The Red Cloud chief., 1875-12-09

of going straight ahead as any sensible
cord would have done that hsd been
stout enough not to get becoiled on the
road. 1t looked ccn;ented though, as II
it didn't care a whit for the predicsmen:
II was in, or whether it ever went
straight again, as 1t could have that
charming route to travel round ard
round, and / began TO wonder.
"He's splendid, Lot; isn't her
Miss Danes voice broke my wonder
ing. / was modest in those days and
blushed easily. Ny wife tod me so
yesterday, referring to that morning that
the tip of my ear, just visible at the
edge of my desk lid, grew red as a coal,
and that her friend threw a lozenge at it
and missed it by the sixteenth OF an
inch. / wasn't aware Of the circum
stance before.
"Say, Lot, don't you think he's splen-
did," came that loud whisper again.
"If l do, 1 don't intend to tell him of
it," she retorted.
Evidently, however much averse she
would have been to informing me on
such a point, she was nothing loath for
me to judge of her musical powers, for
she burst forth into q merry song and
warbled like a bird-in fact, like twenty
birds. Whether my ear looked like a
coal or moi, it drank in that gay melody,
and, when it ceased, longed for more.
"What eyes he hasw
"Rsther too deep-set for beauty"
"Deep set, indeed! They are pro-
truding as a cows, and as big"
"Mere difference of opinion, my love.
Don't let us quarrel"
"No. Then, how much character
there is in his nose"
"Decidedly."
/ had a large nose, reader.
"Room for mere"
I started her there by dropping n
book. I was actually getting angry.
But she recovered from her fright al
most Immediately, and went on, in a
still louder tone:
SLOW do you think he will answer"
ANSWER"
Miss Arden spoke i%nquirinsly, in a
puzzled voice:
"You speak as if you thought l in
tended to propose to him."
"And so, l daresay, you will, 1t being
leap year, and you so smitten."
A merry laugh followed this sally.
"In that case l think he would answer
in the affirmative"
80! you conceited creature, Lot Ar
den!"
"Hush! What if Mr.. Eldridge should
overhear us7"
AS if I hadn't overheard them.
"Who cares If he does? It's nothing
to him."
Nothing to me! to sit there and hear
myself discussed in that way. o. nothing
at all!
"But, seriously: what do you mean?"
"Why, have you forgotten that l
prophesied a filtration? l mean how do
you think he would do for that?"
All! a Irritation! Maybe l didn't hold
my breath for fear of losing the answer,
and then maybe
80, passibly, if he understands his
place and stays in it. I hate prcsuming
men,"
"Men! Boys!'
"Well, boys, then. Men in assurance,
boys in intelligence, are what We have
nowadays"
She spoke as if she had lived in the
age of her grandmother. 1 clenched
my hands, and declined Jupiter under
my breath in Latin.
"Do you think you will bring him
areund?"
"For shame. I'm sure l have no such
design on his peace"
"Now, really, l am aching to know
what you intend to do. Shall you flirt
with him2"
My intentions were not consulted, but
I made them, nevertheless, biting my
finger nails viclously all the time.
"Ob, no matter"
"YOu're too bad. 1 got you apart
from the other girls en- purpose to have
a confidential chat, and here the time
is almost up, and you haven't told me a
thing"
"Wcll, l will now-two things. Your
hair is twisted out of your net, ana your
collar is s~hockingly tumbled."
"Bother my collar! Shall you lirt
with him? l wouldn't mind, only that
hateful Sue Liscomb vows she'll get
ahead of you, and I don't want to see
her win. Nov, do tell me-"
l thrust my head up again and looked
at them. They were not minding me
in the least, though they had stopped
directly in front of me. Lizzie looked
flushed and anxious, Miss Arden cool
and self possessed.
1 laid my hand upon the bell and gave
it a violent ringing. The two girls
stared like culprits, and glanced hurr;-
eddy up at me. What they saw in my
face l can't say, but they both colored.
Just then they separated for their seats
but not before / heard Lizzie whisper