Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-06-26

only marx my WORD Tor IL, young maui
ii you don't intend TO marry the girl,
you'd better break with her before your
liberty Is compromised altogether"
"Perhaps you are personally inter-
ested in the matter%
Again the hearty laugh, which had
once before broken upon the storm, now
filed the pause.
"Never spoke to the girl but snce in
all my life. Pretty little thing, though
one of the elinging, twining sort; but
j don't care about being the oak to that
ivy. No, my young beggar; you'll have
to get out OF it some other way"
"Well Joe, III be blessed II know
how" returned the detected one. 1.-THE
truth is, the young girl is-well-un-
commonly fond of me, don't you knew?
and haven't the heart to throw the
poor little thing over. I've tried to break
break with no end of times; bat we are
cousins, you see, and, being quite alone,
she clings to me very tenaeiOusly. A
fellow isn't to blame if a girl will make
q fool of herself over him; though, Of
course, shall put stop to it some
time; I'll be hanged i'll don't! but l
can't hit girlwhen she is down already,
and, they do say, since the smart French
madame opened the opposition estab-
ment in town, it goes uncommOnly
hard with the poor girl to keep alive the
little school upon which her living de-
pends."
"Why, they're talking of my neigh
Dor, the little school-ma'am," thought
Miles, waking suddenly, as from an as
tOnishiDg dream, To the consciousness
that he was performing the ignoble part
ofthelistener. He felt his way in the dark
is to u more distant part Of the build
ing, where the hum of human voices
was lost in the wild utterances of the
storm.
SO this was the way in which young
man in this civilized community pro-
tected the dignity of a young girl who
honored him with her preference.
Miles was singularly chivalrOus and
noble himself, and perhaps had too lit
tie patience with vanity that could
thus sacrifice another to itself. His i'm
pulse was to confront and upbraid the
the young man for so mean spirit; but
he remem bered that il was not for him
to regulate the speech of q stranger;
and, moreover, that a rebuke would
lose its force from one who, 1t might
be supposed, was guilty of an act Of
esPial:
While he was arguing the question
with himself, the matter was decided
for him by the object Of his wrath sud-
denly shooting out frUm under the pro-
lection into the road beyond.
The storm was indeed spent. Only
the drops from the naples rained
down upon the homeward path. They
fell gratefully on his hot upturned face
as he walked leisurely towards the
house. A candle, burning in the school
room window, sent a ruddy ray OF light
down the village street. Was 1t placed
there TO guide the maynard steps Of her
delinquent lover?
1t was the question with which Miles
dismissed the subject from his mind;
for, after all, what to him were the
love grievances ofthe mild faced young
woman with whom he had never ex-
changed a greeting in his life?
1t was brought to mind, however, the
following day on receiving a small
sweet scented note written in large
school. girl hand, requesting his presence
that afternoon in the schOOl-room.
Poor Miles was taken a-back; and, II
the truth must be told, gave voice to
his annoyance in a phrase not strictly
clerical. Ii seemed rather to alarm the
small youth who stood fidgeting in the
doorway awaiting an answer.
"Tell her l will come directly" re-
turned Miles, with a gocd-natured pat
on the boys plump shoulder.
But he was not as good as his word.
1t was certainly an hour before he
could screw up his courage to the point
OF descending to the next floor. What
could the young woman want OF him?
and how horrible to visit her with the
concentrated stare of fifty eyes upon
him! AS he thought of it his soul was
shaken within him. A belle dressing
for her first ball could not have fingered
longer over her toilette than did Miles
on this occasion. Not that he cared a
fig for.the effect of his fine broadclOth;
il was q mere pretext to put off "A disa-
greeable duty. However, the thing
must be gotten over somehow, ne told
himself; SO, breaking Otfquite suddenly,
he made q plunge down stairs, ana
knocked restlessly at the school-room
door.
1t was opened by the school-mistress
herself. She could not have been ex-
pecting him 80 soon, for she gave a
little start of surprise on beholdlng
him.
"pve come" remarked Miles, look
beyond the little girlish figure to the
row of giggling upturned faces of the
scholars.
Miss Alden look ed anything but
gratified by the announcements; but as
il could not be gainsaid she Offered
him O seat, and proceeding to gather
the papers together which in his aWk-
wardntss he had sent flying from the
desk 10 the floor, she turned inquiring-
~ towards him.
But the poor fellow could not think OF
word to say. He would have given
recklessly of his worldly goods if the
young woman would but leave him to
himself. Perhaps the pretty school
ma'am divinced his thoughts; or, II
may be, she was at her wits end 10
know what TO say to so shy visitor;
for, after providing him with book
with which to follow the recitation, she
went ON with the one which his en-.
trance had interrupted, as if he had
been miles away. Standing with her
back to him, Miles could yet see tue
proud pOise of the little head, and the
warm, soft hue of her golden hair.
Sometimes, too, the clear, firm sweep
of the chin was plainly dlscernible from
where she sat, while there was ever be.
fore his eyes the graceful movement OF
the body as it swayed back and forth
with the interest of her work.
Miles suffered; but he was not so alb
ashed but that there broke on his
troubled spirit an appreciation of the
charms of the beautiful woman.
Though modest and quiet, she seemed
so self-contained, so clear-headed, so
capable of managing her affairs in q
simple, straightforward way. She was
too direct and honest osend for him
without an object. What did she want;
Miles was one who liked to get ut the
bottom of every thing at once, aud he de-
termiped that as soon asshe wasat liber-
ty he would inquire what he could do ts
serve her, and 90 about it with a will
for he liked the little woman, and
would have thought it no hardship to
serve her; but when she turned to him
again all his courage faded away, and
he could only wish himself upstair:
ooo;p IL seemed TO him actually tiend