Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-12-26

lpNC OF il0heN
She shook her head, smilingly,
still slipping the diamonds of the
gorgeous necklace through her lit
tie fingers.
"Then | shall take nothing this
evening. Bye and bye, perhaps,
we may bargain for that ring
Iflove---n
What was he going to say?
Coed heavens what an eyre
gious fool he was, falling in love
with little girl at first sight and
ready to tell her SO.
All, here is blessed, timely inter-
vention in the shape of Nj Genin,
who opens the plate glass door,
bringing great Whit of the icy
Christmas air with him.
8 Bon jour, Meester Sylvester !;
very cold day Mon Die /! one feels
the ice in the atm0sphere"-then
with great CONSERVATION in look
and gesture as he turns to the de-
mure little figure behind the coun-
ter. "Dolor !mG e3Jdnt."
Dolor's sweet face was crimson |;
there were tears in the brown eyes.
Forgive me, papa. | allowed
Arthur 10 go out a moment-he
stays longer than / thought. 1t
does not matter dear" This last
imploringly, for the little French
man was working himself into a
rage
"Ma fair! Dolor, matter indeed.
She is impulsive, Monsieur, she
does it from her good little heart, :"
apologetically, /" but this public
place-run, ma enfdnt, back to the
parlor," and Dolor with a quaint
little bow to her customer, disap-
peared through door behind the
counter leading doubtless to that
unknown region "the parlor,"
whence she had been banished.
Little Dolor, as M. Genln had alb
breviated her pretty Spanish cog
nomen, received one Christmas
gift next day that puzzled Mon
sieur, and brought a queer, fiuc-
tuating color 10 the little French
girls face. Adolph, the gray
haired butler, who had come to
America with them, brought it in
on salver while they were at
breakfast-a superb hot house bout
quet, cut by no city gardener, as
the long stems and many half
blown buds testified, with a card
labelled "For Mademoiselle Genin
for one who could not purchase
FOR money what no wanted for
loves sake"
1t was an ambiguous sentence
and afforded no clue to the donor,
but Mademoiselle Genin laid lit
tie hand over the card, secreting it
in her wrapper pocket before she
showed the bouquet to her papa.
Houghton Sylvester, the ADO
mis- of society, was distrdH for
weeks dejeuners, balls and assem-
blies missed him for little time.
He had such frequent occasions to
inspect NJ. Genin's stock that the
fellows began to rally him on the
score of his new hobby. Are you
going to set up gewgaw store,
Hough ?" asked one of his club as
sociates one day.
"No, my dear fellow" answer
ed the Hough, thus familiarity ac-
costed, with a queer sort of a
smile, 81 am hunting peculiar
gem for a certain old-fashioned
setting l possess, and / rather
think I shall find it in M. Genin's
assortment, That is all. Yes
that was all. Mr.. Hough-
ton Sylvester had fallen, nay leapt,
irrevocably in love with the quaint
little Dolores. And it was the
very first time in all his thirty-two
years that tender passion had ever
touched him.
Among all the fiashy brunes
and fascinating blondines OF the
capital he had walked unscathed,
until il became current saying
in society, "Sylvester only cares
for his mother-he is not a marry
ing character" SO the brunes and
blondines had long ago stopped
fiinging soft glaDces at him,
though he was favorite withal,
and Sylvester had almost come to
thinking himself that there was
no woman good enough to he lifted
to the high estate of his wife. And
here he was, irretrievably in love
with little foreigner, OF whose
antecedents he was in utter ignor-
ance, child, Of whom he knew
nothing, except that she had a
piquante, fascinating face, and was
the only child of an eccentric old
French jeweller.
81 can afford to do a. ] please"
he soliloquised'after birds eye
view" of the whole case--''there
is only my mother to consult, and
she is too lust to deny me any hon.