Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-06-08

| SOIt lmpeacflInenI, WueH l. nave di-
most made up my mind to accept
another?"
when was a girl" began the
old lady.
you loved brocades and brocatel
les as well as your granddaughter"
"But did not sell myself for them.
And so you are really engaged to
Miles Bond, and there's no help for
it?"
well, not really engaged; 1 won't
give my word-at least not quite yet.
You see, grandmamma, one hesitates
to rivet the chain, as they say in nov
els. And then Miles says he will
wait; he won't hurry me; he'd rather
wait century in sweet suspense, as
he calls ii, than be refused at once.
But 1 suppose it will all end one
way"
"And what will you answer to Har-
old Helper?"
Heaven only knows. 1t will not
do to tell man who offers one his
heart that he ought to have known
better"
Nor that you will not marry him
because his father was a stone-cut-
ter"
Mr.. Helper accepted his refusal,
however, with a good grace. He
made no fuss about it; he merely as
sured her that her happiness would
always be dearer TO him than his
own.
That's the letter of a gentleman"
said grandma, "if his father was forty
times a stone-cutter.
"Pshawl" said Miss Agnes, tearing
it into fragments, but, curiously
enough, gathering them together as
soon as Mrs. Peverill's back was turn
ed, as if they were as sweet to her as
scattered rose leaves. Perhaps she
was thinking Of the days when Mr..
Helper was her fathers clerk, and
had taught her chess of winter eve-
nings-days when she was not so
worldly minded and more romantic,
and didn't guess the worth of posi-
ton and long descent. Perhaps she
regretfully remembered the spring
mornings when they pushed through
the woods for wild flowers and ferns,
when he made quaint album for her
of pressed seaweeds-she had it hid
deu away somewhere now.
1T would never do" she said, half
aloud, answering some unspoken
thought. Il should always be han
kering for family and money. One
must give up something; it might as
we'll be love as anything. Oh, il my
father had only been a stone-cutter,
tOo?"
Grandma Peverill met Mr.. Helper
mean to desert u.s." she said, "be-
cause that foolish chit of an Agnes
doesn't know when her bread is well
buttered. Remember it Is a woman's
privilege to change her mind. Hyou
neglect us
You shut your life from happier chance
as the poet says. Nobody knows
what may happen
But hear that Miss Peverill has
encouraged Mr.. Bond" said Harold,
helplessly.
"And you are going to stand aloof
and let that little Miles Bond walk
over you? Now let me tell you that
1 mean to make you and Miles execu-
TONERS of my will; so I'd like to keep
on friendly terms with you-dont
you see?"
THANK you; but aren't We friends,
near or apart?"
"'Tis said that absence conquers
love-" she laughed; "and haven't you
heard of the virtue that resides in
propinquity? II Agnes sees Miles
every day and you once in six weeks,
which do you think she will be most
likely to love best?'
1T is not likely she will ever love
me, whatever happens"
who said she would never love
you? Aren't you worth forty Miles
Bonds?"
Certainly not in Miss Peverill's re-
gard"
"Prithee, what do you know Of her
regard, Sir Faintheart?"
"Very little to be sure"
He who fears his fate too much
Or his deserts are small.
That dares not put il TO the touch.
To gain or lose IL ALL"
Haven't 1 put my fate to the
touch, Mrs. Peverill, and haven't
found that my deserts are miserably
small?"
Dear mel see that you don't
! know that women blow twenty ways
of a morning. Who knows but she
is crying her pretty eyes out this
minute. and wishing with all her sill
ly heart that she had it to
do over again?"
~Miles knows" laughed Harold.
"Come and see who knows best
An old woman's advice isn't to be
sneezed at. refused my first love
myself, because / thought he'd come
back and tease me into it, but he
never did. Served me right, too"
And Harold did as he was told. He
made himself intimate at the Pever-
ills as of old. He bore with the ca
prices Of Agnes and the condescen-
sions of his rival. He was often left
to the tender mercies of Grandma Pc
verill while Agnes and Miles made
the river echo with their songs. He
came and went like q shadow. When
Agnes chose to listen, he let loose his