The Van Buren press., 1874-01-13

would keep recurring to Margarets 5
memory, with its refrain Of Shakespeare
verse:
Then sigh no more ladies. ladies, sigh no more !;
Men were dercivers ever;
0ne fuot oil sea aid eae en shere,.
To one thing constant never
Have you q dance to spare me, Miss
Dene 2"
II fear not, Mr. Leicester and, with
out glancing at her programme, Marga-
ret turned toward her companion to con
tinue the conversation Ralph had broken
in upon, nor did she look round again
ill she knew he had left her side.
1t was their first meeting since that
luncheon party at Wimbledon, now more
than II month ago, when Ralph Leicester
had been foolish enough to talk great
deal OF nonsense, which she had been
sill more foolish in believing, 50 Ma.
garet $ sid to herself. She did not in the
least credit all the disagreeablc things
Lcople were saying about him; but he
had shown pretty plainly. by his silence
all ;als time, his perfect indifference 10
her good opinion, and she determined on
that point TO meet him more than half
way.
She had just arrived at this conclusion
when Cecil Collins came forward to claim
her for the waltz then commencing: and
as she walked down the room on his arm,
not few turned to gaze at the hand
sor,e couple and wonder who they were
II wonder easily satisfied, for Cecil, at
least, was becoming well known. Not
only had he won the queens prize, which
in itself made him n sufficiently marked
man, but with that prize he had com. into
the heirship Of a large fortune
His uncle, rich and eccentric old
bachelor, who was wont 10 describe him
self as "thc best shot Of his day, sir
and who considered that quite descrip
ton enough OF any man. WIS SO delight
ed to find his scapegrace nephew turning
out a distinguished marksman that he
wrote to him, promising not only to pay
his ucbls, but to make u new will IN his
favor. il only that nephew succeeded iii
carrying off the prize OF the year "A
strange excuse, through which the truth
showed somewhat pathetcally, for max
ing one last effort to reclaim the prodi-
mal lhat so, i; it were possible, this only
son OF his dead brother might still be
found worthy 10 fill his place, when that
place should have become vacant instead
Of the old home aud well filed Golfers
passing into the hands Of strangers
The dance over, Margaret and Cecil
strolled through the open window into
the mooulIt garden beyond, glad to OK.
change the hca cd atmosphere Of the bail
room for the cool night air Did their
thoughts wander back to that other gar
den they had stood together in, long ago,
ere sin and sorrow came to overshadow
their young lives2 Perhaps so, for both
were unusually silcut, aud it was not ill
they had paced the whole length OF The
terrace that Cecil reused himself to sa,
that which he had brought his compan
lou out there for the express purpose Of
telling her
" Margaret, he said, Ralph Leiccs
ter isa friend of yours, is he notH
"An acquaintance would be tho more
correct term.
"Why SO? have heard your names
coupled together more than once yet
just now myself saw you refuse 10 dance
with him. Are you offended, like all the
rest Of the worli, because he threw up
Tue shooting at Wimbledon 7 or, perhaps,
because he did 50 without telling you the
reason"
Margarei's only answer was suggcs-
tion to go in the night air felt chilly, she
thought.
Not yet, Margaret, not till | have
told you what is weighing on my con
science, il, indeed, such a thing is still
left me. said Coed, with rather bitter
laugh People are saying that Ralph
Leicester has promised to win The queen
prize for your sake, and that you have
thrown him over Tor giving It up How
far that may be true. feel have no
right to ask, but rs !, and alone, can
tell you his reason for not shooting, ]
suppose he would rather lose even you
than confess it himself you must listen
to me few minutes while do SO. Long
ago | was fortunate enough TO save his
life in an encounter with mad dog. |
had almost forgotten the circumstance,
but it seemed that Leicester retained
very vivid repemb-ance Of it, and when,
the day before the prize was to be shot
for, my uncle's strange intentions came
to his knowlclge--how, | do not know,
as had tried my best to keep tue world
ignorant Of the stake for which ! had
played-and he found that thus some
thing more than life, reputation and the
means of once more facing the world,
were within my reach II only | could he
sncccsstul---he generously determined no
act Of his should diminish my chance.
and by quietly Withdrawing from the
shooting, paid back his Debt to mo mul
tIpiicd thousand times The prize |.
mlnc, Margaret, and with it the new life
that has opened upon me; but need
hardly tell you how | shall count it all
too dearly bought il Leieestcr's future
happiness has been sacrificed TO its pay.
mcnt
Half an hour later as Ralph Leicester
was standing moodilv in the doorway,
his mcditatons were broken IN upon by
a dance-programme falling at his feet, us
some walters flew past him He stopped
to pick it up, not at all knowing who
was It's owner, and abscntly ran his eye
down the list of names inscribed therein.
His Indifference vanished, however, when,
toward the end he came to his own, writ