Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-12-17
Trapped by an Heiress.

A cos'or place thas the bIg sitting
at Hllcrest would have been hard Il.
find i one had iiavtll,d from Land's
End to join o Gr,al's; and TIN
rv,nfiul ,,,n.lr. wI,n lh d, ,slnies OF
W" OIL y people wtTe about lakiI.
III iic him-' No p'l L. VITO lad
re,'r son Zach o'h,r. ard be- hnd
head oi e. ch oiltr,o often lIai toll
~trt ,urinuSli Eager 10 u,tt-ou 4 l.
inporlant ey'ning tie ,uiig room ~
Hill cIcst lad never lot ked prasa' ieI
ar cu>i'r.
A huge fir, Of logs elnwcd Ike molr,
,al lllnrles il Il open FIREPLACE; on Ih'
la"l, III tie un'rt Of The floor. wlrs,
c'rer mated I'd Ihe glowing crimson #
the carpet. ~as a sil,,rsiand that h' ld
II d"zrn sn"wl wax tpeTs. ~ho,e
br,mipg li.hI conIraslrd 'xqni>ilel
~ il, the rudd, GLOW Of the fire.
Beside the table in 'ig, cushioned
chair. with lis feat thrust toward The
genial warmth of the hearth. his va,
dressing gown sillin. c mi0riahly Oh
his portly form, his gO'd- rlmmed glasses
on lis nose. lat the owner and masiri
of Ilillcle>t. Mr.. Ahlah Cresslngton
rich good-na ured. aud i0nd OF his own
way. Opposite h N was the mistress
of the placr-lillr. shrewd face. merr,
Aunt Coiu.lia. his sister. who.
since her ~idowhood had come Hill.
crest TO make her bache or brothers.
home as pl, asant as she could.
That She had succeccded was yer,
evident by the way nos in which he
Looked up from letter he had been
readiug-lhe confidential, kindly way in
which he did it.
Waller writes a curious letter in re-
spOnse to my invitation to come and
pend few weeks at Hillcrest as soon
as hc gels over his fatigue from hs
ocean VOYAGE home. after hi> five years
iour abroad. III read 1t to you.
He leaned near the soft glowing
light. and beGau the s 0rt. concise re-
ply thai Walter Austin had written from
his chamber in The Temple:
You are very kind. indeed. Uncle
Ablah. to ak me down to Hilcre,u for
as lngaS | wish to stay. and | can AS
sure you that have b., n 30 !. o. =
wander'r tLat the ica 0f home is
very pleasant to me. l}ul when | lake
mto consideration the pocul ar impnr-
lance YOU pr pose attaching 10 NY yi>it.
| ain unwilling To arcrpi the invitation.
10 me. the idea Of having m, fance>
aud IN, Inallons put into harness. and
10 feel lha am on continual duty TO
,m my "a, into he . od erac,s of MY
second cousin. VI ,bcl. whom YOU are
good rnnus To wish me to mirr -
Mrs. Coru' liza interrupted SHARPLY
A iah l'u never w,nl and rold our
-rand nrpl e~ that >ou had III vl"w hi,
marriage with Nab =
Her tone was emerge ic, almost r, pr
heb>ivc.
VIII, 10 ? certainly dad. told
h NJ in m, lrller rlai il vas u change n.r
him bed uty,r get again. and that h.
needn't feel uldcr >uch terrible ohll -.
u"n> To take ii ihuc> 10 p ~, lillc
Nab !. hat q come down and he cou--
inlr and if au,lhiug ould APP en-,
nd br rig'd all around.
Mis-, CurlclIa knlll,d visnruu.ll. Ter
Iaveod r cap uhpon> qn>crus III the
mellow zap r glow.
All | have 10 say l.. you're --snol,
AbiIh Nait,rlS Ilgi I. \ Young man
d,csu' Ike 10 have hi finrips und +
ZEN and Wilp. and the vary fact thai
we wunt him To marry Ill make him
indi>pnsed 10 do ii. You've mad ii
great mistake in the riDnng.'
M Crcssin.ton locked aghast at MS
sisters de ernined face.
Wy. rcallN dIdn't suppose
OF cour-e y,u didn't. It, only
your natural -tnpi'hly. YOU dear old fcl.
low Men are all alike. Don't know
them like a book ? And you've ri ned
YOUR hopes for Mabel and Walter at the
very uuisel.'
Mr.. Cres,inglOn started dlsccmfted-
".
L am sure I meant it all right enough.
Cornrlia. | certainly wanted Wal
ter to know what lille darling our
Mabel Is. and what a nice little wife she
would make for any man.
VERY commendabc. indeed only
if YOU had consulted me upon the letter
YOU sent. should have advised YOU TO
saw nothing about Mabel or her charms,
or her exp clalious. | should have
SIMPLY asked hm to come and see Us
nd nave left the rest to Mabel's blue
ewes. YOU see. AbiAh?'
His lip, compressed slowly.
L think see. Ard my hopes in
that direction are all ruiaed.'
The silver needles chckrd rapidly,
and The snow-While yarn came rtcllug
mrrrl, If he ball under her arm.
Not AT all. l. ave that to me. and
I'n zee what can be done. Tiust a
w0man's wit to pet ven hlnnd' rne
nld lel nA Ike Yourself ,ut of II >crnpr.
) mil d aud uodd-d. and ."okrd
al o.etl,r So mi,ch, ,lou>. Iial NJ
Crss.ngton b,,an,e qd ,x,ilcd ov,i
her llle NJ slerl.
Do explain. C"rrelia.'
And wh,u she explained hr leaned
b., K in hi, chair, with an ,xpr scion al
d silive awe and almira Ion 1n hl>