The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1878-11-11

L
| power over mel And somehow-some.
oow, it hurt me sorely when you said what
| you did; only know no woman can help
owing him who knowr him. Not much Of
4 romance, is 1t, Wilma ?"
There was little, faint culver in
Marian's voice, and it went straight to
Wilma's sympatheticheart.
"Your poor darlingl Marian, I did
really like Doctor SO much; but / know I
shall almost hate him when think he has
made you so unhappy. To think he has
been calling here week after week, and
| YOU have met him a hundred times, and
vet l never suspected anythingi Poor
lear Marian !! Lets pack up our things,
md get away from the horrid men, where
he sound of Doctor Ogden's or Percy
March's name will never, never come to
us! Will you, Marian !? Will you help
me disappoint them both by hiding some-
where in the cool, delicious, questionable
country, where even the mail only comes
| twice a week ?'
That was how it came to pass, fort
| night later, that the staff of servants at
| The private boarding. house, ''Clover Villa
vas augmented by the addition of two
young women, Annie Smith and Maggie
Brown, two neat, deft- handed, intelligent
girls, whom Mrs. Glover, the landlady, de-
clared were perfect jewels of table walters
and chambermaids, and whom the lady
boarders were quite sure were girls who
had seen better days, and were brave
enough and sensible enough to earn their
own living in such practical way.
Hardly their dearest friends would have
"ecognized Marian Royse and Wilma West,
II their plain calico dresses and big ging-
am aprons, their plainly dressed hair,
| ,uiltless of hint of bang" or "crimp,"
" puff"
These two women were enjoying their
escapade amazingly, except in one respect:
md it had come to Wilma West, since
those otf-days of masquerade, when she
did not see Percy March or Doctor Ogden,
to be quite able to decide that, after all,
Percy March, with all his serene gravity
and impatience of frivolty, was nearer to
her than she had ever known.
She missed his society more than she
would have admitted to Marian, to whom
she either refused to talk about him, or
else secuted all idea of more than ordinary
aequaintanceship between them, while
away down in the uttermost recesses of
her heart she kept wondering if Mr.. March
missed her as much as she missed him.
While Miss Royse? Well, that time,
years ago, when she and Tyler Ogden Were
Zone and inseparable," seemed further
away than ever, now that she did not as
much as meet him on neutral ground; and
Marian silenced her heart-plaints, and was
cheerful and content to all eyes.
So the summer days wore on, until one
delicious August morning, when cool
spicy breeze from the pine-woods was
blowing, and the glad, yellow sunshinr
flooded the dying summer day, there came
| into there two girls lives the sounds Of
| voices and the sights of faee, that stirred
them to their very souls-when, busy
about their pleasant, homely duties, i'll
dining room and hall, Doctor Ogden's gay,
CHEEKY voice startled them:
| "It's veritable Arcadia, March Did
you ever see such an amethystine sky, OF
sniff such a breeze Blessed be the fellow
man who advised us to try Glover
Villa !"
And Percy March replied:
'There will be lacking but one thing
needful--if we only had a few chosel
friends. AS you say, doc, their is an elixir
in this delicious air."
Then they passed up the broad, low
stairs, out of the presence Of these two
women, whose hearts were beating SO fas
and furious.
Then Wilma looked up at Marian, aae
both their faces were full of agitation
and Marian's voice was almost awe. stricken
in its solemnity.
"Wlma, it is Fate"
More than once that day the four cam
face to f,lce, and it was proof positive tina
their disguises were more than satisfac
tory that the two gentlemen did not recog
uze them.
1t was more than satisfactory, so far q
their disguises were concerned; but some
how there was kind of pity for themselve
about it, for it went very far to show tha
the eyes that looked at them were not til
sharp eye, . love; ana IL proportion a
Wilma discovered that she WAS Of N
consequence to Percy March, in just sucl
proportion she discovered how very mucl
Percy March was to her.
; A week had gone by, when Wilm
earned the truth of what Marian had said
,tthara was q Fate in il " and she learnel