The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-11-30


fest destiny to do.
For Julia really is lovely" thought I'M
selfish little Doll, land when he hears her
sing he must lose his heart"
Apparently the singing was as powerful
magnet as Dolly supposed it would be,
for scarcely day or evening passed that
Mr.. Bardell did not drop in. Tom Lawlor,
the Doctors nephew and student, declared
Bardell to be tirst-rate fellow, and was
always bringing him to tea. Then the
garden of the Bardell place, as summer
came on, offered most tempting opportuni-
ties for the presentation of bouquets to the
fair ladies at Dr. Lawlor's. To be sure,
Thomas Bardell did not know that Julia s
share always adorned the parlor, while
Dolly cried over hers in her own room, and
sometimes pressed her rosy lips upon the
card of the donor.
Silly little Dolly
For she knew Mr.. Bardell was falling
deefer and deeper in love with Julia. Did
he not fairly haunt the house, Did he
not listen entranced when Julia sung, even
upsetting all the orderly arrangements of
Dolly's workboA in his abstraction.
Was not the picnic on the Bardell grounds
to which all the friends, far and near have,
been invited, solely the result of Julia s
wish to see the place9
That picnic
Some how it impressed itself upon Dol
ly's mind that Thomas Bardell was con-
templating proposal on the June day,
when he was to play host to all the people
of Rushtown.
She could not have told why she thought
so, nor why she resolved to ask "papa" for
permission to visit her aunt in New York q
few weeks. "Just to give them chance to
be alone" she thought, and wondered
what made her heart throb so painfully at
the idea.
She made Julia look like an exquisite
picture, by wreathing field daisies under
the rim of her chip hat, and fastening her
soft white lace at the throat with bunch
of the same flowers.
Then she dressed herself rather hastily,
having curled her sisters hair, and other
wise made a Cinderella of herself.
She heard nothing of a dismayed excla-
nation in her fathers study of:
"But bless my soul, Bardell, can't spare
her She is my right hand and my eyes
She is housekeeper and companion and
every lHlHS ~ was tHC otuSi
one you wete-"
And here the laundering kind hearted
father stopped and hesitated, and finally
said:
"Well-well, if she loves you, will not
say nay, though l don't know what shall
do when you take her away"
Then Thomas Bardell discovered that it
was fully time for him to go home and re-
ceive his invited guests, and he departed,
not seeing the girls, and leaving the doc
tor in dire dismay.
"Dear me-dear me-" he kept muttering
"why couldn't he have fallen in love with
the other one2"
When the Lawlor carryall, driven by
Cousin Tom, drove into the avenue OF
Bardell place, Thomas Bardell standing
upon the porch to receive his guests,
thought eyes had never rested upon lovlier
vision than the daisy wreathed face OF Julia
Lawlor. The prettiest pink tinge came to
her cheeks as she accepted his help in leav-
ing the carriage, and his arm to the
house.
Dolly jumped out anyhow" as Tom
color upon her white cheeks, though she
talked and laughed gaily enough.
But after the luncheon was over, Dolly
found an opportunity to escape alone, and
strolled over to rustic seat overlooking a
pretty lake, and completely hidden by tall
lilac bushes. Here, with her useful little
hands idly clasped, she was looking
straight before her, thinking when Thomas
Bardell, who had watched her flight, also
strolled down the path that led to the rus
tic seat.
Dolly was thinking.
at is lovely here and the house is splen
did. Julia ought to be very happy, but
| visible she cared more for him. All she
! looks forward to is the splendor and free
dom from money care. But perhaps thai
| is the best. | don't care about money, SC
it must be best for me to stay at home
| and make it cheerful and comfortable fol
papa. Julia says must come often to make
lie long visits, but l don't think l can.
wonder"
And here little Dolly's hands claspet
each other in tighter grasp, and her very
lips grew white as she wondered if it wa
very wicked for her to feel such an enviou
longing to have, not the wealth. but the
love of her future brother-n-law.
"I'll soon conquer it," she thought mis-
erably, "when it's all settled. 1t is thi
waiting that tries me-"
She was not to wait much longer for TIN
bushes parted near her, and presently Mr.
Bardell startled her by saying:
"Are you dreaming, Miss Dolly 2"
She blushed and smiled, answering:
81 was little tired, and came down her
to rest"
81 am very tired, let me rest too" he said
taking a seat beside her. II think this i
the prettiest spot on the grounds"
"Yes," Dolly said, family, wishing h
would go away before she began to cry.
"The house sadly needs one addition,
said Mr.. Bardell, looking straight befor
him across the lake.
at seemed to me perfect" Dolly forcec
herself to say.
"Perhaps it is only in my eyes the def
cheney exists, but think it wants the pre-
sence of gentle, loving woman, and
come to brighten it Dolly9 Will you trus
your happiness to me, believing | will
make it the first thought ofmy life9 Dolly
don't cry, dear; your father gave me per
mission to speak to YOU"
Then came some five minutes of quie
bliss for two hearts, and Dolly's tears wer
stopped with caresses. Presently Mr.. Bal
dell said, in answer to his lady loves las
; remark:
Julia Oh, yes; she is very handsome
but, you see, before saw her was allead
in love with you"
"Why, you saw us both at the sam
TIM"
mo; when first saw you, or, rathe
the arrangement of your back hair, 20