The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1873-11-13
ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA;

looking man, you say. How bad p
evil, or vulgsr, or what :"
"Somethiug like this"
lie penoilled face upon the margin
OF his newspaper. It was mans face,
OF certain sort Of beauty. but sinister,
trsaoberous, "bad," sure enough, in its
expression.
"Dear. DEAR" said, half in fright
and half in COMMUNICATION of Miss Ma-
sons connection with such . person !;
and, in nay interest in the matter, I let
fall my bali Of tvine. Tho circum.
stance diverted our attention. Jack
stopped for the ball, and We turned our
faces toward the door of the summer
house. There stood Miss Mason. I
felt so guilty, that for a moment l
could speak Miss Mason was not per.
son with whom one would willioel,
have taken a liberty. stommered, 1t
last:
"Were you looking for me, my
dear =?
"Excuse me-" che said, in an M.
conscious, ICY way, with her eyes on
unlucky penciliog, which Jack, iu bis
CONSERVATION, held directly toward her.
II have come home with a bad head.
ache. I shall not be able to give aoy
more lessons to-day, and wanted to
ask you if Nancy might mako me .
cup of tea p
"Of course. Shall go aud see to
1t, or will you tell her 7"
III will tell her, thank you, and I will
not get up to dinaer." She kept her
eyes still on the penciliog, with tho
same icy inconsistencies in her man
ner: She was turning to 60, when, all
At once, Jack spr,ng up:
"Miss Mason-a moment" he said,
with confusion. ,
I detected sone surprise and more
seorn in her face, Is she waited, and
l thought that, if he VS. going to At:
tempt an explanation, he would make
a bad matter worse.
"You have overheard me discussing
your affairs, Miss Mason.''
"They are opeo to discussion, Mr..
Claes," she answered a little hurried.
ly., ~
Nevertheless, it is very annoying
tor me to feel guilty of having taken
such an unwarrantable liberty, and I
wish to EXPLAIN
| She interrupted him, saying, point
| edly: =.
"Betweeu strangers do not think
explanations are ever necessary" and
she moved as if she meant to 20.
/ Jack was slightly excited he
stepped forward, even put cut his hand
to detain her, and said firmly:
"Nsvertheless, you must permit me
to make one. 1t was my fortune to
meet you last evening, and thus become
aware Of circumstance which is none
OF my business. You have discovered
me discussing this circumstance. 7 he
explanation wish to make is this !:
Miss DENLY is the same to me as a
mother, and you must discriminate be.
tween my having spoken to her of your
affairs, and having made them matter
of ordinary gossip, which am iocapa-
bic Of doing"
| l confess that I didn't see that he
had mended the matter much, but it
was Jacks way to out with the plain
truth in just this straightforward fash.
ion. a.
Miss Mason listened with a kind Of
chilled arrogance. I expected one Of her
short, singing replies. To my sur.
prise, though, soft shadow stole over
her face, and she said, quite gently:
"The matter is not worth mention.
log, Mr.. Claes. but I thank you."
She bowed slightly and went to the
house.
"She certainly Is beautiful p Jack
commented, with enthusiasm.
| l rather liked to have him admire
her, as an antidote to his admiration
for Jenny Brewster but it would oc:
cur to me, and uupleasantly, that i,
was very odd Of her not TO- account 70,
this mysterious meeting, when 10 d,.
rect an opportunity was afforded her.
The day passed, and Miss Mason
did not re.ppear. In the evening W
had visitor, through whom I had ,
revelation. This visitor was Mr.. Holt
Mr.. Holt is, in fgurative sense, th,
big man Of Thorpe. Literally he i.
little. Tho balance Of his ledger il
heavy-diferent from the balance o.
his head. He is quiet and modest
With slight chronic cough, like the
cough of q cat. He had at that time
been for five years = widower, and Il
hope to create an impression in his ia.
yor by reserving the best for the last
he continued to wear black gloves
Mr.. Holt was no great visitor, but i,
occurred to me that he had called on
us just 'ix times within the past three
months, and while I was making this
calculation be inquired a second time
if Miss Mason was at home. It was q,
this point that had my revelation
and 1t was owing to 1t that l replied
that I would 60 and ascertaia if MISS
1 =