The Republican journal., 1877-10-11

open letter IN her hand and 4 very pen
SINe, dlscontented expression Of counte-
nance.
Does he press for an onswer, Lima
We're Just in time to advise YOU" cried
Nell Barber.
Don't say YES unless his eyes are
blue drawled brunette.
"tnless their black, You mean" sharp
lN amended bright blonde.
Make him elope with you,' suggested
Nell. ut will be such fun to have 4 real
rope ladder elopement at the Seminary
ana we'll all sit up and see it'
.oh, do, do, Lima :" chorused the others.
But Lima, apparently too much cha
gllned at something to be III 4 mood for
jeSts, sat with her eve broWS petulantly
contracted, her feet thrust ont and her
hand holding the letter hanging by her
side, her whole attitude Indicating des-
pondence
"still pensiyc, 1t can't be he's faith
less J" exclaimed Nell
"falthlesS to those ewes | should SAY
not" cried the blonde, whom Lima called
her sweetheart, and who claimed to be
"engaged' to her according to boarding
school fashion.
Don't mind him, dear, she went on 4,
throwing herself on the floor, clasping
her hands about Iina's knee and leaning
her cheek on it. 'lou make me 50 jeal-
Gus. Haven't YOU got me, and amt |
enough ?"
"Penty enough, dear" said Lima. strok-
ing her cheek. "This is only from my
brother Charley"
"Ihe one at Watertown sem ;"
sizes, said Lima; ''and OF, girls" She
went on With gloomy energy, ''we don't
have any good times at all compared with
those boys They do really wicked
things hook apples, and cary oft peo-
Pies gates and signs, and have lights
with what he calls 'toWnes i don't
know exactly what they are ana every I
thing thought before that we were do
lng some things too, but were not, com
pared With all that, and / Shall be SO
ashamed when | meet him at home not
to have anything to tell except little bits
of thing"
a depressing pause followed Lina's
view of achievements in the
way OF detving the proprieties of which
all the girls had been very proud, cast
profound gloom over the circle The
blonde seemed to voice the common SEN
tlment when she said, resting her chin on
Llna's knee, and gazing pensivcly at the
wall
"Oh, dear, that comes Of being girls.
We might rs we'll be good and done with
i. We can't be 50 bad Us to amount to
Good or bad, we must eat, said Nell
Barber II must 60 and get the spread
ready. forgot all about it. Lima but
we came in just to invite you Eleven
sharp, remember. Three knocks, d pause
and another, YOU know. Come, girls"
The brunette followed her, but Lina's
little sweetheart remained.
''What have they got 2" demanded the
former liStlessly.
"Oh, Nell has got a jar OF preserves
from home and smugged up a plate Of
dried beef from tea, and cook let us have
some crackers and plates We tried hard
to get a watermelon there was in the pan
thy, but cook said she didn't dare let us
have it. Its for dinner Tomorrow
l.lna'S eyes suddenly became intrOspec-
tive, then after Il moment she rose slowly
and stood in her tracks with an express
sion OF deep thought, absent -mindedly
took one step, then another, and after q
pause a third finally pulling up before
the mirror, into which She stared vacant
~ for Il moment, and then muttered def
antlY rs she turned away.
"We'll see, Master Charley"
'Iina Maynard, what the matter With
t,t,
the pantomime with open mouth and
growing eyes.
Lima turned and looked ut her thought
fully z moment, and then said With de-
ciSiVrncSS:
'lou Just 90 to NeII's, my dear, and
say I'm coming pretty soon and if YOU
say anything else, Ill I'LL never marry
YOU"
The girls were in the habit Of doing as
Lima wanted them to and the blonde
Went, pouting with mappeascd curiosity.
70 gain exit from the Seminary was 4
simple matter in these lax days, and five
minutes later Lima was walking rapidly
along the highway, her lips firm SET, but
her eyes apprchcnSlvely accommodating
the road ahead with frequent glances to
each side and behind once She got over
the stone wall at the road side in a con-
siderable panic and crouchcd in the deWy
grass while Il belated villager passed, but
it was without further adventure that she
turned into the road leading behind Mr..
Steele'S lot, and after a brief search iden-
tilted the garden where she remembered
seeing some particularly fine melons,
when out walking 4 day CT two prtNouS.
There they lay, Just the other side Of the
fence family visible in the dim light
She couldn't help congratulating her
self, by the way, on the excellent behav-
ior Of her nerves, whose tense, fine strung
condition was Il positive luxury, and she
then and there understood how men
might delight in desperate risks for the
mere sake OF the exalted and supreme
sense Of perfect selt-lossess on that dan
ger brings To some natures. Not indeed
that she stopped to indulge in any psy-
Geological speculatiOnS. The coast was
clear; not a foot fall or hoof stroke
sounded from the road, and without de-
lav she began to look about for Il wide
place between the rails where she might
get through. just as she found it she
w DO ot't tl,'i ~
snore, which seemed to come from patch
of high corn close to the melons, and she
was fairly puzzled until she observed,
about ten rods distant i'll the same line
an open attic window. That explained
its origin, and with passing self-con-
graduation, that she had made up her
mind not to marry a man that snored, she
began to crawl through the fence. When
halfway through the thought struck her !:
wasn't it like any other stealing after all 4!
This crawling between rails seemed dread
fully so Her attitude, squeezed between
two rails and half across the lower one,
was neither graceful nor comfortable, and
perhaps that fact shortened her scruples.
1T can't be really stealing, for don't
feel like Il thief" was the logic that set
tied 1t, and the next moment she had the
moral sensation Of having both feet sur
rcptitiously and tcloniously ON another
persons land. She decidedly didn't rel
ish it. but she would go ahead now and
think Of it afterwards. She was pretty
sure she would never do it again, any
how, experiencing that common sort of
repentance beforehand for the thing she