The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1878-06-01
But then Mr.. Devens

WHO'LL MISS ulSCOoioCQ 81 NO1uDIy !
Should ne go to Laura and beg for rec
onciliation-he had fully made up his
mind to this step before entering the
house-or should he give her a lesson?
"Did Miss Laura match your fringe
to-day9 he inquired nonchalantly.
81 didn't like to ask her." said Prue.
"I reckon she had other fish to fry"
"When a young lady goes to a city to
meet a sweetheart, she can't attend to
matches of another kind" said Mrs.
Bender, facetiously.
"Did Miss Laura go to meet sweet
heart, eh?" he asked, with an air as if
it didn't signify in the least.
"She went by appointment, Mr.. Dew
ems, to meet young man, too. don't
see why it shouldn't be kept from you."
"Indeed. Did Miss Vaughn tell you
so?"
''Not she; It's dead secret, but it
leaked out"
:" So it seems"
"Laura's something of firt, like the
rest of us. There was young Sample, the
clergyman-in fact, it's her nature to
be on with the new love before she's off
with the old.'
"Mrs. Bender, Miss Vaughn is a
friend of mine," said Devens, reproving-
ly, while he thought bitter things of him
self, and made desperate resolves.
"And Pm sure Laura and I've always
got on well together. But it strikes me
that we must be tolerably familiar with
a young fellow when he signs himself
Jack and nothing more. Shouldn't
you say SO, Mr.. Devens? I shouldn't
like Prue to be on such terms with any
but declared lover myself"
"Does Miss Vaughn show you her love-
letters?" he asked, already caught in
the snare.
"Not muchly, Mr.. Devens But muir
der will out, you know. | believe N.Y.
self that is a dangerous innovation to
teach servants reading and writing, as
the Vaughns do. No good comes of it.
Mr.. Devens experienced strange dis
trust straightway. Not being versed in
the wiles of women of the Bender type,
he mistook her airy insinuations for law
and gospel. Laura had played false,
had taken advantage of their little quar-
rel to encourage rival. Should he not
return the compliment by bestowing his
attention on some other damsel? Natu-
rally Miss Prue became the recipient of
his temporary favor. 1t was Prue who
drove with him through the lanes that
led to Laura's school-house, where they
were pretty sure to meet her coming or
going, and see the quick color deepen in
her cheeks and forsake her lips; it was
Prue who played backgammon with him
in the lighted parlor, with the curtain
of the window looking out upon the
Vaughns' premises raised and the interior
visible; and it was poor Laura, in the
darkness of her own room, who watched
the pretty game, with a tightness at
heart and tears in her eyes.
"What blessing postal cards are, to
be surew reflected Mrs. Bender, as she
looked at the pair. CHOW, if that one
hadn't been thrown in my teeth, so to
speak, he would have been spooning over
at Vaughns this very minute"
Mr.. Deyens, blinded by his feelings,
failed to perceive that the situation
looked peculiar; he never guessed what
topic he afforded at the sewing society
and the Bethel meetings, nor how much
occupation he provided for the neighbors
eyes and ears. He never once stayed to
HuCStIOh no" Ills DSftafIOT auCCt6u any
one, but Laura. Prue was used to firt-
ing with Tom, Dick and Harry, and she
had never received a wound.
It's kinder natural and handy, living
under the same roof" said old Mrs.
Goodhue, looking over her spectacles at
the spectacle. L s'pose Prudence and
her ma cosset him within an inch of his
life. They way to mans heart is through
his stomach; you must pamper his APP
petite or fatter his vanity, and the Ben
ders are equal to the occasion, reckon"
cts propinquity," remarked Miss
Blue, who read mental philosophy and
novels, and represented feminine culture
in Chester When Laura left her school
again and again to the tender mercies of
Ellen Dow, and repeated her excursion
to Boston, Mr.. Devins never failed of
being made aware of it. On the third
occasion, indeed, he condescended to
follow in the smoking-car, persuading
himself that he really ought to hunt up
a college chum. He was awarded by
seeing Laura meet handsome young
man on fremont street, who turned
about and disappeared with her inside OF
the studio building. Mr.. Devins did not
hunt up his chum that day. Through
Mrs. Bender's application to her neigh
bors affairs it came to his ears whenever
Miss Laura received a bouquet by ex-
press, and he once discovered bunch of
violets blooming in a wine-glass in her
window, which he well knew never
bloomed in Chester greenhouse.
One evening he was congratulated on
his engagement to Miss Bender.
a am engaged to no one," he said,
with sudden giddiness about the head,
as if the ground shook under him.
ono? Well, folks do say you oughter
be, if you amt" returned the disap-
pointed gossip.
Indeed! Folks seem to under
stand my duty better than their own"
He walked homeward, half-benumbed,
revolving the subject drearily. Had he
indeed gone beyond his depth unawares
he asked himself Was Miss Prue mis-
taken, like the rest, with regard to his
feelings? Had he misled her in his
blind seltishness? Ought he to marry
without love because folks talked. AS
he drew near the Vaughn's, in the failing
light he perceived two figures family
outlined; a woman had just closed the
garden gate and stood within; man de-
parted, yet fingered with the others
hand shut in his own; the tall hedge had
hidden Mr.. Devens. In minute more
he would be in sight. He wished neith-
er to listen to nor encounter his rival,
nor to surprise them love-making. He
took a step backward, still behind the
hedge.
" Tomorrow, them" said the mascu-
line voice with tender information, 81
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