Fair play., 1874-04-02

| sihu. wen dcfer II. though. till aftt
tea, and he gave me his arm to the dinin.
! room.
Father got able to hoible OUT 10 II,
bank. and things Ieysn to get easier
though Mrs. Scrutiny said he looked to d,
as IL he would never bc himself again: AN
after that lived in hourly dread Of a sec
Ond stroke. and the future wasn't alluriuo
unless l should marry Lucius-nor the
either.
They Were to have masquerade part,
at the Growers Tlanksgiving-night. an,
Tor fortnight k.fOre Lydia and wer
b''sy as moths, burrOwinx in the cedar
wood trunks In the attic that came uy,.
from Holland with her grcat-gralrlmoth
cr's wcdding-clOthcs. and were full of old
fashioned finery. broc.,,les and laoes. an,
>hoc-bucklcS. We had rare time irwin.
them on before the beveled mirror n
l-ydias room and whenever John Jordan
happened in. she would rustic down I,
him. shaking out Il glamour of magnifi
cen,e from every fold. and shining like !;
star in her ancient splcndOr. We prom.
iscd ourselves an Arabian Nights enter
tainmcnt. And the promise was fulfilled
The house was one blaze of lights am
blossoms. and the atmosphere was one pl,l
satiOn of music and fragrance. You
seemed to be walking through an avenue
Of tall Towering shrubs in some enchanted
garden. and meeting such f:intastic-lOOkins
companions. as if pansies and princess.
feathers and cOXsOmb were m:lsGlileEnlinS
Us young men and women of the period
aud sometimes fancied that the tamily
portraits had taken this opportunity to
step out Of their dull frames and fiirt and
dance with the best! Lydia wore her
grandmOther's wedding brOcade, that
looked rs If it was spun out Of snOw-ilakcs.
had borrowed 4 pink silk petticOat of
Aunt kitty's, the palest blush, and had
dr;lped over it mist of Nottingham lace
that we had had in the house time out Of
mind, and had bought for htl-c,irtains.
It's awfillly cheap stuff, you know, with a
mesh as coarse As Il cabbaSe-net. but il
made lovely effect.
'lOu look like morning bluslling over
the Alps" whispered my partner, in the
grand right and lett.
"lve never seen it: have you:" l
mOcke,l.
'Often," he answered; and then was
sure it was Lucius. who had been abroad
once. He offered his arm and We stepped
into bay-windOw. to look into the frosty
garden illuminated by the moon, and what
do you think lie said next.
Don't let us masquerade any longer"
i'll the same llalt-whisper; Il love you:
believe You love me, in spite Of your dis
think have surprised it in
your face sometimes. Come live with lne,
and be my love- Be- my wife, sweet
The moment toward which l had been
reaching had arrived, and found me un-
prepared. l was more wretched than Il
..yalley-Slave, when l should have been
most happy. | trembled like reed in
the wind. and leaned on his arm for sup
port. IL canl,Ot answer you to night"
| said, temporising: ''the music cOnfnsCs
me. don't know whether l love you"
trying to laugh-''Or your ancestors. In
4 day-a week-Oll. can't answer you be-
fore Christmas indeed, cannot!' !
gasprd.
II will wait through time and eternity
If only it be the right answer ut last ~ he
And then he led me to a seat.
and somebody lent me vinaigrette, and
people asked what the matter was, and it
seemed SO ridiculous to be so overcome by
IN offer. that didn't tell them; and the
.lpshOt Of it was, Lydia sent me home in
her carriage before supper. II I had staid
till the unmasking. yOu knOw-well there.
that's 4 subjunctivc case that Iii leave to
your imagination. But the truth was.
wanted to get home and think! And
! did think with vengeance.
[ thought all day and all night.
| thought at church, ut table, rub
bing the silver, sewing on buttons: why.
couldn't say my prayers straig for
thinking. l had never made such an in
tellectual effort in my life. Lucius came
and went as usual, without urging it fur
ther. or appearing anxious about the re-
suit. Everybody seemed to be moving
behind mist. through which John
JOrdans face shOne out ut times
with an unutteElble pathos in the
questioning eyes, wondered if he
guessed at my dilemma. At last l
went up to Sophronia'>, at Haverllam. to
finish my thinking. When l had been
there three days, up came John Jordan i'm
his own carriage. SOplrOnia and her hu>-
band had always had a mighty fancy for
John. and, between us, believe she had
sent for him. Well, when SOphrOnia's
husband came home to dinner, while he
was carving. said he.
''That's great failure down at your
place, jordan. Now had an idea that the
ilovers were made Of money!
What do you mean?" cried SOphy.
= The GlOvers failed! Why. they gave Il
party only the other day. with
no end Of SplendOr.
THAT seems to he the cue of people who
ire tOttering. financially: they're deter
mined TO make Il figure. if only for the
asst time" laughed Sophy's husband.
'.They're pretty badly cut up by it."
aid John. ''Lucius looks ten years old
.r.''
.'Lucius:'' repeated Sophy's husband.
He used TO be spark Of your sisters.
sOphy; didn't he: But he's no longer
match. el?''
Sophy shot a quick look at me; John
urned his head away: Sophy's husband
his plate. But rs for me. l had
lone with thinking; had made up my
mind to go home that Very day, and tell
[.ucius I would marry him. for better or
worse! Perhaps you'll say was Quixotic
md romantic. and didn't deserve Johns
cgard. But YOU see. had given Lucius
and if l refused him. he
md all the world would think it was on
recount Of the failure. and. of all things.
amt bear to Ike suspected Of meanness.
TO be sure. was going to lose the very
hings for which had led Lucius on: but
deserved to. if that was any comfort.
,oPhronia said everything she could think
If TO make me stay. and l vowed it was
'ut Of the question. ImusI he at home to
ooE after the ChristlnaSing: the pies would
Ill be at skies and sevens. with stones
,nough in them to build a temple. and
ather would have to 60 without his plum
budding; and had Christmas present
% finish. John had intended to spend the
holidays: but he said. If I was set upon il
md nothing could persuade me. he would
harness up and take me home. 1t was a
rifle ungenerous. perhaps. to oblige one
over to carry me to his rival: but didn't
stop to think Of that, was so absorbed by
ny own sacrifices.
1t had been drizzling for about an hour
when We started. but John had covered
sieigh and q fast horse. You know how
snort the December afternoons are. so it
M. dark "A = q lot H.