Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-02-17

ror of false hair--at the back of her
head. The bunch of violets was much
larger than the coil, and tina effect was
more ludicrous than lovely; but poor
Miss Keziah thought that nothing could
be more beautiful. v@s.i s~-E4'-a - s'
In the meantime Kizzy was dressing
for the dance, and signing because she
had no flowers to wear, for GlOver's
Corner did not furnish large supply OF
floral treasures in the winter.
= Fortunately. for, her--or at least she
thought so-just as she was putting the
finishing touches to her toilet, Mandy,
the ''hired girl, - brought her up q cfus-
ter Of pink Eosebuds, freshly plucked
and fragrant. .s,1 e....,5 T., -.s...,.,..sI 4.
"Young DR.. James's Office boy
brought 'em," said Mandy. ssThey're
regular beauties! DR.. James must have
robbed his mas bushes OF every bios
som, and Mis- James always was .
master hand at raisin' roses. l guess
maybe he saved the white ones against
the weddin' day!" .es... ,-,ssa-,
Mandy always gave it as her opinion
that Kizzy would marry Reuben James,
the village doctor, at last, no matter
how many newcomers she firted with.
Poor Reuben would have been very
glad to believe that himself, for he had
been in love with her ever since he could
remember but he didn't believe it, and
Kizzy didn't either, for she didn't care
any more about Reuben than she did
about Johnny Flanagan, his Office boy.
But she liked his roses very puch just
then, and sent him such q message of
thanks by Johnny Flanagan as
almost made up to him for
his disappointment in finding her
s. already engaged - when he asked her
to go to the dance with him. ir r
Kizzy fastened three of the roses in
her golden braids, and two more in a
coquettish little knot of lace at her throat,
and ran downstairs to meet Arthur
Lawton, who had come for her. 60
He looked at the roses in her hair the
very first thing.
- IS Aren't they lovelyP DIR. James sent
them to me. just see how fragrant they
are!" And she held up her head, with
little coquettish air, for him to smell
of the roses. ~ t,- .--t e..
He turned pale a little, and closed his
lips firmly together, with q look of pain.
Was he so jealous as that, of Reuben
James? Kizzy wondered. She had seen
little traces of the feeling in him before,
but not like this. -
1t delighted Kizzy to see that she had
80 much power over him, and made her
more coquettish and teasing than usual
which was unnecessary.
"a 1.0 do 90 oil M
roses, nor even say that they were pretty
and the gayer kizzy grew, the colder
and more gloomy he became,
Such a wretched drive as they had /;
after all Kizzy's bright anticipations
For of course she wasn't going to try to
coax him up If he wanted to be cross.
So she grew very cold and dignified, too,
and at the party tried to punish him still
more by flirting energetically with the
only-toO-willing DR.. James.
To say that Miss Keziah, with her
violets, was can object of interest 81
at the sociable, would be "drawing
it mildly" For with all her peculiari-
ties Miss Keziah had never been
eccentric in her dress before. She
simpered and cast down her eyes when
she met the minister. He looked at the
violets-there was no denying that! 1t
was meaning hook, a delighted look,
Miss Keziah was sure! But still he did
not inger by her side as she had expect
ed; he talked entirely too much to that
odious. little Anna Leighton, who was
such ffirt!
a Of course he could not be too atten-
tive to her, and cause people to make re-
marks, before their engagement was
publicly announced, still he might have
walked home with her; and the spinster
went home little disappointed. -
But he would come and make it all
right, and everybody could be told, on
the morrow, of course. And with this
thought Miss Keziah consoled herself.
But poor Kizzy had no consolation for
her woes Arthur had been worse than
disagreeable, he had been perfectly
savage" after she firted so openly with
DR.. James, and the homeward drive had
been taken in almost utter silence.
Kizzy declared that happiness was
over for her in this world, and cried her.
self to sleep. Arthur was going away to
New York, and coming back /" perhaps
next year, perhaps never,' she had
heard him tell somebody so, at the party.
And she might never see him again
Probably he had never cared for her,
after all she had been vain little fool
to imagine it. And he would go away,
and she should never see him againi
z The morrow brought no solace to her
grief, nor, alas! to Miss Keziah; for the
minister did not come!
What it meant Miss Keziah could not
imagine. Had she not smiled ,weetly
enough upon him? Had he been over
come by sense of his own unworthiness,
in spite of her wearing the violetsp
When three days had passed, and still
he had not come, Miss Keziah decided
that she had not sufficiently encouraged
him, and that he must have expected
an answer to his note. Accordingly
she wrote and dispatched the following
note: ......-.f. 7.....-.-
MY DEAREST MIR. LEACH (or shall I, over
coming maidenly shyness, say Absalom d.
have delayed answering your beautiful letter,
thinking you would understand from my CIV
ing you the sign you asked. that my heart did
throb responsive to your own. Why have you
not sought me ere this? Did you need other
assurance that loved you, and that you
needed only to name the happy day which
should make ne all yOur own keziah? II 80.