The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-17


mandcr-in-Chic looking down upou her
with grave polteucss mature hts, me-
thinks spared yuu tho nccc-s ily 81 any in
PRODUCTION tn the courtesy Of - gentleman.
But how can especially serve YOU"
Alackl 'bc blaze OF Mistress Thlnkfui's
brown ovc had hccomn somewhat dimmci
in the gtavp half-hghts of the room, IN the
gravor. deeper diguuy OF the erect, sol
dior-u,e figure before her The bright
rolor bora OF the tempest within aud
without. had somehow faded from her
check; the aauciucss h'uottcn from bully
ing her horse IN the ln-t half hours rapid
rude. was So subiu.i by the actual pres
encc Of the man she had come to bully,
HAT fear ia had t. use all her self-con-
troll to keep down hprintiindtIout TO within
por and to keep back the tears that, oldly
enough. rose to h"r sweet eyes a. she liftol
them to the quicty-,ritical yet PLACID
glance of her iutcrlotutor.
81 can readily conceive the motive OF
this visit. Mi., Thankful" continued wash
mgton. with certain dignihed kindlincss
that was more rclssuring than The formal
rallantry of the period, land II Is. pro-
test, to your credit. a fathers welfare
however crring anu weak that father may
bet Is most Secnly in maiden ''--
Thaukfuls eyes flashed again rs she rose
10 her feet. Her upper lip, TINT had mo-
mont before trcmblvd III pretty ufantinc
distrc-s now stircned and curlel as she
confronted the diruiiicd figure before her
at is rot Of my father ! would speak,"
she sud, -aucily, 81 did not ride here nlone
tonight, IN the weather, TO talk OF MIN;
warrant hc can speak for himself. I came
here to speak of mvs'li-of hcs-ayc, lies.
told OF me. u poor girl-ayc. of cowardly
gossip about me aud my sweetheart, Cap
tain brewster. now confined in prison, be-
cause he hath loved me, a lass without pol
itics or adherence to hecausc-as il 'twere
necessary every lad should ask the conf
dcnce or permission of yourself or. belize
my Lady Washington in his preferences"
She paused nome It, ont OF breath.
With a womau's quickucss of intuition she
saw the change IN Washington's face-saw
n certain cold severity overshadowiug it.
With II woman's fateful persistpncy-a
persisteucy winch humbiy suggest might
on occasion be honombly copied by our
more polite seX-,hc went on To say what
woman's honorable Inconsistency. to un-
say il an hour or two later-an iuconsis-
tcncy which | also humhly protest might
be rs houorablv initiated by us-on occa-
ZION.
"It has been said" said Thankful Bios
SON. quickly, that ms father has gwen
entertainment knowingly to two spies
two spies that. begging your Exccllcucys
pardon, and the pardon OF Congress. |
know only rs two honorable gentlemen.
who have IA houorably rendered me their
affections. II is said, and basely and most
falsely too, that my sweetheart. Captain
Allan Brewster has lodged this iuforma-
tion, have ridden here 30 deny it. |
have ridden here to demand Of Suuthat an
honest womau's reputation SHALL not be
sacrificed to the interests of politics. That
n prying mob of rilgamuiius shall not be
sent to an honest farmers house to spy
and spy-and turn poor girl out of doors
that they might do il. It's shameful-so It
is-there! It's most scandalOus-so It is
there now. Spies indeed-what are meg,
pray
III the indignation which the recollection
OF her wrongs had slowly gathered in her
from the beginning OF this speech, she
had advanced her face, rosy with courage,
and beautiful in its impertinenoe, within "A
few Inches of the dgnined features aud
quiet gray eyes of the great commander
To her utter stupefacton, he bent his head
and kissed her, with grave benignity, full
on the centre of her audaeious forehead
"Be seated, beg. Mistress Blossom, he
said. taking her cold hand in his, and
quietly replacing her in the unoccupied
Chair, :. Be seated. | beg, and give me- If
you can, your atteG:.cn for moment. The
0iii0eTf inirus;51i Ti;,h tic ungracious task
of occupying your fathers house is n
member of my military family and gen.
tleman. If he has so far forgotten him
self-lf he has SO far disgrac I'd himself and
me as
NO! no." uttered Thankful, with
teverish alacrity, the gentleman was
most consideratel On tho contrary
mayhap- I-''.- she hesitaici and
then came TO a full stop. with heightened
color, as vivid recollection OF that gem
tleman's face, with the mark OF her riding
whip living across it, rose before her.
81 was about to say that Major Van
Zandt, as a gentleman, has known how to
fully excuse the natural impulses Of "a
daughter" continued Washington, with a
look of perfect understanding; but let
me now satisfy you On another point,
where, 1t would seem, we greatly d,nrr'
He walked 10 the door ana summoned
his servant, to whom he gave an order.
In another moment the fresh-faced young
officer, who had AZ first Admitted her, re-
appeared with a file of on nal papers. He
glanced slyly at Thankful Blossoms tao.
with an amused look. ~ if lac had already
heard the coloGuv between her and his
superior officer and had appreciated that
which neither of the earnest actors in tn
Tcene had themselves fclt-a CERTAIN sense
Of hunor in the situation.
Howbet, standing before them, con-
Hamilton gravcly turned over the tiln OF
papers. Thankful bit her lips in emhar-
rassment A slight feeling of awe aud d
presentimcnt OF some fast-comlng shame
anew aud strange consciousness of her.
self her surroundings, OF the dignity of the
two men before her, an uneasy feeling of
the presence of two ladies who had in some
mysterious way entered the room from