Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-02-15

shake of this youngest and fairest of the
house OF Montford.
Il am so glad to see you,' he said,
cordially. blanche has told us SO
much of you; and then your sea voyages
have seemed something wonderful to
! me-do You know that you are q sort OF
| Robinson Crusoe to my admiring fan
cy?" laughing pleasantly.
| Il have no man Friday" Ralph said,
laughing. too. 80 b 50
#"No? No matter. But we viii omit
the part of Friday. am SO glad you
came up" he said again, with maire
Whatever one said / Mr.. AEontford,
or his daughters, or his Confidential
agent, Mr. DeVries, everybody was
! unanimous in declaring Victor Montfofd
a "tip-top fellow" High souled, chiv
alrous. gentle, sweet tempered and
open hearted, he at least was worthy to
b represent the ..gentle blood the Mont
fords boosted.
Mother" Ralph said. thoughtfully,
after Blanche had left him and driven
think, [how Viola would lave looked if
7 He came and sat down before her,
grave and thengltful. e
Yes, Ralph; but I cannot think, of
her as anything but a child. She4will
always bea child to me. Perhaps the.
dead grow old, but always thinkof my
I5baby as baby still, and Vioea always
comes to me as | saw her last. She
stood ON tiptoe, holding open the door.
% little. and kissing her hand to me
with light ripping laugh. There was
a sunny sparkle in her beautiful eyes,
: and Iifenember that her hat was ON
one side, and her hair was lying loose
and tangled about her neck. can see,
every motion and GESTURE have been
over them so many times as if it were
but yesterday, even to the precise pat
tern OF the, embroidery on her CRIMSON
merino dress. You remember the
dress, Ralph? She had it on the night
OF the wreck. TlIe salt water didn't
hurt it bit, though L remember i
thought it would, and that 1 should
have to wash it; but just jrinsed it up
and down in some S.clear water, aud
hung it up without wringing. and it
looked as nieesas new She never wore
it again till we started to come out
here. What,a comfort she-would have
been to us when you arc away. Ralph. |
if she had ived.'' "a
She,sighed, and put hershand up over
her ewes.
Il suppose it is all right" she said. ]
still shading her eyes with her hand;
Il suppose everything is, but l can't
always see it.as yourf father does. l am
sure try, and ! know tbs so, but
things seem so dark some ines! They
did when your grandfather was
,drowned-n .saa~v. e=z-s sori
Il will tell you,'' said Ralph, what
I had in my mind when / asked you if
YOU ever thought how our lost Viola
would have looked if she had grown to
womanhood. have often busted my
self fancying the sort of woman she
would have made, and how she would
have looked. Well. YOU know l have
teen up to Mr. Montford's to-day, but
YOU wonder what that has to do with it.
| see by your face-what a transparent
face you have got, little motherr' And
getting up, he came and stood behind !
her chair, AMI leaned over and took her
face in his hands and drew it back and
kissed it. Il wish l could read
Branches face as easily as I can yours
he added, blushing, and then laughing
to turn it OIL ,''h hat a face that girl
has got!' ,a.f # - |
"She is very handsome!''
"Yes; but it isn't just that, mean,'' |
he interrupted. |
Il think blanche Hkesr you. Ralph;
and if-you think-that is" she stam-
mered confuscdly, If you two should |
like each other we'll enough toto mar /
ry some day, it would be splendid
40 mother Blanche is too elegant
and accomplished for fellow like me
to think of. :" he said, deprecatingly. but
faint smile soitened his lips and eyes
"a faint. dreamy smile, which showed !
the thought was rather pie .,sant than
otherwise. /
You see if Viola had lived [ should I
have hoped YOU would have liked each /
other. 1t would not have seemed like q /
stranger coming into the family. But
since that cannot be, Blanc he is the
next choice Of my heart But, of course,
l don t expect you to please me: L
only mentioned it because tancied YOU
were mutually pleased with each other,
and Tom and [ thought it would be
pleasant to have it so. Tom likes you
SO muchr' 7
"I'm greatly obliged to him." Ralph
said, with laugh, '.but I'm sure don
know why he should; he doesn't know
much about me-may be that is the rea-
son. Well, now [ am going to tell you
wlrat attempted at first. There IS a
girl some sort of a waiting maid. or
servant of some kind-at Mr.. Mont
ford s, who looks just as / have fancied
Viola would if she had lived to be
woman. She is very slight and fragile
looking. but for a certain indomitable
air and expression which give her
sort OF subtitle strength. You remem-
Der that peculiarly in Viola. THIS girl,
whose name is Stella Blake, came TO adj
NIT us this morning. and 1 was so
startled by her reseni blance to Viola
not SO much a resemblance as to what
she was, as to what thought she would
have been-that was guilty OF the rude
ness of staring at her, l fear, very i'm
pertine ntly." +
"How does she look? Iwish I could
see her." Mrs. Anderson said. eagerly.
"She is, as | said slight. with a pale
olive skin and Iptty ewes and hair Eut Il