Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-01-22

After that heard no more, for the
two friends Joined hands and skated of
together. Ihung about them, little
way off, pretending to be talking to
some men who were lounging about;
and when thought my presence would
not prove an unpleasant interruption L
skated toward Clara and greeted'her cor
daily, asking her where she had been
this long time. She saw through me in
moment and showed me that she did
by disregarding my question entirely
and presenting me at once to her friend,
Miss Lyle. had seen good many
masculine eyes regarding Miss Lyle
with interest during the evening, and L,
now perceived the owner OF one pair OF
these approaching Miss Alden with
what OWNED the same intention that
had brought me hither moment be-
fore; so while he was stopping to shake
hands with Clara l offered my hands to
Miss Lyle and we glided off together. A
few adroit questions on my part elected
the fact that Miss Lyle and Miss Alden
had been schoolmates, who had not met
for some years, and | furthermore dis
covered that Miss Lyle was stopping in
town with relatives who happened TO
| be old acquaintances of mine. So after
we parted that night Miss Lyle and |
met often, and were together so much
at the rink that people had begun to re-
mark it.
And this brings me to the period of
the quandary with which started out.
Here was /, supposed by everybody to
be the favored adorer of one lovely girl,
while in reality | was head over heels
in love with another. For | had no
doubt about my feelings in this matter;
| it was unmistakable. | smiled grimly
now when | remembered the days in
which had boasted of not possessing a
| jealous temperament. Why, was jeal-
! GUS of every one who went near Daisy.
| | was infuriated if she danced and
skated with any one but me, and when
| saw some awkward, clumsy man run
against her once Mt the rink | felt like
choking him when she smiled at his
apology. To tell the truth was posi-
lively wretched. If Daisy had never
come / could have got along very well
with Clara, / told myself. There had
been n tacit. If not an expressed, under
standing on the score of our relationship
among all our friends, and / would
have been very cheerful and attentive
spouse to Clara if I had never seen
Daisy; and. on the other hand. If had
never seen Clara, might now perhaps
succeed in winning Daisy's hand, and
with IL everlasting happiness. 1t was
| Just case OF -
How happy would DO with either
Were t'other dear charmer away.
| / sometimes wondered whether Clara
did not partly see through me. She had
such an odd way of looking nj me some
times with such "A shrewd smile; but
she treated me better than ever. She
was really n splendid creature and,
under imaginable circumstances.
might have learned to love her very
much, in a certain way. One night
there was to be grand fancy dress ball
at the rink. Daisy was going and so was
Clara, and il goes without saying that
was on hand. My perplexities were at
their height. I was more in love with
Daisy than ever, but fully alive to the
matter of my duty in another quarter.
1t was beginning to wear on me terribly
and concluded to call in the advice OF
my friend Porter, n prudent and saga
cious fellow, in whose judgment | had
unlimited confidence. How fondly
hoped he might decide that was under
no obligation to Miss Alden. And how
| differently he did decidee He was per-
fectly astounded at my confession. Miss
| Alden, he said, was one woman picked
out of ten thousand, much handsomer.
much richer. much more distinguished
than Miss Lyle; l must be out Of my
| sense. In short he wound up by saying
that ] was in honor bound to address
Miss Alden, though, for his part, he be-
gan to doubt whether that splendid crea-
| sure could consent to marry man who
was so preposterously blind rs not to see
that she was second to no woman in ex-
istence. This was on the day of the
| party. / had been to Porter's room to
have tnlk with him. knowing he would
| be ut leisure, and the result was that he
entirely convinced me of what | ought
to do. Still it was very hard TO make
up my mind TO it. ...
/ had been invited to dine with the
| Aldens that day-quite en- famille. as
usual. It give me a sneaky feeling of
late whenever / got one of these kind
| invitations, but / had seen no way
| out of the matter but TO accept, and
so had accepted. When left Porter's
room / turned my face in the direction
of the Adens with very heavy
heart. Before dinner | had no oppor-
tunity. to see Clara alone. If had de-
sired 1t. but had ample opportunity for
watching her, and had to acknowledge
that | had never seen her look better.
She played, too, and sang more bril-
liantly than any woman | had ever seen.
l could have been very proud OF such n
wife. reflected, if
The other guests left early. but I linz
gered. KNEW perfectly well what TO do,
and had been slowly making up my
mind to do il If the opportunity oc-
CURED. and the opportunity did occur.
Toward nightfall every one else had
withdrawn and Clara and / were left
alone. ! took a seat very near her and
told her / had something of very con-
| fidential nature to say to her. To my
surprise she rose and walked across the
room. touched the bell, waited until the
servant came and then ordered lights.
This was little disconcerting; but when
the servant had lighted the room and
| departed she came back TO the sofa, and
in the coolest and most matter-of-fact
manner asked me to go on.