Bookstore Priory.

BOOKSTORE PRIORY .

( From Keystone . ) CHAPTER II [ . For Alice AVest the days glided swiftly past during her first three months at Rookstone Priory—so swiftly that when

sunny May dawned , and molted in due time into glorious , leafy June , she could hardly believe that her sojourn had been so long in the quiet old house , of the gloom of - which she never seemed to be conscious . She was now thoroughl

y initiated into the li ght duties expected of her as Mrs . Lorrimore ' s companion , and had learned to love the kind-hearted , motherly , drowsy old lady with all the warmth of her loving gwlisli heart . And Alice AVest was very happy ; she had

never been so happy in her life before . Earnestly did she strive to repay , by a thousand little acts born of ever-watchful care , the manifold kindness which the blind master of Rookstone and his lovable aunt Jem showered upon her so plentifully as the days went by .

Miss AVest ' s first duty of the day was to read prayers . Her last was the same . After breakfast she read a little , worked a little , and talked a little with Mrs . Lorrimorc , who dozed between whiles , and put a few stitches in a ponderous piece of

woolwork raised on an equally ponderous wool-frame , representing " The Passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea , " in which representation the pursued and the pursuers were uncomfortably near to one anotherand the perspective of the whole

, was , to say tho least of it , doubtful . Mrs . Lorriniore had been working at Pharaoh ' s upraised arm on and off for the last two years . ( She often expressed her wonder to Alice if the "Passage through the Red Sea" would ever fulfil its intended

purpose , which was the covering of an immense fat-looking cushion of the softest order for the back of Mrs . Lorrimore ' s own especial arm-chair .

Alice frequently begged to be allowed to assist in the completion of Pharaoh , but aunt Jem would never hear of it . " I began it , my dear , all by myself ; I mean to finish it all myself . I think I shall manage it by-and-by . "

After luncheon till tho first dinner-bell rang , Alice ' s fcinio was her own , to do with it as she vdcased—whether to wander through the deserted garden and shady park , or to revel in tho scrono rruiescence which hovered round the Priory .

Rookstone in the early summer was a very paradise of earthly beauty . Tho gardens were shady , tho flowers beautiful and odorous , tho grass soft , and the trees , which grow and shivered in tho summer breezes near to the housefull of a

whisper-, ing music which . Alice , lying beneath their shade , delighted to listen to . Oh , glorious , to-be-remembered June afternoons that Alice AVest idled away , unconscious and regardless of time ' s swift flight , amidst the grand dumb beauty of

Rookstone Park ! And not always alone was she . Often , ay , very often , would the blind master of Rookstone bo her companion in those dreamlike rambles— dangerously happy , delicious , beautiful rambles , "while the golden sun shone brightly through the interlacing branches overhead , where the birds sang joyously amongst the leaves

Their old melodious madrigal of love . Those two , Lowndes Forrester and Alice AVest , were happy indeed in those halcyon June afternoons , although the world , with all its beauty , ho could not see . It was such an ago since he had listened to the

sound of a young girl ' s voice with any interest ; such an age , in fact , since he had listened to a youthful voice at all . Not until the advent of aunt Jem ' s companion had he awakened to the knowledge that the world was not so full of misery as he

had taught himself to believe . In truth he had almost forgotten what the world was like . After his trouble he had withdrawn himself from all pleasure ; for his life was cold , and dark , and dreary , and ho and gladness henceforth must be as total

strangers . So he had said ; but lately his faith in his own doctrine had been strangely shaken , and gentle , lovely Alice AVest had become inexpressibly dear to him during the short four months of her stay at Rookstone .

Leaning on her arm , the strong helpless man would take much longer walks than lie had for years been accustomed to ; under her watchful and careful guidance he re-visited many well-loved nooks and