The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-05-23
FOREG0NE CONCLUSIONS.
al think, Pamela dear, we might as
well dine at the table d'hote"

1lndglue 10 yOurSe1I Jn6 people one
meets in place like this. Probably
we should find ourselves sitting next
to one Of our own tradesmen."
IL think 1t is rather amusing to see
little of life" remarks Mrs Sinclair.
81 do not mind dining at a table
d'hote when have aman of my own on
each side of me-" says Pamela; "but
two women alone--it is not to be
thought of We should both have to
sit next to some one"
but you need not talk to your
neighbor."
NATURALLY not. But the horror is
sure to pass me the salt; and, on the
strength of that, try to get into conver-
sation with me. He will say it's 'ot
day or cold day, or the 'otel is very
full or very hempty or something
equally original. And though l should
sit upon him Immediately, it's unpleas-
ant TO have to snub people, and upsets
ones digestion"
"Let us try it for once" says Mrs.
Sinclair, persuasively. "We shall get
much better, and much cheaper
dinnerthan If we dine in our own room,
and it amuses meto watch the people,"
"But who on earth is to find an
appetite by six-thirty objects Pamela,
raising her eyebrows with dissatisfied
expression.
1--WE will go for drive, and then
get u blow on the pier, and after that
we shall, no doubt, be quite ready for
an early dinner"
"Oh, of course, If you make point
of It'll But [ am sure it's great mis-
take. And what do you suppose Lord
Nelson would think if he saw us there
or heard of our being there?"
my dear child. really don't see
why you should take it for granted
that we are the only decent people in
the hotel. 1t is quite on the cards that
other ladies and gentlemen may want
sea air, and chose this place as being
quiet and healthy, and not very far
from London"
Pamela does not answer in words,
but merely taps her parasol on the
floor in n manner suggestive of un-
belief and irritation.
She is not an unamiable young lady
lin fact, no one can be more charm
ing, or take more pains to please, than
Miss Pamela Clifford, when she finds
herself in congenial company; but
British instincts are powerfully de-
veloped in her; she has rooted mis-
trust of unknown travelling compan-
ions. and people to whom she has not
been introduced; an utter disbelief in
anything cheap; with other little in
sular preiudices which true Briton
entertains, and is exceedingly proud of
entertaining. To her equals (when she
is aware of their equality) she is
charming; to her interiors her manner
is simply perfect. AS her maid says,
"Though she looks rather 'aughty, she
is most affable young lady"
Mrs. Sinclair betakes herself to don
her walking attire, and Pamela pulls
from her pocket letter received that
morning, and reads over twice the fol-
lowing passage:
"Melton thinks of going down to
- in day or two. have talked
to him so much about you that he is
dying 10 make your acquaintance, and
is, believe. quite prepared to fall head
over ears in love with you. Remem-
Der, my dear, twelve thousand year
and a charming place in shire"
After reading this, Pamela's spirits
revive. She is an ambitious young
lady, and perfectly aware of the fact
that, at twenty-three years of age, it is
high time for woman to have settled
herself in life and taken up her
definite position in the world. She
has been the victim of Il violent pas
-. Lsol 4 1,a Woo
of her life; her heart has been broken
and nearly repaired; it is like an ele-
giant Sevres vase which has been shat
tered and deftly put together again; it
looks as well, but is not expected to
hold anything Love is word at
whose mention first thrill of joy, and
later a spasm of agony, has been wont
to vibrate through her frame; now it
only inspires contemptuous disbelief or
smiling irony as an old tradition or
superstition, on the truth of which
some uneducated persons insist. Pam
elias unfortunate love had for years
prevented her from receiving the adj
yances of even the most eligible aspir-
ants; now she looks back with the
deepest regret to lost opportunities,
and is firmly resolved to make up for
her criminal waste of time. And life,
as it is, is by no means agreeable to
her. Mrs. Sinclair, her aunt, is kind
and amiable lady, but a handsome
lOung woman of three-and-twenty
wants a different kind of cOmpan-
ionship and quite another sort of en-
tourage from that a middle-aged aunt
can give. Just now Pamela, feeling
the violent reaction Of extreme dull
aess after the fast and furious gayeties
of the season (Which, by the way, she
had declared bored her to death, and