Ellsworth American., 1876-06-15
miscrlI
The Nick of Time.

OF all arraut flirtS. Alice Truesdcll bore
the palm and OF all desperate lovers, Dr.
Fowle. OF course there were other lovers
Al the yeuug lady command. or She could
not have ilirtrd; but all her Irritation seem-
ed TO De directed solely 70 the end of VeN-
ing the siugle lover. whose grave, quiet.
depresse demeanor never let her exactly
know whether be were her lover or not,
aud drove her first TO some action that al
most betrayed her own feelings. and then
70 one that should give the lie TO That be-
trayal and set everything at loose ends
again.
You could hardly say why Miss True>-
dell had so many suitofs. She Was not 20
very goOd-that i, she was a. good a.
msst people, hut not a jot better; she WAS
not pretty-at least not till she laughed
aud showed her white teeth. and dimple
as deep a. love ever Lcstled ia, or till she
lifted her great gray eyes and let you see
how lu>lrous they were under that trek OF
Dropping lids. No. il could not have been
her beauty that " as the charm; II was the
voice, face. figure, all together; her per-
sonalty. gay spirits, teasing moods, sweet
ways; her infinite variety. that attracted
everybody coming within lis sphere. She
sang and danced little; whatever she did
she did well; and so, of course, she ilrted
10 HflltNNfbu. anu VA 'H'~ 'SfNA
against another as prettily, the lockers on
might think, a a juggler losses his golden
balls But what did the lovers think of il:
One of them thought very poorly of it.
and was determined 10 bring Miss Alice
| TO close quarters in small time, not in the
least aware that all the others had made
| the same determination. aud had found
! that to determine was one thing and TO do
! was another. Man might propose, but
Alice must dispose; and Miss Alice-as.
indeed, they each and all fOndly hoped
vas match for any of them. II she
| danced with Gregory. just as Gregory felt
encouraged and began TO whisper the burn
! ing words. she dropped her fan with
| glance at Mallory, who darted 10 restore
| il, and was detained with thanks and gay
words and replies just long enough to make
| il impossible for Gregory to take up the
| thread where she had broken il. Ii she
| walked with DR.. Fowle. il was only after
| she had allowed Mr. Bolles TO know that
| she would be strollipg in that direction,
where she was always pleased TO see him
when he came up breathless, and found
the doctor muttering anathemas between
| his teeth, inyocations to -Ksculaplus, she
called them.
But DIR. Fowle was not mau you could
put off forever when he once made up his
| mind to a thing. and so Miss Alice began
| to learn. And when, one night as he bade
her goodbye, Mallory and the rest being
| there he told her, in grave but authori-
| tive undertone, quite unlike that of the us
| ual lover that he wished TO see her next
morning at III O'Clock. Ii she wanted To
| DENY him. she could not. But TO tell the
truth. she did not exactly want 10. The
young men had seemed SO inconsequeut
| and so stupid. that evening; Neftie Armi-
tage had seemed so frivolous; they had,
each in turn. come in and interrupted the
doctor when he was telling her such fairy
like tales of recent discoveries in sciences
she had shrugged her shoulders at them
till the situation struck her ridulOusly, and
then she had laughed with the merriest OF
them, and pouted at the doctor. But now,
| AS he was going, she slipped her hand in
his arm and sauntered down the lawn with
him. The night was a night in June. when.
| il ever. nights are perfect. The air was
| laden with the breath OF honeysuckle and
mock-orange; the winds that curled round
them seemed to come from distant land oi
everlasting bloom, so sweet they were
and .the stars hung their lamps through
the dark close above the thick tree tops
She fancieu. that night, that life was toe
delicious thing to be indulged in freely
aud she murmured something OF the fancy
with half laugh. There are times whei
We all feel that life is more than We de
serve.r he answered. ''To-mOrrow-i
may bs Shall feel the same myself, to
morrow, or will fate"
She laughed 0neasily. 'You mustn't asl
me riddles" she cried
AT ii tomorrow, them" he said, liftin.
, his hat.
'At IL, tomorrow" aud she went bacl
, to the house, wishing it were ii Tomorrow
! now and then. in a gay freak, as she hear
the clock strike, she ran down the hall an
! set the hands forward an hour. "Brin
him the quicker she whispered-"brin,
him the quicker" and went back to to th
! others.