Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-12-11

'tO see him sitting there, casting
his killing glances at me SO that you
see them, Bel -
And he went off into a fresh out
burst of laughter, while the object I
Of their merriment wpnded his way 4
to his hotel thinking to himself
"By JOve, regular little beauty. +
Bel herself is thrown in the shade, |
there is a family resemb- /
lance. A lucky thing | thought OF /
that drive; but I'll have to be con- /
careful, or iii rouse Bells 1
Why, 1 do believe that |
girl considers herself engaged TO me
the way she acted to-day. 'Weli, !
it's only polite to play agreeable to
a guest OF hers, and Pm going to 90
it."
The fun that followed the next
few days Everywhere Miss Jen-
ME went Fernleigh was her devoted
cavalier. "Solely for your sake"
as he reassuringiy told Bel, and 'to
oblige Miss Rathbourne," and the
rest of the girls understood it.
Every evening Mr.. Fernleigh
took Miss Vaughan for a stroll in
the elm groves, and perhaps his at
tentiOns would have been little
less lOverlike, and his words more
carefully chosen, had he known that
behind the trees were hiddena score
Of mischieVous girls with their
handkerchiefs stuffed into their
mouths and tears streaming down
their cheeks in their efforts to keep
themselves unObServed.
But the ending came as it always
does, sooner or later, and Mr.. Fern
leigh awoke one morning with the
unpleasant conviction that he was
deeply in love himself. He, the
impregnable, the invincible, was in
the tolls at last And, stranger still
to relate, with a young lady of
whose affections he is not at all GER
tain.
Miss Jennie had persistently re-
jeeted all his advances-had given
him to understand that she did not
approve of fiirting-in fact, had
piqued him, and close upon pique
a. his shallow heart was capable of
feeling, and he determined that she
should yield.
And yield she did that very even
ing very sweetly and graciously,
much to his surprise.
"Had i beef, so sure of my prize,
/ might at least not have been i'm
such a hurry, ," he thought ruefully,
"but | shall have to face the music
now"
"And you will come over to-
morrow and announce our engage
ment ," asked Jennie confidently.
How should heeXplain matters to
Bel and to all the others? What an
idiot he had made of himself! But
he really loved Jennie, he told him
best he could.
The next morning when he
stepped into Mrs. RathbOurne's
drawing-rOom he found himself in
the presence of not only Bel, but a
dozen other girls, every one of
whom he kneW-alas, only too we'll.
Jennie was nowhere in sight, but
Bel, coming forward, offered him ii
seat, saying:
"YOu will please excuse Us, |
know, Mr.. Fernleigh, if we go on
with our parts; we are Tehearsing
for private theatricals."
And turning to Tiny she went on:
"Oh, Jennie, my darling, but for
one little ray of hope! l love you
dearly! Why, oh, why do you
persist in thinking | am trifling
with your feelings? / love you too
well for that, my darling"
Then Tiny
"But, Horace, you have made
love to my cousin, and to other
girls, too that / am sure Of"
II may have tlirted with them a
trifle, darling, only because | knew
you did not care, but you, my darl-
ing"-a pause, only broken by the
subdued giggle of every girl in the
room.
What did it mean? Ills very
words to Jennie the night before!
Mr.. Fernleigh listened in blank
amaZement. What could it mean?
Had the girl been foOling?
''YOung ladies, +" drawing himself
up stiffly, 81 am happy to see you
are enjoying rather unintelligible
joke. If Miss Vaughan is not in |
will make my adieuX."
''Oh, you want Jennie?' asked
Bel. "Here, WHIP and in tum-
bled Will, this time in his true
character.
Throwing himself i'm the startled
gentIeman's arms, he murmured-
Horace, here is your own little
JennieI Why are you 50 silent,
love? Speak, if but one word, to
your own darling J" and he stran-
gled him in a beaT-like hug.
The truth flashed like lightning
across Horace Fernleigh's mind.
The girls had thrown themselves
into chairs and were Shrieking with
laughter. Will still held him In
his bears embrace, pouring words
of love into his unwilling ear. He
had been tricked, duped, fooled out
rageOusly; but there was no help
for it.
With frantic struggle ne released
himselffrOm Will'Sencircling arms,
and bounded through the hall into
the street, the girls shrieks and
Wills despairing Farewell, my
own :" ringing in his ears.
BY morning the whole village
would know of his disgrace. He
left that afternoon for parts I'M
known, for the time being, at least,
cured of his propensity for flirting.
The girls had had their revenge,
and il was dOubly sweet.
Spare the Rod Spoil the Child.
Is it best, asks a Boston mother,
in a letter to the Detroit Free Press,
to move the things out of reach
when we tell the little ones they
must not touch them, or compel