Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1878-09-07
MIR. DELMAYNE,S WARD.

MIR. DELMAYNE'S WARD.
"SOmething must be DONE" said Mrs
Charles Delmayne, decisively. ''the girl i;
getting more reckless every day
"What can be done ?" asked Mr.. Rich
ard Delmayne. looking hopelessly at his
sister-in-law, 1--WE cannot shut her up in
a convent"
mo, but we can find her husband
and get her comfortably settled"
But she is SO young"
.'She will be nineteen i'm May, AMI
married at,,that age. IL is a great pity that
You were obliged to receive her into your
household. Richard. Guardianship over
q girl like DOrOthea, was great respon-
sibility Tor bachelor to assume.
81 suppose So" was the reply; SHUT
could not refuse the dying request of an
old friend"
"At first, I entertained hopes that she
would improve by remaining with us, u
said Mrs. Delmayne. plaintively; but, as
[ remarked before, she is wilder than
ever. / am kept i'm perpetual state OF
nervous excitement, for | never know
what madcap prank she will play next.
l thought it disgraceful enough when
she dOnned suit of Dicks and went
skating on the pond the evening theJ
had that skating party. but this last prank
is still worse if possible
Mrs. Delmayne folded her plump,
white hands and settled herself comfor-
tably i'm a luxurious cosy chair. aud pre-
pared to enjoy her favorite pastime,
which consisted of retailing Dorothea's
misdemeanOrs.
'.You know Squire Vonsonby has been
looking for a wife for over year or two
now he is quite wealthy, is respectfully
connected, and would be very suitable
match for Dora"
esquire Vonsonby." gasped Richard
i'm amazement. "he is old enough to be
her grandfather, and has n married
daughter who is considerably older than
Dot"
sWell," replied his sister.in-law, Dora
needs a husband who is steady and so.
ber-minded. she is so Eighty herself.
Besides. Mr.. Vonsonby looks full ten
years younger than his real age. In my
opinion it would have been a very suita-
bic match. But it is all over now," she
added, with sigh, The will never enter
this house again."
Inanswer to Richards look of inquiry,
Mrs. Delmayne continued:
II invited Mr. Vonsonby to tea last
EVENING" had my household duties to
attend to after tea was over, so l left
Dorothea to entertain OuI guest. She
must have neglected him shametully, fol
the poor man fell asleep, and the little
huzzy seized the opportunity to play one
of her ridiculous pranks; she actually
had the audacity." and Mrs. DelmayEe
lowered her voice to an impressive whis-
per, "actually had the audacity to re.
move his wig and substitute an old red
one, that she found among the rubbish
i'm the garnet. The poor man did moi
discover the trick until he had become
the laushing-stOck OF the whole cOmmu
nifty. Dick happened to hear about il
this morning. and L considered it my
duty to inform you Of the affair, as you
were absent at the time"
"Ha, ha. ha 7" laughed Richard. II
can imagine how ridiculous he looked
strutting along in his pompous manner
81 am certainly astOnished at you,
/ sincerely hope you do not uphold the
girl i'm her disgraceful actions?"
81 shall of course reprOve her." he re-
piled. "DOt will improve as she grows
older have 10 doubt-she is merry and
thoughtless now, but think she will de-
velope into a splendid woman"
Mrs. Delmayne cast an uneasy look at
her brOther-in-law's face as she left the
room. She had a reason for wishing
Dot safely disposed of; she was fearful
that Richard might fall i'm love with his
fascinating ward, and that would never
do, for if he were to marry it would dash
Mrs. Delmayne's hopes to the ground
She had secretly determined that her sOr
Dick-his uncles namesake-shou!d bt
his heir. Beside, her brother-in-law':
elegant residence made very cOmfOrta.
BILE home for herself and her fatherles:
boy, and madame had no intention Of
losing it, hence she made the most Of
Dots mischievOns escapades.
Just as madame's silken skirts strustled
up stairs, the hall door flew open and
light footsteps danced along the passage
"Dot Dot!" called Mr.. Delmayne.
The apellation exactly suited The
young girl who entered. A dainty form
a dark, piquent face, lit up with pair o.
black eyes which sparkled with mis-
chief.
swell, Guardy," she said with sauc.
smile, which revealed dimple i'm eacf
soft pink cheek. "What-is it a lee
ture?'
eyes, Dot" replied Mr.. Delmayne
gravely, II really must lectur'
you. Your conduct to Mr.. Vonsonb.
was extremely unladylike"
Il don't care, Guardy," cried Dot, de
fianily, II can't bear old VonsOnby, ant
am confident that Mrs. Delmayne In
vlted MIN here to make love to me, so
resolved to illustrate her kind intentions
she lett me to entertain him all tn
evening, and was dying to finish Ian
Eyre Well gave him the last mum
Der OF Scribner's and the monthly re
view, and hoped he would entertain him
self; but no-he wanted me to play
game of cribbage. hate cribbaee. so
told him never played the game with
out stalking small sum of money, Jus
to make it Interesting"
"Oh Dot 7"
"He looked Mortified at the idea O
gambling, and asked for some music
SO sat down to the piano and made a
much noise as possible. He said tina
sort of music was very edifying, but
made his head ache, and, he inquired
l would favor him with annie Laurie
i complied by playing Yankee DOodl
variations, for | knew he could not di
tinguish the difference. just as 1 wa
playing the last bar was started by
prolonged SHORE he had actually S0u