The Red Cloud chief., 1880-10-14

Alien vow To keep thfs q secfst, IL
pleased her nightly TO hear her lover
spin his webs for the future. calculate
his income, discuss Ways and means.
and praise the neat sud simple style Of
her wardrobe. i
The delightful gooser' she Mortified
Aunt Allen by saying one day, when
Stephen was scarce q OF the gate.
''He thinks I am n paragon Of economy.
He doesn't dream thsi Dobson charged
me twenty-five dollan apiece for max
ing these lawn gowns and that every
scrap Of lace on them Is real thread"
I'm sure he don't sighed Aunt
Allen, shocked herself st this revelation;
but Phema only laugssd. clapped her
little dimpled hands together, and
waltzed out into the kitchen. where
she at once leased ane pleased Hannah.
the factotum Of the house. by trying -
learn all sorts Of cooking. And she
succeeded astonish1gly. Common
sense. a clear head aad def fingers are
as successful in the btchen a every
where else. Her mother shifted much
(mentally. Of course) at this new
freak, when Phema tUssted ofit In her
letters.
"She is very peculiN," she said with
a thin sigh, to her SPECIAL friend. Mrs
Sluyter. ..To think OF her learning to
cook as an amusema.! But that is
Just Phema's way-to do something
nobody else would thins Of.
Mademoiselle did M ind il needful
yet to report her love afir TO her moth
er. She knew very. we what that as
tute lady would think OF 1t, and b
wanted to enjoy the strange sweetness
as long as she might. before h aroused
to the battle which was inevitable. AT
last, however, her csl came. Mrs.
Bayard was ready to 60 to Newport,
for it was the middle II August, and a
fortnight's sea-air might be permitted
even 10 a mourner. Euphemlas eiao-
crate preparations were sill made IN the
city, under her mothers eye, while she
was drinking in bliss and pure air at
Dcsborough; and her wardrobe was q
curious exposition Of the delicate shades
into which grief can be carried as an
element OF costume. IL would have suit
ed her present disposition better had it
been bridal. But. with the vein OF DOL
sense that endowed bsr, although
neither she cor Stephen had any more
doubt of their mutual passion than
Romeo and Juliet. she would not con-
sent TO an open engagement till some
months of absence had tested their SIN
cerity and constancy. For three months
no letters were to pass between them.
At the end of that time he was TO write
her, if still he held TO his purpose; and
if she too was constant, then she would
! foil hnr mother. and tho tbinn shnllH hn |
declared.
her expected sensation there. For can
there be a l~ovelier thing than n beauti-
full young girl. with glanciny eyes, and
shadowy curls, and smilimL. mischiev-
Gus lips, all illustrated by a complexion
of softest roSe-blush and pearl. arrayed
in films of whitest lace or cleaning
gauzes, her only jewelry strings of pure
pearls, garlands of spotless roses her
only flower, and the dark, delicate head
unadorDed save by its heavy. shining
coils and rings? People went fairly mad
about her beauty, her grace and her ex-
guisite dresses, and the very best match
of the season groveled at her feet, in
the ugly person of Pierre Sluyter, the
Millionaire of the country.
How she hated him! How she shrank
from the clammy, trembling hand, the
leering, protuberant eve, the weak
mouth, and lank. stumbling figure that
stood as a digit before so m any ciphers,
How glad she was to be able TO refuse
the honor of his hand. with calm dis
tinctness; and how furious was her
mother!
THAT is just Phema's way!" she
declared again to her aggrieved friend.
who should have been the maiden's
mother-in-law. "ltold you her caprices
were never to be relied on"
Very we'll" answered the outraged
Mrs. Sluyter. "She is the only Young
woman in America who would have re-
fused Pierre. He will easily console
himself"
No doubt Phema enjoyed the season.
She was Il natural and healthy girl,
spoiled a good deal, to be sure; but
four months with Aunt Allen and a real
love affair had done much to improve
her. She enjoyed heartily the gavety
of Newport, and still more the drives,
the walks, the sails of that enchanting 1
%Sojourn. She was not above n girlish
pleasure in her beautiful costumes and
the great admiration she excited. She
knew her own brilliant beauty was far
better illustrated blythe absence of color
in her dress than it would have been bv
the prevailing tints of the dav; and she
liked to be liked, as most women do.
To be loved was another matter! This
seemed to enrage Der, and from that n
wiser eye than her mothers might have
discovered that her heart was preOccu-
pied. -.
But wheI at the end Of three months
a love-letter, as ardent and as faithful
as the most eXacting heart could ask,
arrived al her city home and awoke as
fervent a response. in the fresh hope
and courage of the hour, she laid all the ,
facts before her mother. Imagine the ,
scene!-the rage. the tears. the threats,
the despair! Through it all Phema
stood calmly waiting for this tempest to
subside.
This is just your wayr' were the
first coherent words that burst from l
Mrs. Bayard's lips; words Phema had ,
heard SO often from the lips of her {
mother and her nurses that now they /
gave an air of homely humor to the q
scene, and the girl laughed. G
This was fuel to the fire. Mrs. Bay q
ard ragged and sobbed all the rest of the t
day; vet all she gained from Euphemia @
was a promise hat she would not marry I
Stephen Mather before the next autumn. 4
and that she should not ask to have him r
received st the house oftener than L
twice in that time. Mrs. Bayard count h
ed on absence. In nine long months I
there were infinite opportunities TO d. 5
vert Phema's mind, and perhaps change p
its bent entirely. Time and | against v
any man. might succeed with men; O
but he who said it wisely did not in II
clude the other sex With an object in i:
certain to be attained, n woman "
can outwait time. 1t is the want Of &
final certainty that makes us impatient. fl
And Phema smiled over this last clause. D
She knew very well Stephen could not p
afford to leave his business oftener than s
the prescribed times. The thing she v
dreaded was TO ask of him such a delay; Il
but she knew her power and used it to e
his end. 81