South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1881-08-19

lady To discover that she was impris,
onening her companions hand I'm the
pocket of his own linen duster.
oh! II beg your pardon SIAM
mered Rhoda, feeling very much like
the culprit for whom she had mistaken
the stranger.
'Youare very cxcusable, he replied.
gazing il wonder at he. blushing
countenance, while his face seemed 10
be an interrogation point.
Rhoda felt that in justification 10
herself some explanation was neces-
sary, but with fresh sense of morti-
iication, she remembered ;hat the on
! ly one she had to offer was the reverse
of complimentary.
Il thought she began-'that is
Aunt Ann said you wcre-I mean, |
thought it was my pocket-and | mis-
took you for "a
'Pickpocllet asked the stranger.
as the truth began to dawn upon him,
and his eyes twinkled with sense of
the ludicrous situation.
Yes answered Rhoda, desperately.
while her bushes deepened into scar
let.
And SO / was to be brought to JUS
tice suppose, and to be delivered up
to the police at the next station.'-
And the dark eyes danced behind the
spectacles with mcrriment.
DO please forgive mel! replied
Rhoda, Il have never travelled alone
before, and have been from home bnt
very little
well, was the laughing rctort. .rll
forgive you for putting your hand in
my pocket. Now see how much more
mcrcltul am than you intended to be-
But Rhoda was in no mood for
laughing she felt that she had dis.
graced herself; and every time the
train stopped she wished that her
companion would leave and that she
might never see him again. She was
doomed to disappointment, however,
tor the cars were near her own desti,
nation, and the stranger was still with
her.
'Bcllevillc' shouted the conductor.
and the inexperienced little traveller
Sprang to her feet, tancying that there
WAS not moment to lose.
Il will bid you goodbye she re-
marked triump!lantly.
'Oh, don't be i'll n hurry, was the
reply there's plenty of time. l stop
here too
Provoking = thought Rhoda.
Now | shall be constantly meeting
him. | wish the summer was over.'
Nhodu's friends were at the depot
ready to smother her with kisses.
Did YOU have pleasant journey?
asked Miss Townsend, rs they were
driving to one of the large hotels OF
| which BellevilIe boasts.
Il was somewhat lonely, replied
Rhoda.
Duncan Rivers came on the train
with you. lie is quite a dstinouis
cd lawyer from Philadelphia, with
/ great wealth, which he inherited from
an uncle. | wonder if YOU saw him.
lie is tall, with dark whiskers and
wears spectacles.'
Il WAS reading a good deal of the
time remarked Rhoda, evasively,
'and paid very little attention to the
passengers
Her friends wondered why the
warm blood mantled her checks.
On their way to the dining room,
Mr. Rivers came up and shook
hands with the Townseno family; and
Nina Immediately presented him to
her particular friend and schoomate.
Miss Clare
Miss Clare's face is quite familiar
remarked the gentleman roguishlv.
Were you not ON the train this after
noon p
Again the roses deepenel on the
soft dinpled cheeks. adding new
brightness to the dark violet ewes.
and Nina wondered if any masculine
heart could resist the innocence. fresh
ness and beauty of that fair face.
Belleville was not the place in
which people could spend their time
IN yawniug aud going TO sleep. The
shaded drives, the magnificent seen
cry, with the noble old mountains
trowning down upon the river. which
laughed back defiance TO them az it
sparkled in the sunshine-all these
proved to have greater destinations for
the young people than the cosy old.
fashioned hotel, surrounded as il was
by great spreading trees, and looking
so invitingly cool 70 the pedestrian.
Although Belleville boasted OF ma
ny eligible beaux Just now, who had
come to rusticate for a few weeks. vet
Duncan Rivers decidedly carried off
the palm. Ills cultivation, his per-
soral appearance, bis polished man
ners, and poIiteness to all and devo.
ton to none, served to rivet the
thoughts ofthe young ladies upon him
rather than upon those whose partic.
ular attentions were bestowed more
discriminatory. All but Rbodo Tho