted stirring and a little more coal on. " This is a misfortune which has happened," said Mrs. Dean, summing up as it were ; " but, as I said before, it must and shall be met. We must get Miss Zillah on our side, if possible, and then we shall easily manage to keep Miss. Joyce out of the house at any rate ; and, thank goodness, she has no grown-up brothers there will be no excuse for master's going to the Manse." " Chapel House, I call it," said Rebecca. " I make nothin' o' yo'r newfangled names." " Call it what you like, so that you keep Miss Joyce in it and Mr. Bryan out of it," said Mrs. Dean. Rebecca laughed, a harsh, discordant laugh, and went her way into the kitchen. Her mistress sat down in the dark, until she again heard the sound of wheels; then she sprang up, applied the poker to the fire, and made a ruddy blaze, turned up the light in the lamp, and went again to the door to meet her son. " Sam is just in time," he said, as he strode into the light; "he has had to come on 'shanks' Galloway,' as he calls it, and I hardly expected him yet. I thought I should have had to take Boxer out myself." "Was there no cab to be had at Beckfoot?" asked Mrs. Dean, in a manner which she strove to make appear off-hand. "There was none at the station," said Bryan; "at 14 DEAN-HURST least there had been one, Miss Joyce said, but it was hired and away before she knew there was no one to meet her." " There ought to have been someone there," said Mrs. Dean, not quite able to hide her irritation. " They are such blundering people at the Manse." "Mother!" expostulated Bryan. Then, seating him- self, he went on quietly, " It was as I thought : they had not received her letter giving the time she would arrive." " She did not post it in time, I'll be bound." "I don't know about that," said Bryan, stooping to un- fasten his shoes. "It's no use your troubling to unlace those, Bryan/' said his mother : " you'll have Zillah to fetch home from Undercragg." " Zillah at Undercragg again ! " exclaimed Bryan, raising his body and his eyebrows at the same time. "Why, isn't this the third time this week?" " Yes," said his mother ; " and Agatha Whaite would have her there every day of the week if she had her mind or be here," she added, as an afterthought. " That friendship is too hot to last, I should say," said Bryan with a smile. "Besides," he went on, with another smile and rising to his feet, " Zillah won't have time to go there so much now that her old friend Joyce Warwick has come back." " When friendships are once broken off. it does not follow they will ever be renewed," said Mrs. Dean coldly. " I wasn't aware theirs ever had been broken off," said Bryan in a surprised tone. "Zillah and Joyce never quarrelled, did they ] " " Not that I know of," said Mrs. Dean, as if it were a matter of no importance of which she were speaking, THE HOME-COMING 15 instead of one almost of life and death ; " but they were children before, now they are both grown up. Zillah has other friends, and I daresay Miss Joyce has also." " But she's not one to forget old friends, for all that," said Bryan ; " she's been talking a good deal about Zillah." " Has she 1 " said Mrs. Dean drily. " Well, never mind ; here's Eebecca with the teapot." " I'll be down in a minute," said Bryan, rushing out of the room and upstairs to wash his hands. Rebecca stopped at the parlour door and watched him. "I know now as sornethin's up," she said to her mistress, coming forward and putting down the teapot with a bang. "Why, how so?" asked Mrs. Dean. "He's gone upstairs three steps at a time," said Eebecca. Mrs. Dean's thin lips relaxed, and she actually laughed. " How absurd you are, Kebecca ! " she exclaimed. " Well, mistress, yo' say yo' know by one thing, an' I say I know by another; an' I say again, somethin's up wi' t' young masther ; he's niver gone upstairs three at a time sin' he was a lad, and he niver did it then except when somethin'd pleased him special, sich as when he'd got a new toy-machine or a prize at school, or he'd licked a big lad for abusin' a little un I know." " Hush ! he's coming," said Mrs. Dean. Whereupon Rebecca discreetly retired into the kitchen, muttering to herself, "Mistress is right; I thought she couldn't be, but I know it for myself now." Bryan Dean re-entered the room, glanced at the table as he seated himself thereat, and said, but quite good- humouredly 16 DEAN-HURST " I'm more than bread-and-butter hungry, mother." Mrs. Dean smiled, and pulled the bell-rope by her side ; and when, in response, Rebecca reappeared and she was told to bring the cold joint, that domestic raised her eyebrows a little. Bryan cut himself a very modest portion, and when, by and by, he seemed to be contemplating a second helping, he glanced at his mother. "Has this to do for to-morrow's dinner 1 !" he asked, turning his regards again to the remains of the leg of mutton. " Certainly," said Mrs. Dean. And Bryan thereupon laid down the carver without another word ; neither, indeed, spoke again for the space of three minutes. Then the mother broke the silence. "This pinching need not last very long," she said, "if you will be wise, Bryan, and act upon the hint I gave you a week or two since. I am more and more convinced that I am right. It's not Zillah that Agatha Whaitc wants it's yourself; there now, that's plain speaking." " I think it is, mother, with a vengeance," said the son, putting aside his plate ; " and I don't think you have any right to speak so it doesn't seem nice." Mrs. Dean frowned as she replied " I don't think it is nice, Bryan, for you to answer me so." " I'm sure I beg your pardon, mother, if I have vexed you," said Bryan in a softer tone ; " but really " " If I were not speaking and acting entirely for your own good, and for the one object of your life and mine, it would be different," said Mrs. Dean ; " but when I am showing you a good way an easy way to our goal, and happiness for yourself and someone else besides, not to mention myself, and surely you might consider THE HOME-COMING i; me a little after all my self-denial, for you to turn round and say it is not nice " Bryan Dean pushed his chair back, rose from it, and went and stood on the hearth-rug before his mother. "I did not mean to vex you ; you know I did not; I" "Well then," she said, "will you promise me to notice for yourself, and if you find my words are true, to act accordingly 1 " " Irrespective of my own feelings 1 " asked Bryan Dean. " Feelings can be cherished and controlled, like other things," said Mrs. Dean ; " and if you wish to care for Agatha Whaite, you can do so." " Kather a new doctrine that, isn't it 1 " asked Bryan with a laugh. "Nothing of the kind," said his mother. "It's one that people are acting upon every day, with not half the need that you have." Bryan did not reply, but dropped into the arm-chair on the opposite side of the fireplace. Looking first at one and then at the other, you could see what a strong likeness there was between the two faces, and yet how, in many ways, they differed. Mother and son had the same finely-moulded firm chin, the same broad brow, the same contour of cheek; but the son's mouth was more mobile, his nose was straight, not aquiline, and his eyes, though dark, beamed with a kindlier light. Like his mother, he was tall and thin in figure, but he had a good breadth of shoulder, and his form was well-knit. Altogether, Bryan Dean was such a son as any mother might well be proud to look upon. And when Mrs. Dean could not only say of him, as 1 8 DEAN-HURST she now often said, " He's a real Dean," but could add, "and he is a Dean of Dean-Hurst," she felt that life could give her no more satisfaction. " I'm tired to - night," said Bryan, shelving the subject of discussion ; " I wish I hadn't to go out again," and he crossed his legs, pushed his hand amongst his dark locks, and gazed into the fire. Mrs. Dean was not pleased at this wish, seeing that Bryan's destination was Undercragg, and that going thither he would see Agatha Whaite. She thought it wiser to say nothing, however, and only the click of the knitting-needles broke the silence, for Bryan had fallen to musing. What did he see amongst the dully- glowing coals which brought that smile to his face by and by? Was it Joyce Warwick he was thinking of 1 ? his mother wondered; and her thin lips drew together tightly, and her eyebrows knit. Mrs. Dean was not far wrong. Bryan was back in thought at Beckfoot Station, and the little scene of an hour or two before was being re-enacted. First, his noticing a young girl a stranger, as he thought a girl with such a sweet, attractive face, that, with no need whatever to go again in her direction, he had been impelled to do so, that he might, in passing, enjoy another look. But it was what had happened next which brought the smile of pleasure as he recalled it. For, suddenly, the stranger had hurried towards him, with both hands outstretched, which he had taken in his of course he seemed still to feel their touch and with a joyous exclamation had addressed him " Mr. Bryan Dean ! I thought it was you when you passed before, but you were a little too far away, and I wasn't quite sure. Oh, how good it is to see a familiar THE HOME-COMING 19 face ! But you have forgotten me, I see you have quite forgotten little Joyce Warwick." " Little Joyce Warwick ! " exclaimed Bryan. " Yes," laughed the girl, enjoying his astonishment. " I am not so very little now, am I ? " " No," said Bryan. " You have grown from a child into a" he had almost said "beautiful woman," but he stopped himself. Also, quite unconsciously, the girl interrupted him. " Isn't it too bad ! " she said, " there is not a soul here to meet me that I can find." And then Bryan had, of course, offered to take her in charge, and, after arranging to send down for her luggage the following morning, had driven away with her up Beck Dean she almost wild with delight at her home-coming one minute, and almost in tears the next at the apparent neglect of her friends. She had left Brussels a month ago, she told Bryan, but had been staying in Lincolnshire with two schoolfellows with whom she had journeyed to England. " And oh, it is so good to see the hills again ! " said Joyce enthusiastically. "For in Lincolnshire, as in Belgium, the country just looks as if it had been ironed out flat." Bryan had laughed at that, and then Joyce had laughed laughter is contagious the most musical laugh possible. Joyce had had a great many eager questions to ask too, about her father and the rest of the family at the Manse, and about Bryan's mother and his sister Zillah. Altogether that drive had been a very pleasant ex- perience ; and as Bryan Dean put on his hat, and went down the Dean to fetch home the said Zillah, he was thinking more of her old friend than her new one. CHAPTER II DEAN HEAD MANSE " Hailed the bright promise of your early day !" Hebcr. " Affectionate in look ! And tender in address ! as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men ! " Coivpcr. HE Rev. William Warwick was one of those men, not unfrequently met with, whose career is a disappointment to their friends. A member of a refined Nonconformist family in a good position, he had received a high-class education, had graduated with honours at Cam- bridge, and had commenced his ministerial career with every promise of to use a common expression "making his mark " in the ministerial world. The first church to which he had been called was in a pleasant suburb of London ; and there for a time his sermons, well-studied and given forth with a natural eloquence, were listened to by ever-increasing numbers. But by and by had come a change. A severe illness attacked the minister, leaving him slightly deaf and with a delicate throat. His mental powers, too, either were, or one or two of his deacons thought they were, slightly impaired, and "a 20 DEAN HEAD MANSE 21 decided check" was felt to have been given to the prosperity of the church at least so said the before- mentioned deacons. It took no very long time for these sayings to reach the minister's ears, and, sensitive to the core, and shrinking more and more within himself as the breath of disfavour blew upon him, Mr. Warwick eventually felt his position untenable, and resigned the pastorate he had entered upon with so much promise. During the time that his star had been in the ascend- ant, Mr. Warwick had married a young lady who was a member of a neighbouring church. She had been as much flattered by his selection of her, in preference to any of the young ladies in his own congregation, as won by his love ; and in marrying him, expected for him and herself as brilliant a future as is possible for a Noncon- formist minister and his wife. It was a sad blow to her therefore, when, half a dozen years later, the clouds of adversity, gathering for some time, thus culminated ; and it was with a very discontented mind that she, with her two baby-girls, accompanied her husband to his new charge in a Northern provincial town. Discontent is a very poor helper, and the minister had all his own burdens to carry and his wife's also. He was as much disappointed with himself as, he felt, she was disap- pointed in him ; and this fact, together with his naturally sweet temper and benevolent disposition, made Mr. Warwick very tender with his wife, and very tolerant of her grumblings. Moreover, his deafness had grown upon him, and he did not hear half of them. Ten years before our story opens, Mr. Warwick, after another long spell of illness, had left the town and had accepted the charge of a country church in an adjoining county. Here he had become more and more of the 22 DEAN-HURST recluse and student neglecting no duty, visiting the sick and his scattered members with regularity and a true interest in his work, but seeing no other society, and finding his solace and companionship in books. Of course the minister had his family, four children living, two lying in the chapel-yard ; but he had never been in the habit of spending much time with them, partly owing to the unfortunate deafness of which we have spoken. Still, he loved them dearly, and often he had resolved to make them his more constant companions ; but they had their mother, and to be with her very much was to him only a pain, and to her he felt that his society was no great pleasure, so his resolves had melted, and old habit had hardened. But the presence of Joyce, back from Brussels, where an aunt had sent her to finish her education, and especially to perfect herself in French, was like daily sunshine, in which resolves could grow again ; indeed, in which they sprang spontaneously, and blossomed into wishes. And she was not only like sunshine, with her pretty, loving, bright ways, but like a fresh breeze in the house, with her happy spirits and her active movements. Maud, the elder daughter, infused with a degree of her mother's discontent, and having, besides, a proud nature, inherited from her, and a reserved one, transmitted from her father, was stately in appearance, and quiet in manner and speech ; but Joyce was quick both to feel and speak, and though there might come a time when proof would not be wanting that Joyce could both feel deeply and hide her feelings, that time had not yet arrived. The girl's home-affections were strong, and long separation from her kinsfolk (the distance having prevented her return even for the holidays) had made the reunion with them a very DEAN HEAD MANSE 23 joyful thing to her ; and no one at the Manse could pull a very long face, for the first few days at anyrate, after Joyce's return. Jack and Jill, the two younger ones, otherwise John and Julia, were in the seventh heaven, and dragged Joyce hither and thither at their own sweet will; and Mr. Warwick felt that he could not cross Cowley Common, or mount on to Eoyden Edge, in pursuit of his calling, or for exercise, without asking Joyce to put on her hat and go with him. Often the two little ones Jack was nine, and Jill eight would clamour to accompany them ; and so it came to pass that the unprecedented spectacle was to be seen of the grave minister of Dean Head tramping the country with three of his children at his heels. "I rayther doubted myself, Mester Warwick, about this sendin' Miss Joyce to fureign parts," said old Ezra Whixley, the handloom weaver who lived on the Common ; " but they hannot spoiled her one bit ; she's t' same lass as she went, only bigger an' bonnier." And the sick woman on Royden Edge said " the very sight of her " had done her good. Joyce Warwick was indeed comely to look upon. She had one of those faces the secret of whose charm is in- describable, even when all its good points are told. Her complexion was not specially good, she was neither a blonde nor a brunette, her hair was brown, neither very light nor very dark, but it was abundant, very glossy, and slightly curly. Her nose was the least bit retroussd, and it seemed to suit her face. She had a charming mouth, pearly white teeth, and clear, frank, dark -blue eyes, deeply fringed with lashes several shades darker than her hair. But perhaps, more than in all else, the attraction lay in the ever-changing expression of the face, and 24 DEAN-HURST the light of the loving human soul which looked out of the eyes. Though she was no longer, as she had said to Bryan Dean, *' little Joyce Warwick," she was not by any means tall, being rather below the middle height, and was as slim and trim in figure as a girl still under eighteen ought to be. " I wonder why Zillah Dean does not come to see me," said Joyce to her sister Maud. It was on the Saturday, in the afternoon, she had returned on the Tuesday, and the two were seated with some sewing-work, at the front window of the family sitting-room at the Manse or Chapel House. " I did say to Mr. Bryan that I would call to see her," continued Joyce ; " but when I mentioned it to mamma, she said that of course it was Zillah 's place to come to see me first." " Mamma was quite right," said Maud in her slow, stately way. " But if we keep waiting for each other," said Joyce ; "and I did say I would go and Zillah may think it unkind and what do formalities matter between old friends ? " "You are not expecting to find Zillah just the same as you left her, are you, Joyce ? " said Maud ; " because if you are, you'll be disappointed. She's more 'grown- up ' than you, and she has struck up a great friendship with that rich Miss Whaite." " Who is Miss Whaite ? " asked Joyce. " Oh, let me see they have come to live at Undercragg while you have been away; but you remember their mills Lower Dean Mills 1 " " Oh, they are Mr. Whaite's, are they ? " said Joyce. DEAN HEAD MANSE 25 " Yes ; he had them long before we came here ; but he lived near some of his other mills until about two years ago." " Do the Whaites come to chapel ? " asked Joyce. "No; they go to church," said Maud; "but Miss Whaite often comes with Zillah." "And you say Miss Whaite and Zillah are great friends ; how has that come about ? " " Oh, I think they met at some non-sectarian bazaar," said Maud, in a tone which plainly indicated that she thought the matter hardly worth discussion. "Well," said Joyce brightly, "I am not going to be jealous it is possible to have more than one friend ; and though Zillah only wrote to me twice, I believe because she hates writing letters so, I feel sure we shall still be friends. But, Maud," she added, "just look at the clock. I must put on my hat this minute, and go and meet papa and the children." Joyce's wardrobe was not in very good order, and, as the morrow was Sunday, she had been compelled to stay indoors to execute repairs ; but had promised her father to meet him on his return from Cowley. This she now set out to do. Joyce had barely let the garden -gate clang to, however, and turned to the left towards Cowley Common, when she heard her name ca'led, and turning her head in the opposite direction, she saw two figures those of Bryan Dean and his sister. With swift feet, Joyce ran down the road to meet them. " Zillah ! " she cried, with both hands outstretched as she reached the girl. Zillah put out one, looked, or tried to look, very proper and young-ladyish, but glanced at Joyce's face and then out came the other. 26 DEAN-HURST " Zillah, I am glad to see you," cried Joyce, kissing her on both cheeks ; " and you are going to stay tea, are you not and you, too, Mr. Bryan ? " and she shook hands with him. " But I promised papa to meet him on his way back from old Ezra Whixley's, and I am rather late as it is. "Will you go in and see mamma and Maud, or will you come with me 1 " " Oh, I should like a walk on the Common immensely," said Bryan ; " and so would you, Zillah, wouldn't you 1 " he continued, turning to his sister. "I don't know, I'm sure," said Zillah doubtfully. " Shall we have time ? Mother said I wasn't to stay to tea." " Oh, that is a pity," said Joyce ; " but, anyhow, you can turn with me, and come a little way." So the three passed the garden-gate of the Manse, and took the rough cart-track skirting the wood on the right, and steeply rising to Cowley Common. "Let me look at you," said Joyce, passing her arm through Zillah's. " Oh, you are the same little gipsy, I see, though you are grown-up and pretend to look very proper." "It's a very thin covering of starch, I assure you," said Bryan, laughing. "You'll soon break through it, Miss Joyce, and teach her better than putting it on." Zillah drew herself up a little, and Joyce felt her stiffen herself. " Oh, I shall not teach Zillah anything of the kind," Joyce laughed. "She'll have to teach me instead. Mamma says my manners 'lack repose,' and Maud thinks the same." " Oh, for pity's sake," cried Bryan, " don't learn that lesson don't put on veneer just be yourself, Miss Joyce." DEAN HEAD MANSE 27 "Well," said Joyce laughingly, "I'm afraid I should find it difficult to be very prim, especially while I am feeling so glad." "I hope that feeling will last," said Bryan, his own feeling that of gladness also as he trod the rough road by Joyce's side. "I don't know," said Joyce, glancing on her other hand at Zillah ; " I am afraid I am going to suffer awfully from jealousy the green-eyed monster. I am told of a certain Miss Whaite, who is supposed to have stolen Zillah's affections from me." " Joyce," said Zillah, who was every moment falling more into the old enchantment of her friend's presence, "who has been saying such a thing?" "Never mind that," said Joyce, "so that you can contradict it." "Well, of course," said Zillah, "Agatha Whaite is a friend of mine ; that is true enough ; but " And here Zillah stopped, suddenly remembering a warning of her mother's. " Zillah means to say," put in Bryan, " that in making a new friend, she has not cast off the old." Joyce rewarded him with a grateful look, while Zillah barely acknowledged the sentiment her brother had spoken on her behalf. They walked on, Joyce recalling to Zillah's recollection various escapades of their childhood's days, during bramble and bilberry gatherings, wadings through the becks, jumping from one " hippin " to another, etc. " I cannot imagine," said Joyce, after they had laughed over one little experience and another ; "I cannot imagine a more delightful neighbourhood in which to spend one's childhood than this is." 28 DEAN-HURST The question trembled on Bryan's tongue : " And how about the rest of life ? " And though he did not give utterance to it, it lodged in his mind, and brought some other thoughts in its train which were, to say the least of it, troublesome and inconvenient, if pleasurable in a sense. The laughter had cracked Zillah's starch more than anything else could have done ; but all at once she suddenly stiffened again, and remembered that she "must go home." "But you cannot turn back, so near papa and the children," said Joyce. " See, there they are coming." A minute afterwards, two little figures were seen to be tearing headlong towards them ; they came too fast, how- ever and, one after the other, they fell down on the grass. "Jack fell down and broke his stick," cried Joyce, " and Jill came tumbling after." Jack was up again in a moment, gazing ruefully at his stick in two parts ; but poor little Jill lay still, and began to cry. Swift as the wind flew Joyce to her little sister's help, and raised her, or rather attempted to do so, for the child could not stand. " Oh, my ankle, my ankle ! " she cried. " She has sprained it, I fear," said Bryan, who had come up. " Never mind, dear," he said ; " I will carry you." And he took her up in his strong arms. " But I want Joyce ! " cried the child. "Oh, Joyce will walk close to you," said the girl. " But," turning to Bryan, " will she not be too heavy for you?" " Not at all," said the young man. DEAN HEAD MANSE 29 Aiid just then Mr. Warwick coming up, greetings were exchanged, and they all set their faces towards the Manse, Joyce keeping her promise, and walking close to Jill, consequently close to Bryan. She little knew what mischief she was doing, nor how every step weakened Bryan's power of resistance to the spell she was casting over him. Every upward look of hers into her little sister's face, every encouraging word, every ripple of laughter helped in Bryan's undoing. Zillah walked behind with Mr. Warwick, and wondered what her mother would think if she saw the two in front; for in giving Zillah permission to go to the Manse, which she had done in order to prevent Joyce's coming to Higher Dean, she had taken her into her confidence to some extent, and had told her that Joyce's coming home might ruin everything, if care were not taken. " So you must go to-day," she had said, "while Bryan is at Greenroyd ; and you are not to stay to tea, and you are not to ask Joyce to come 'any time,' but say you will let her know what day she is to come." For Mrs. Dean had reflected that it would never do, after all, to attempt to keep Joyce entirely at arm's length she might do more harm than good if she roused Bryan's combative faculties so she would manage to have her there occasionally, when Bryan was away on business. But whatever might become of other days, her arrange- ments for this day had gone wrong, for Bryan's business was soon done, and, instead of coming back by train, he had walked over Hoyden Edge, and had dropped down the hillside into Beck Dean, almost at Zillah's feet, about a quarter of a mile above Higher Dean, and, with rather 30 DEAN-HURST unusual brotherly attention, had announced his purpose of accompanying her on her walk. Zillah had thereupon made know the purpose of her expedition, and told him flatly she would not have him ; whereupon, in his turn, Bryan had announced that if he might not accompany Zillah to the Manse, neither would he, on another occasion, accompany her to Undercragg, or fetch her therefrom. And at this threat Zillah had given in, and things had turned out even worse than she could possibly have thought of ; and now, to crown all, rain was coming on, and she had no cloak, and she would be obliged to call at the Manse a little while, at anyrate, until the shower was over. "I think yoti and Miss Joyce had better run on, out of the rain, Zillah," said Bryan, with great self-denial. To tell the truth, he was finding Jill rather heavy, now he had carried her nearly a mile, and he could not walk more quickly himself. " You will be all right, Jill ; you will be home directly," said Joyce, preparing to follow Bryan's advice. But Jill began to cry, and Zillah had to run on with Jack for company ; and Mr. Warwick, too, got a little in front ; and Bryan, except the child in his arms, had Joyce all to himself for a little space, and, notwithstanding the rain, he lingered. Yes, Jill was decidedly heavy. Tea was ready, and looked very inviting, when the party gained the Manse ; and as the rain still poured down, there was nothing for it but to accept the minister's hospitality ; indeed, Bryan had got so far that he inwardly blessed the rain. Good housewifery is much thought of in the county of Stonyshire, and in that part of; it particularly where Beck Dean is situated, and Mrs. Warwick's "ways "had \ Jill Wix