, 1881-09-16

ready going, and that was the end OF
the conversation. He unused over 1t,
thinking that the lady was simply po-
lite. and seemed indifferent simply be
cause she was not so. At sight OF the
frank. steel blue eyes, the firm, white
brows shadOWed by rings OF hair, the
tinely-chiseled mouth-all of which she
remembered perfcctly-her heart gave
traitorous leap. and threatened so alarm
ingly to go over to the stranger that she
swiftly summoned all her native caution.
He did not love her, probably-perhaps
never would; and she was very proud
Even her fathers wish must be SET aside
before her rights as woman to be pre-
ferred solely for herself.
But Launce went to CRANKY. ] hardly
know of anything on earth that would
have kept himself from going. Virginia
had reigned mistress there only since the
previous autumn, but her taste for what
was artistic and beautiful had given
the interior of the great mansion strlk-
ing charm. Lovely pictures leaned from
the walls; graceful figures IN bronze and
marble graced shelves and inches; floors
had been relaid IN polished wood, and
covered with rich skins and foreign rugs.
And over this beautiful home relgned
presence the most beautiful he had ever
seen, Launce thought. He talked, and
rode and drove with Virginia, and she
was sweet and gentle. But others rode
and drove with her-Sons and brothers
of her brothers whom she had known all
her life-and she was sweet and gentle
with them. There was Allan Stuart,
Godfrey Grey and the Rane brothers
Launce could not see bit of difference
f,.ty fsNft
self. He pondered the matter at night,
on sleepless pillow, the moon looking
at him through the silken curtains of the
windows, the week at CRANKY. But
Launce was thoroughly manly fellow,
and had courage to dare his fate. He did
not admire Virginia Payne one whit the
less because of the reserve which so
batfi6d him.
One day when they We're out riding
with party of four others, he proposed
making a cross cut through the woods to
find a whip which he had lost there the
day previous, and asked Virginia to ac
company him.
1--WE will meet the others at the turn
pike crossing" he said.
Virginia turned her horses head read
lily, all unsuspiciOus; but when they
were hid among the balsamic frs she
suddenly became aware OF her cOmpan-
ions manner. A sudden bloom showed
IN her cheeks; she began herself the
search for the whip.
Il do not care picayune for the
whip. | come this way, Virginia, that
L might be alone with you for a mo-
ment."
This did not tend to make the soft
che eks any less vivid, but Launce did
not notice.
Il want to tell you something" he
went on, steadily, which you have heard
from other men, dare say, but il is
nevertheless true from ME. L have never
in my life seen a woman that suits me as
you do, Virginia; and it is not because
of what your father wished and planned
for us, but because of yourself, But
while you are beautiful and attractive,
there is nothing wonderful about me;
and though don't know why you should
marry me, 1 wish you would. Not be-
cause of your fathers wish, either
He had taken her hand, stopped the
horses, and was looking into her face,
with its downcast eyes and tremulous
lips. -
Gould you love me, Virginia." '
A dimple stirred the soft cheek
Perhaps"
She never knew what startled her
horse at that moment, but he shied at
some object in the wood nearly unseat-
ing her, and then flew like the wind
down the path. Launce followed anx-
iousiy, but she had met the others of the
party before he overlook her. There
was no chance to see her alone again
that day, and the next day he had set
for his departure. But she had confessed
nothing, promised nothing, and be was,
perhaps, less at ease than before his
declaration.
There was company to entertain that
day-among the others Tom Arlington.
I.aunce had often heard him spoken of
and did not wonder. He was singularly
handsome man, with brilliant complex
ion, disheveled hair, curling silken
beard, blase air, and the tout ensemble
of an artist. Launce looked critically at
the rose-and-gold of Tom Arlington's
make up, and did not like him. This
before he observed that his attentions to
Virginia during the evening were very
marked She talked to him. played for
him, sang with him. Poor Virginia! So
near to being perfectly happy that she
dared not contemplate it, she seized upon
the first pretext, for concealing her emo
ton. And that pretext WAS unfortunately
Tom Arlington.
Launce remembered that Virginia" did
not fiirt," and though he struggled man
fully against it, his heart sank like lead
before the evening was through. So
young, so sensitive, so susceptible to
beauty and grace in others, was it likely
that he would win her? No, moi he told
himself bitterly. He knew how. alone
and unaided, he had battled with the
stern realities of life, how he had con-
qnered the temptations of early youth,
and worked, out of the hardest and most
adverse circumstances, a pure and no.
BILE life, but what did that go for with
this charming and petted girl, who had
ever laid among the roses and fed on the
lilies of life? She was as ikely-aye. far
more likely to be pleased with the artist,
Tom Arlington.
He rose early from the nights troubled
sleep, and went down into the garden of
CRANKY. The great golden day lilies
We're i'll bloom, and the trees yelled with
young green. Suddenly, on a rus
tic seat upon the terrace, he saw
Tom Arlington. He was directly in
his path; he could not avoid him with