The Red Cloud chief., 1884-03-14
sky grew gray. and the stars began to

I peep forth.
! Although they had reached the top O
the ELL they still continued to walk
hand in hand, and arm in arm, along
the upland road, and through the dewy
fields. slowly and silently. as if they
would have kept the precious moment.
by them a little longer.
"Ah." at last said Grace, with a sigh,
'close at home now! And here is
mother beside the gate. and father with
/ her. looking out for u.s."
They approached the gate beside
which, indeed, stood Mrs. Massey, her
hand resting on the shoulder of a man
who, leaning upon the gate, looked ur
to her. 1t was Grace who. suddenly
s%natching her hand from her lovers
arm, made a bound forward, exclaim-
ing in a stilied voice, between laughing
and crying:
"Philip! Oh. Philip
Mahelle stood on the instant, feeling
herself suddenly as cold as ice, fast as
if rooted there by magic, while her heart
beat almost to sufiOcation. What q
fearful. terrible contrctemps! What an
unfortunate wretch she was to be
doomed thus to be here, poisoning Phil
ip's meeting with his loved ones!
There was q scene of wild, ~incoherent
gladness going on by the gate. Grace,
wild with her JOY, questioning, and hav-
ing no time to be answered.; first hug
cling Philip to her heart, and then push
ing him away, that she might the better
look at him and see how much he wa
changed.
"YOu are changed! 1 am certain YOU
have grown ever SO much bigger and
broader, and so brown. Oh, I am
proud of you! Iwish you had been at
church with us tonight. How every
one would have stared at you! Oh,
| can hardly believe tit is too joy
ful.''
Don't you think we are almost de
trOp here, Mabelle?" at this moment
said Hermann, aside to her. He spoke
kindly, for he had not failed to see her
fright, and Grace had made him par
TALLY acquainted with the facts of the
case. so that he thought in his good
natured soul: Poor little thing,
Deuced uncomfortable for her, and L
dare say she'd like to get out of it,"
"Not you." replied Mabelle, in a
rapid, distressed whisper: ''but for me!
Oh, Hermann, what am l to do? Help
ME to get out of the way! 1 can not in
trude myself upon them again to-
night"
She thought she perceived a chance
Of escape, and was going TO slip by, be-
tween Grace and Mrs. Massey; but
Grace, in the midst of her transports,
noticed this attempt at a flank move
ment, and caught Mabelle by the hand.
Where are you going?" she cried.
''Come here! Philip, this is Mabelle
Fairfax. l don't expect you would have
known her, would you?"
With which she, as it were, thrust
forward the terrified Mabelle, who
looked up With a kind of desperate cour-
age, and beheld--Philip Massey, indeed,
but not the Philip Massey of old days,
whom she had always liked, with a feel
ing of sisterly regard and a sense of
equality which had left no room for en-
barrassment. This Philip Massey was
quite different, and in contact with him
she felt herself sink into the merest
child. He was so grave and s~ell-con-
tanned. SO entirely a man, SO utterly re-
moved from boyhood and boyhOOd's
~follies, that she was startled. bewildered.
Not a day had passed, since that fatal
morning three years ago, on which
Mabelle had not thought OF Philip and
the wrong her sister had done him, but
she had always thought of him as some
thing quite different from this. She
could not imagine this man madly in
love with Angela, but there was some
thing in the air which made her think:
1T would be dreadful to be in his way
when he did not want one! l could not
bear it, and / must get away as soon as
l a To think that Angela Tilted him
for Mr.. Fordyce. Oh, dear!!"
Ali this had passed through her mind
as it were in parenthesis, and now she
heard Philip saying:
This Mabelle Fairfax! Yes, l
should have recognized her anywhere"
He took her trembling. nerveless
hand, spoke two or three words, asked
her how she was. glanced with a sort
of amused surprise at her evident en-
barraSsment, at her blank face and
"iuc-Opcu cSeS, diiu lucu, dS IL Hc udu
hardly see her, turned TO Hermann
Berghaus with such a hearty greeting,
thought Mabelle, who, in efecting her
escape, did not fail to see Philips hand
on Hermann's shoulder, the pro-
Ionged hand-claSp, the Familiarity affec- |
well. old fellow. l am right |
glad we are to be brothers after all.r'
She saw Grace come close up to them, |
and she stole away to her room with |
uncomfortable tears running down her
face.
IL can v stay here; 1 can not
bear it." she said again. within herself.
can not bear him to look at me as if
he did no see me, and yet l can't ex-
pect him t. look at me in any other
way. for l must be a very disagreeable
spectacle for him. |
CHAPTER xxi.
PREPARATION REQUIRED.
1t was Tuesday afternoon. two DAYS
after Philips sudden appearance at his
house. Grace was wandering
from parlor to another, looking into
Them. shaking her head and then look
Nm n~op /