The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1882-11-08

Darwin and Herbert Spencer in OPP
position to Homer; the flirting girl
had angled for and obtained several
neat little compliments, yet Loye did
not appear. They were ut the dinner
table; every chair was occupied;
Tratton's eyes wandered eagerly in
search of Loye, still she was nae
countably absent. lie turned suddenly
as asweet. unusual voice behind his
chair inquired his choice of soups, and
his eyes rested uponthc face for which
! he had been searching.
This creature of surprises wore a
blue bingham, with a white apron and
white collar and cuffs. Her hayward
hair was iilleted and coiled into subjec-
ton, and if any mcrriment lay in am
bush under the dark lashes it revealed
itself only by the mcrest twinkle. Be
side this severely grave young person
Milton's ideal woman, as eXempliticd
in Eve waiting on her celestial visitors,
would have appeared il giddy thing.
In his Amusement he had not IN
swcred her question. and she repeated
it. lie stammered something in reply,
and she fitted away. Awaiting her
return, he glanced at the other occu-
pants of the table to see what they
thought of having Miss Travis for a
waitress. Apparently, they thought
nothing of it, for their faces showed
no marks of, surprise, and they cOntin-
ued slipping soup 50 placidly that Traf-
ton soliloquized somewhat savagely:
of an angel should drop down in a
casual way, fold it's wings carefully so
as to keep the feathers out of the but
ter, put Il large apron yer its robe
of white samite, mystic, wonderful
and begin to wait on the table, they
would take it as a matter of course"
Loye soon returned with the soup,
and placing it before Traitor, said, in
a solemn, measured whisper, "Are-we
-quits|" Then her lips suddenly
curved, and a voiceless laugh ran over
her face, setting free a host of dimples
and trimming over in her blue-gray
eyes. \ second later her face was I'M
challengeably demure, and she dartcd
away to supply somebody with water.
Trafton wished that the merry bud
of laughter could have blossomed. lie
would have liked to join in the silver
peal, even though it had rung at his
own expense.
Light had broken upon him. lie
fancied that he held the clew to Loye's
freak. Remembering her pregnant
"Perhaps !" in answer to his remark
that they might as well cry quits, he
concluded that she had planned this
surprise on the spot in order to turn
the scale once more in her favor, and
that she had taken the boarders into
her confidence and bound them to 81
lence. And he would not question any
one. The little witch should have her
triumph he would not mar it by any
Paul Frying.
AS the days went IN he was rather
surprised to see her remain at her post
and take no share in the festivities OF
the place ; but perhaps she had a taste
for private theatricals and wished to
make her part consistent. At all
events, freakishness was to Loye what
freakedness is to the pansy-an added
grace.
Loye, having got the better of Traf-
ton, felt friendly toward him in consc-
quence, and g%raciously allowed him to
fill her intervals of leisure with boat
ing, sketching, rambling and all the
other pleasant and-so-forths of sum-
mer idling-time, which can be con-
Quoted q deuD, and from which, there
fore, she was not debarred,
So the days sped by as lightly as
thistledown puffs on a buoyant breeze
till the woods began to blush and the
summer soiourners to ebb away. Traf-
ton was not certain that Loye returned
his love, for she was by no means a
girl to wear a sweet secret as openly
us the flowers at her belt. One morn
ing, however, he resolved to put a
plain question, and wait for a straight
forward answer
They were resting in a scarlet nook
of the woods after a long ramblc. She
was looking up at the point where red
tree-shafts and blue sky meet, with
the wide, intent gaze which he re-
membered of old.
"Loyc," he said, suddenly, "what
do YOU suppose / went to church at
Fort Raynor for"
"Why, how can 1 tell?" bringing
her gaze from the tree-tops to his face.
perhaps you went to show your new
clothes, or to see What the other gen.
tlemen wore or" she suggested as a
remote possibility, "you may have
gone to hear the sermon"
81 went to. look at you. And I
looked at you because"-here lie fal-
tered, then went on quickly and pas
sionately--"because l loved YOU"
Did a flush spring to Loye's cheek,
or was it only a reflection cast by the
rosy leaves? Did a quick smile curve
her lips, or was it only a trick of the
sunlight that played on her face?
Traitor could not tell, for she turned
her head so quickly.
"Loye," he pleaded, after moments
had passed into minutes, "what do
you say? Better NO than nothing,
but make it Yes if you can"
That was a neat little model of an
Egyptian pyramid which she was con-
structing with the scattered acorns !;
but-he wanted his answer, and she
seemed in no haste to give it. She was
beginning to weave a very tasteful
wreath Of the tinted leaves; but-his
long-stretched patience would snap be-
fore it was done.
At last she turned and said, in her
pretty, thoughtful way, with wide eyes
and Il reflective little frown:
"IIow strange it is that some words
are 80 hard to pronounce although they
are really very short YES for ex-
ample" Then there was Il second
edition Of the smile and blush which
were unequivocal verities, and Traitor
read in the lovely eyes the answer that
the lips had only skirted.
X x
"That was Il blessed caprice of yours,
Loyc. If it hadn't been for THAT |
couldn't have monopolized you as l
have done all these weeks. And per-
haps, but forthat, you would have said
Yes to some n else, and | couldn't
have you for my own all a long life
time, as l hope to do. sweetheart said
Traitor, a few days later, as he slipped
a cleaning ring on her finger.
"Capricc" she echoed.
eyes, the caprice that led you to
wait at Mrs. Blanding'S table in order
to give me a finishing surprise"
"As if you were worth the troubled"
she retorted. "Perhaps it is a caprice
to have the hay fever" she mildly in
quircd.
"No.-a thousand times no!' cX-