The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-04-22
A REAL SWEET STORY.

1t was by far the worst quarrel they
had ever had, and they had had many,
for she had temper, and he had a tenn
per, and they were both of them impul-
sive young people with very little self
control.
You are false, selfish, untruthful,
man-like man. said she.
And you suspicious, unreasonable,
unwomanly woman" said he.
Take back your letters" she cried,
flinging a parcel tied with hyacinth- blue
ribbon on the floor at his feet.
Il will" he muttered between his
clenched teeth, picking up the parcel
and throwing it into the fire, where it
blazed brightly for a moment or two,
and then flew away in thin uncanny black
fragments up the chimney. AS the last
fragment disappeared, Rick turned again
TO Lefty, with frowning brow, and asked,
as he had asked before: ''Do you still
persist in accusing me of deceit and
falsehood?n
Il do,'' she replied, "upless you show
me the charm"
Il will not show it to YOU" he de-
clared, with violent emphasis. "If my
word be not sufficient, l refuse to give
you farther proof. l wonder that you
dare insult me by asking it. And | also
wonder how you, believing me to be false
and untruthful, can be willing to trust
your future to me. And, to speak frankly,
| begin to think we have made great
mistake in supposing that we could spend
that future happily together, for | am
fully convinced we are anything but
~'Two souls with but single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one"
(These lines were quoted with most sar-
castle iniection.) "And furthermore |
also begin to think that perhaps it would
have been better if we had never made
this mistake-if we had never met, in
fact"
80, indeed, sir!' great assump-
ton of dignity. "Have you Just arrived
at that conclusion? | have long been
sure of it. But there is nothing easier
than to part. Your letters are already
disposed of. Tomorrow | will send
back your ring and picture. And then,
when | am free once more, can try to
please my mother (our acquaintance, as
you are well aware. has never pleased
herr and in pleasing her 1 may find
am doing a pleasant as well as wise
thing for myself"
''Are you referring to Brougham
Brown"
Il am referring to Brougham Brown. :"
by heavens !" exclaimed Rick, seiz-
ing his hat, "this is too much. Lefty.
good-by forever!''
But Lefty began humming an air from
Patience, drumming an accompaniment
on the windOw-pane, and vouchsafed no
answer. Rick rushed from the room.
The humming and drumming ceased in
stantly and the whilom performerlistened
intently. Five minutes passed, and still
the street door did not slam. HE is
waiting for me to come out into the hall
and beg his pardon, l suppose she
said, with defiant grimace, "but
won't" and she turned again to the
window as the door shut with bang.
And then she flung herself on the
lounge, kicked off her slippers, and cried
like summer shower. Rick gone, and
gone Z" forever !''-Rick, whom she had
loved so dearly, and who had loved her
so dearly for two long years. And
why Just because that silly, giggling
Lena Varian, with her pale blue eyes
and straw-colored hair, had chosen to
tell fibs about him. And shaking the
tears from her lashes, she began scold-
ing herself as hard as she had scolded
poor Rick. -'The idea, Lefty Louns-
berry, of your believing that girl before
him What possessed you? He did
flirt little with her, that is true; but all
men flirt little with girls who persist in
admiring them and flattering them. But
he never gave her the little gold
pig-yOur Christmas gift to him
never! How she got it can't
imagine, but he would have explained
if you had given him a chance.n And
then the absent mother, gone to Aunt
Emory for a two days visit, came in
for share of reproach. @ If she had
only let our engagement be known, in
stead of insisting upon our waiting until
Rick was twenty-one, and had not been
obliged to carry my engagement ring in
my back hair, the only place where it is
safe from Baby's-Goodness gracious
Baby!' And Lefty suddenly remem-
bered that ever since Rick came in to
make a morning call, knowing Mrs.
Lounsbery was absent-poor fellow
he'd have staid away if he could have
foreseen his eception-Baby had been
sitting alone in the dinning-room in the
middle of the big dining-table, surround
ed by all the pickle and marmalade Jars
and fruit cans and catsup bottles and
jam pots out of the store-room. For il
was the monthly house-cleaninO dav
and the store-room fell TO Letty's share,
The foreign help being gifted with too