Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. ON THE HILL-SIDE. At this point Andrew Hardell's history, properly speaking, begins. He could not hitherto be said to have lived, for the simple reason that he had not suffered. A man cannot fully appreciate health till he has been racked with pain; a man cannot understand the terrible mystery of his existence until he has in his agony turned his face to the wall, and been alone with himself and God. Up to the time when Kenneth Challerson shouted a boisterous welcome to Anthony Hardell, greeting him with many expletives and many expressions of surprise, Andrew had never known a day's real sorrow, and no prevision of evil oppressed him when he looked in Laura Challerson's face, and acknowledged that she was very beautiful — beautiful exceedingly. There are little incidents in the lives of our fellows with which even the nearest and dearest are oftentimes unacquainted; and accordingly Andrew did not know that his friend had been in love with this woman before her marriage, and after, and that he was in love with her still—in a feeble, purposeless, sinless, senseless kind of fashion, when her husband introduced them into her sitting-room, remarking,— " Laura, my love, here is your old friend, Mr. Hardell. Met him quite by chance; is it not wonderful ? " Whereupon Laura raised her dark eyes, and with the prettiest innocence, and the sweetest smile, and the most infantile simplicity, declared it was wonderful—astonishing—delightful. " And your friend, too; another Mr. Hardell. The other Mr. Hardell, rather. I am so glad to see you," she added, clasping Andrew's hand with her white, soft fingers; " I have heard so much of you—so much." In reply, Andrew stated, and very truly, that he had heard of Mr. and Mrs. Challerson, and thathe was delighted t...