What strange emotion stirred the Ohio student's soul, when he met the
soft eyes of Morgianna, words cannot express. She talked on a variety of
subjects, and at times Fernando flattered himself that she was pleased
to have him with her; but the next moment he reasoned that it might be
only her good breeding which made her appear to tolerate him. Fernando
was not foolish enough to be conceited. He lived in hope and doubt and
was the happiest man at times, and at others the most miserable. Though
he took Sukey into his confidence, Fernando was a little shy
of Terrence.
The reader will remember that Terrence had, on entering the village,
suggested the propriety of going under assumed names. Fernando had
forgotten, if he ever knew, that he was registered at the tavern as Mr.
Phil. Magrew of Hartford, and that good, innocent Sukey was George
Molesworth, while Terrence was Larry O'Connor, a name quite in keeping
with his nationality. A ludicrous mistake, which came near being fatal
to Fernando's respectability at Mariana, resulted from this incident.
They had been a week at the tavern, and Fernando, who had lived a
thousand years of alternating bliss and agony in that short period, was
sitting in the bar-room in front of a great roaring fire, which the
chill evening of early autumn made comfortable, utterly oblivious of the
grumbling of the landlord, who was saying:
"When people stay a whole week 'thout any luggage, it be high time they
pay up.
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