Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-01-17
My Filtration.
BY A MARRIED WOMAN.


| had plenty of beaux when l was
young, and liked that very well. How
ever, L had heart enough at bottom.
and when Steven Lashley asked me TO
marry him, in the end / consented,
though kept him in suspense along at
first.
Neither Steve nor | were rich. My
father had sufficient income to keep the
family in good style of living; but he
saved nothing, and l could expect moth
ing from him when l married. Steve
had just begun to practice medicine,
and was struggling as Young doctors
must. There was a pretty house just
outside the town, that Steve and had
our eye on for a long time, and L had
promised to become his wife as soon as
he would call ii his own.
BY dint Of such struggling and econ
omy as / never could have guessed, he
had put By enough for the first pay
ment, and was plOdding patiently on
toward the second and last.
/ can see now what a selfish creature
| was, what a wretch, indeed, to please
myself with the batteries of others,
while Steve was working so faithfully
for me.
That sounds as though L wasn't 60
ing to marry Steve for love. but l was.
Our town was something of fashion
able resort for summer-boarders; and
many of the people were in the habit
of taking boarders then. Father had
always objected to our doing so; but
this summer of which l speak he fell
in with stranger, as he was returning
from a long ride in the country, VINO
having shared his phaeton with him
during his homeward drive, succeeded
in so ingratiating himself with my father
that he allowed him to board with US.
The stranger was very much in my
inguished-looking possessing
an eloquent pair of eyes nearly the CO.
lor of my own, and having propensity
for saying "pretty things" that was
just delicious to girl of my turn. 1t
was such fun to draw him out and then
laugh at him; to pretend pleasure, then
shyness; to invite and repulse in the
same breath. 1t was genuine flirt tation,
as much to him as to me.
Steve came often to see me, but he
did not see me alone, and he never
stayed late.
Steve's sister Marian and | were in
innate, and spent much time together.
Poor Steve enjoyed nv visits TO Ma
rian better than he did seeing me any
where else, and liked it too, as much
because of seeing him as Marian. 1t
was then a miserable piece of heartless-
ness for me 10 permit Mr.. Fordyce, the
stranger" to accompany me thither.
thus parading, as it were, my conquest,
and the accomplishments and attrac-
tions of Steve's new rival, in the most
disagreeable manner possible.
Steve was good-natured, and kept his
disappointment to himself; but he did
not like Mr.. Fordyce, and he was quite
alone in that. Everybody liked Mr..
Fordyce but Steve. He was an i'm
mensely popular man in our small COM
munity, entering as he did with such
genuine zeal into all our interests, and
bearing himself genially towards all.
When ParsOn Hammond, who lived
nearest to us, lost a available horse from
= 80
to see about pursuing the thief, Mr..
Fordyce, though he had just got home
from jaunt with some friends, which
kept him most of the night, insisted
upon being one OF the pursuing party,
and, indeed, quite led it. 1t was the
same way when Mr.. DudeyaDt's shop
was broken open and robbed. Mr.. For
dyce went over and over the ground,
and gave shrewder guesses as to how
the robbery had been managed than
any one else. When other thefts of a
similar nature, and also of lesser de-
gree, continued to vex and puzzle us
from time to time, it was Mr.. Fordyce
who insisted on severe measures, pre-
vailed on the authorities TO offer large
rewards for the apprehension of the Of
tenders, and made himself so active in
the matter as to win the gratitude of the
whole town.
He often joined our social gatherings
and became the life of them. L was
quite enyied in having his escort so fire.
quently, and the rumor was very soon
circulated that we were engaged.
Steve and l had some words on the
subject several times, and, because il
was so unusual for him to insist in such
a matter, resented it when he did;
and the more l suspected myself to be
In the wrong, the more Iwould not own
it.
l detected Steve's dislike of Mr.. For
dyce, and taxed him with it. Steve said
nothing, but only shook his head and |
looked gravely at me when / praised |
him. He never said worse about Mr.. |
Fordyce than that he did not believe in |
him. Steve objected to my intimacy
with him on rather general grounds,
and | answered in such an ill-tempered
manner that Steve, not being ice but
Hint, struck fire and retorted angrily |
Tor the first time in all our acquaint-
ance. The result was serious cool
ness Steve apologized for his part of it