The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1884-10-31
MISS ENDICOTT.


MISS ENDICOTT.
Miss Endicott was an old maid, If we
are to believe her friends and neigh.
bors; she no longer went out to ger.
mans, and as for flirting. they said she
. could not give it up because she had
never taken it up.
"Why, don't believe she ever had
such thing as proposal in her life, >
said Mrs. Snow. and Rev. Mr.. Snow
wondered if it were wrong for y clergy
man not to disabuse his wife's mind Of
such an error. Miss Endicott bad ac-
cepted the verdict of her friends with
out q demur. and seemed resigned.
What did it signify? II she had never
been In love, was it her faults2 She
had once believed that the time would
come, had waited and watched for her
hero, but he had delayed. and now she
was passee, and heroes always loved
youth and beauty, and she no longer
expected him. She had herinterests, her
poor people, her books, her friends. and
If these did not satisfy, she said nothing
about it. If lie was n little prosaIc
compared with what she had expected
of it, it was not because she brooded
over all she had missed, and did not
enjoy the sunset of the present in re-
GREET ng the slight that never was on
sea or land" She loved to see other
women with their lovers, and she often
thought that she took as much pleasure
in the sight of a pretty Irritation as
those most concerned. Love making
interested her impersonally: she no
longer considered herself in the matter,
and when men, young and old, flocked
to her receptions, she took no credit to
herself: they came to see the pretty
girls with the bloom upon their cheeks,
and were civil enough to seem inter-
ested in whatever she had to say; she
did not know there was charm in her
face. dependent neither upon youth por
bloom-.'a sweet, attractive kind of
grace" which even the pretty young
girls coveted. in all she said.
I'VE are going to drive to the Glen
to day." ventured Mr.. Lawrence one
summer morning, when she was visit
ing at the country house of her friend
Mrs. Turner. sunless you will drive
With sme. shall be obliged to go
Alone
'.And you don't care for your own so
ciety?"
There is society covet.morc,''
"Oh." put in Miss Hughes, .you
needn't go alone, Mr.. Lawrence; /
beard Miss Scott express her belief that
she would be paired of with you.''
miss Scott was mistaken
'sThat old maidr' said Miss Scott. as
she sulkily watched Mr.. Lawrence and
Miss Endicott drying of. Every day
there was = little journey hither and
yon, and every day it was Miss Endi-
cot to whom Mr.. Lawrence attached
himself. It was Miss Endicott whom
be helped up the steep paths. for whom
he found the wild flowers, to whom he
gave the humming-b birds nest or the
Indian arrowhead, whom he Joined on
the veranda, with whom he searched
the heavens tor the comet or tracked
the cancellations; it was Miss Endicott
whom he rowed up the creeks among
the meo1ows, to whom he brought the
birds he bagged, to whom he read Mat
thew Arnold's poems under the lofty
pine trees, or Browning on the sea-
beach. for whom he sketched the glen.
why" pouted Miss Scott. ..he is
familiar enough to call her Vera
alreadyr'
"Hnsh!r said their hostess. Mrs.
Turner; che has . right to call her
sVera. l suppose; they were engaged
once. but she broke the engagement.
This Is only friendship"
'.Fiddlesticksr' declared Miss Scott.
81 don't believe in friendship"
"swhen frsendship half would look IKE loye;.-
quoted Miss Hughes. Il must say it's
> dangerous experiment for two people
who were once engaged to fiirt. ;"
This is not Irritation; it is compan-
ionship. said Mrs. Turner.
.sOf course he can't be in love with
her-at her age, too" continued Miss
Scott Hes only amusing himselfn
s What Miss Endicott thought about it
WAs quite commonplace. Mr.. Law
renee was her most intimate friend:
they had known each other for years
and years. They had been lovers; that
+ he had loved her. and she had hoped
70 love him. and had failed. II she be-
gan to suspect that it was not impossi-
bic, after all. what then? Many . wom-
m has loved in her maturer wears the
man whom she only liked in her youth.
Was II because years had brought her
the capacity for appreciation, insight
and understanding? She began to
wonder why the tones Of his voice had
never thrilled her in the old days. vhv
she had not loved him, why BE Ma not
been her hcro. Was II tho latnP m
seemed mot. He waited upon her