The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-01-23

as king. My mirror had told me the
same dattering tale that It tells so many
a belle. My ambrosial locks were curl
ed in style, my blonde mnstache was
waxed to perfection, my blue eyes
sparkled, and my manly form was i'm
mersed in an elegant suit of broadcloth.
Besides all this, had cultivated a be-
coming pallor-for I was to enact the
role of an invalid. A carriage was
waiting. was assisted into it by the
obsequious footman, and sank languid-
ly on the cushions. 1 was driven to an
elegant mansion, met by my host. and
almost carried to q luxurious chamber.
was too fatigued to 60 down stairs
that evening, but the amount of supper
which l contrived TO swallow, with the
wine it took to wash it down, would
have astonishcd q restaurateur.
In the morning my head was so bad
that / took my coffee in bed. At dinner
time managed with some assistance,
to get to the dining-room, and for the
first time met Kate Marston. the young
lady whose dearest hopes I had come
to overthrow. After the first glance be-
gan to think that perhaps old MIR. Mars
ton had made gross mistake in bring
ing me there. l never had an ideal;
my busy life in college and my struggle
to live at all afterward had allowed no
margin for dreams. But / am sure
Kate Marston embodied all the elements
which would have composed my ideal
had possessed one.
She was small, q perfect brunette,
with glorious eyes which might sparkle
with love or hate; red lips and cheeks.
lustrous black hair, white, shapely
teeth, and, in fact, everything which is
charming in woman. She treated me
kindly, very gently, because l, her
fathers friend, was an invalid. If
had been apparently strong and healthy
she would have suspected her fathers
motives and met every advance with q
rebuff. He had brought several young
men to the house, but Kate had sent
them about their business in anything
but q complimentary style. All the
ladies who had been hired as compan-
ions she had won over to her cause.
They abetted her in her disobedience,
and were discharged in disgrace. 1t
was planned that while drawing on her
sympathy and seeking kindly offices
from her, should watch over her as
much as could, and excite, if possible,
the jealousy of her lover, and tempt
ulLl W SOiuc ucSpcEdtc aClIOu
felt Immediately that it would be q
I appeared, young man of landed es-
tate, would have entered into it with
great zeal. For few days everything
progressed smoothly. Kate was assid-
uous in her attentions to my comfort.
would lie on the sofa and she would
read to me in her dulcet tones. en-
joyed this heartily, for she was really
a good reader, and Tennyson or Byron
from her lips was the sweetest music to
me.
When my head ached, and 1 often
had severe spells with my head, how
tenderly she bathed it with those deft
fingers of hers. / would have been
content to live and bask in the sun
shine of her presence forever, but OBJ
servations showed me that there was a
necessity for action. Sometimes Kate
an hour or two. Meanwhile 1, on whom
absent, placed my chair by the window
man pacing up and down in front of
the house. He was of medium size,
light copplexion, blue-gray eyes, long
en- aud brown. Most people would
have called him good-looking, but q
close observer of character would have
noted the strangely-shaped forehead
and the gradual sinking in of the
bridge of the nose. was not long in
finding out that this was Kate's lover,
and took strange delight in watch
ing him. caught him looking at me
with malignant soowl. With Kate's
reappearance he always disappeared.
was certain that they were keeping
up correspondence, but I never saw
him receive any letters. now began
to concoct plans to prevent this. 1
begged her as q great favor to help me
in writing some letters which, on ac-
count of my weakness, was unable to
do. kept her for long hours writing
letters about all sorts of things to i'm
aginary people, which, of course, were
never mailed. / have some of them
yet, carefully put away in my writing
desk. Then we took long rides, and
she, believing me to be q stranger in
the city, pointed ont objects of inter-
est, and answered the numerous ques-
tions which chose to ask. l think at
those times she must have thought me
very stupid, and possessed of very lit
tie information, but she always an
swered me with the same unwearying
kindness.
With all her frmness, and, as her
father termed, obstinacy, there always
was in her that gentleness and sweetness
which characterizes the true lady. l
only sighed that she had not bestowed
her love on some worthy object-my-
self for instance. Luckily l met no
one who knew me as David Moss, at
torney and solicitor, but nearly always
passed somewhere in our rides her
lover, whom her father had told me
was called Walter Reveaux.
At such times Kate would bow and
smile while he returned naughty nod,
which brought frightened, grieved
looks into Kate's fair face. Then an
insane desire would seize me to jump
out Of the. carriage and give him the
thrashing he deserved; but, discretion
being the better part of valor, 1 would.
on reflection, remain seated, and by
playful badinage endeavor to coax back
Kate's smiles.
had been at Marston's house nearly
q month, and had been treated as an
honored guest by both master and mis-
tress. The change in my life seemed
almost as wonderful as the miracles
wrought by the genii of Aladdin's lamp.
I came slowly down stairs on this
morning little earlier than usual, and
entered the dining-room. l had ex-
pected to find no one there, and was as
tonished to see Kate kneeling before
her pet canary, weeping bitterly, and
between her sobs saying, "Good- by,
Sweetheart" for SO she called the bird.
/ entered unobserved, SO l slipped out
again, closing the door softly after me,
determined to closely watch affairs.
came down late to breakfast, and
found Kate and her father already
seated. There were no traces of agita-
ton about Kate; there only seemed to