The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1871-08-31
CHE ganfilg Girrle.
A Game of Hearts.
q &C. ENWNEETAN
looked into his cOmpanlOn's S
face and wondered if she re-

N.r
I'VE looked into his companion s
S8ISS face and wondered if she re-
GOOD ally possessed a heart. Or
was she only-as had been said
a creature of inteIlect-One who re-
quired not, and wished not, the
most precious ofan Iife's blessings
love. Rather a difficult question;
and her beautiful, queenly counten-
ance, with its lustrous brown eyes
and delicately chiseled features, did
not serve to satisfy his doubts.
He was accustomed to be a favor
ite with the gentler sex. Wealthy,
intellectual and handsome, he was
very naturally appreciated by man
covering mammas and manageable
daughters. Clara Vane was not
like the women he had been bro't
in contact with. Although among,
she was not of them; and her indif-
ference hurt him more than he cared
to confess even to himself. So this
evening, as they wandered together
through the brilliantly Illuminated
J rooms of a fashionable devotee, he
asked carelessly, albeit his eyes rest
ed searchingly upon her face, "Miss
Vane, do you believe in love?
She laughed-and although her
dnsky cheek crimsoned a little, dis
played not the slightest discompo-
sure as she answered, No-at least
not as you do''
That sentence implied a certain
amount ofsomething that the gen
tleman hardly liked. How should
she know whether their beliefs were
dissimilar?
'Indeed!' he commented, some
what dryly, "Would it be imperti-
nent in me to inquire what your be
lief really is?"
She bit her lip.
''I make no pretensions to under
standing any ones ideas upon this,
or any other subject better than
they themselves do. I only know
that my opinion Of love is very diff
ferent from the latter-day sentiment
which is now dignified by that
name.'
He smiled provokingly.
$50 is mine. We agree thus far,
at any rate. Perhaps, were we to
compare notes, the similarity would
exist still further"
+" Scarcely probable" she an
swered calmly. eBut it is not an in
teresting topic; and as it is of no
consequence whether we consider it
in the same light or no, I propose
we discuss some other subject"
Ofcourse after that, the conver-
sation changed.
"Confound it! what's the useF'
he murmured sadly that night, or
rather that morning after returning
home. Here 1 am fairly bewitched
after a woman who, if report speaks
truly, is not capable of feeling a par
ticle of affection for any man, and
who has demonstrated beyond q
peradyenture her utter indifference
to me. In love with an iceberg.
That's what's the matter. But I
swear I won't make a fool of myself
any longer. She can go her way
and I'll go mine"
Whether this resolution would
have been kept or no, is a question
that must forever remain unsettled
as the next day Miss Vane left town.
went no one knew where; to remain
none knew how long.
But We being wiser than the ma
iority of folks, may follow her from
the crowded metropolis to a beau
tiful country seat, down in Kent
where, disgusted alike with the
world and herself, she had sought
refuge for the summer months with
her young married friend, Mary
Thurston.
'cNow Clara" said this young Ia
dy, as they sat together some few
evenings after Miss Vane's arrival,
"of course you know how glad 1 am
to have you here and all that sort
of thing; but what in the world pos
sessed you to come?-for when 1
saw you last, you gave me no en-
couragement to hope for this visit, ,"
Well Mary, to tell the truth, had
not the slightest idea of paying it
two weeks ago; but"
'But what?" eagerly asked her
companion. "You were not involv-
ed in any love affair, were you? I
heard something of a new kind of
Irritation you were having with
somebody. It didn't become too
serious, did ity'
ssYes it did, . answered her guest
impetuously, startled out of her usu-
al reticence by that strange longing
for sympathy which sometimes sci
zes the proudest Of as 81 became
/ acquainted with a man endowed
with extraordinary gifts of mind
and person-one before whom wo-
men bowed subserviently-and 1
| ,4o,t~~,l~ 70 +oooh him n lesson