Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-12-07
yAuRs wIHrHROP's DILEMMA.

"What must say "a YOU. Mary? |
have about exhausted my small store Of
persuasive power. You arr ~ hard as
stone. II seems useless for me to urge
anything more nov. In, promise Ia con
slider what have said. Mary"
IL shall not make any promise"
came vchcmcntly from the young girl :;
"and your insinua,ions arr fast hecom-
Ing impertinenccs You seem Ia have
entirely overlooked the fact that you
are not"
THAT | am not"
81 shall not listen Ia you any longer, y
continued she. your mind has entire
iy too great habit of classifying truth. Z"
81 see that there IN no use in talking
30 you about this now. Allow me To
hope that when We next meet"
III wonder you don't stay away alto
gether. Why do you come herc?'
my dear child, you are unreason-
able
"You mean that you are"
MARY. I beg you not "a he angry
with me. Gosd-by-good-by. ! did
not mean 10 hurt your feelings"
He would have fingered Ia apologize
farther. hut her attitude seemed 10 warn
him Of still continued opposition. lie
may have looked back when half an
acre separated them; II no, he only saw
q little brown-haired girl stand for few
moments In silent soliloquy, then re-
trace her steps homeward.
They were acquaintance Of child
hoods making, these two. and friend
ship had been close attendant upon
acquaintance ever since then. That its
chain was broken occasionally We natur-
ally rurmisc, hut II never remained 80
long. Now, however, there was great
danger ~ longer and more enduring
brcakagc.
go sss sss #@s
"WclI, Mary"
"liow are you to-day
"As she extended her hand and smiled
. little, she seemed 10 have no rcmem-
brancc oi their last interview lie
thanked her quietly for her kind inquiry
then moved 10 window. The habit Of
Visiting the IIalsscad farm had been SO
strong upon him that he came to-day
almost involunta rily. Not that his will
II consulted, would have made him de
ri-t lie simply had not reasoned AZ to
whether Il would he hest for him or not
Mary'H star jcssaminc under the win
dow seemed % he attracting his atten-
ton m thoughts Of what he termed
Mary's unfricndly behavior toward him
passed through his mind lie realized
vaguely that he had expected her 10 he
contritc to-day--that he had even cx
pccted a pledge from her ~ To her fu-
tire department. Kind friends had
never limited to this man that he had n
great deal Of scli-will. They had left
its discovery Ia his own perceptions. and
he had been ton lcnicnt of self This il
not an extraordinary trait.
AZ his thoughts OF Mary had multi
piled since thai Discussion II theirs,
they hal decreased In lcniency. He
wished her 10 say. forgive me- now.
Instead al that-therc she stood il in
clined Ia pcnitcncc. her appearance did
not bctray the fact. An amused smile
expressed that in her opinion he WAS
conducting himself after very silly
fashion.
"Mary." he presently said "your ia
ther remarked some time since that he
desired 10 see me upon business. L. he
at home to-day"
"Oh." she exclaimed, "why did you
not tell me AT once that You wished To
ace papa ! will go AMI find him.
James stepped forward with words
upon his lips io d-tain her She appar-
emily realized some necessity Tor haste,
and hurried through the doorway and
hall.
A servant presently informed him that
Mr.. lialstcad was not then at home. but
was expected back before night.
"Whcre IL Miss Mary"
al think she has gone up stairs
The girl left ~ Miss Ilal-tead's al
vancing footsteps were heard. lie was
conscious oi having felt uneasy when
she hurried away. - simple thing rs
the conveyance of her information by
another person instead Of herself fur
risd him little. She had evidently