The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-05-01

| aumlraDle. Lucy ana amy, on the other
hand, could scarcely conceal their excite
least hundred times during dinner at the
clock upon the mantel-piece: and they
each started and turned red whenever the
noise of carriage-wheels without was
heard After dinner, Miss Marrabie went
again to her room and began to make her
preparations.
SLOW sad it will be-" she thought to her
self, ''for poor young Jellicoe when I dis
| cover myself and overwhelm him with re-
proaches. Men are but poor creatures.
| Perhaps he will faint. Yes; will take
my salts bottle" She wrapped herself in
an ulster belonging to Amy, and having
| shrouded her face In thick veil, took a
seat at her window, which happened to be
Immediately above the front door of the
| hoJel.
Meantime Edward Grifiths, the billiard
marker, was ill at ease. He knew Miss
| Marrable by sight, and looked forward
| with terror 10 the prospect of an encounter
| with her at close quarters. Nevertheless
| he had Vivian Jellicoe's five-pound note in
his pocket, and he was determined to see
the affair braveiy through. He felt, how
, ever, that his natural bravery would not bs
sufficient to support him, and he therefore,
| at about six o'clock began to swallow a
succession of potent doses of whisky and
water, with the object of LAYING in a stock
| of Dutch courage. Whether the whisky
was bad or the water was too powerful, /
cannot say, but at ten minutes to nine,
when Vivian Jellicoe arrived to give final
directions and counsel to his substitute, he
found Edward Grfftitbs decidedly the worse
| for liquor. Fortunately the young fellow
was neither quarrelsome nor noisy in his
cups. His main ambi ion seemed to be to
go to sleep in peace; and no sooner had
Vivian bundled him into one corner of the
carriage, which was waiting in the stable
yard, than Mr.. Griffiths incontinently
slumbered. The carriage was then driven
! round to the front door of the hotel. Miss
Marrable, from her post of vantage, saw
it, and, remarking that the coachman wore
white choker, descended at once, and
listened, as she went, outside Amy's room,
! to satisfy herself that that young lady b ad
not forestalled her. The porter with
alacrity opened the carriage door. In the
| dark shadows Of the interior, Miss Mar
| rable caught sight of the figure of man;
and making sure that all was right, she
entered at once. An instant later she was
being whirled northward along the lonely
Harlech Road.
other carriages left the hotel,
but in the opposite direction. In
one Of them were Lucy and Mr.. Rhodes;
| and in the other, Amy and Mr.. Jellicoe. 1t
was nearly midnight ere they arrived at
the Browns house at Llanyltid; but the
Dro"nS were al up ana waiting LOT Cnem,
and the two runaway couples were warmly
welcomed, and Hospitality taken care Of.
Miss Marrable was less fortunate. AS
soon as the carriage in which she sat had
been driven beyond the lights of the town,
she threw aside her veil and gazed with
magnificent scorn towards the dim form
upon the seat in front of her. The look
eliciting no response of any kind, Miss
Marrable ventured to cough, at first gently,
and then with considerable violence; but
still the figure took no notice.
"This is exceedingly strange" thought
the spinster lady. II must adopt more
active measures" And with great tender.
point of her umbrella. The billiard marker
groaned in his sleep. "Mr. Jellicoe!" she
exclaimed in her deepest and most threat
ening tones. She had counted upon this
exclamation producing an instantaneous
and astonishing effect upon her companion;
and she was woefully disappointed when
he merely groaned again.
"GraciouSw she said to herself; Che is
i'll. He would never go on like that if he
were not ill. The fright has been too
much for him. o, how sorry l am!
These men are such weak creatures.
l must stop the carriagew And
throwing down the sash of the window, she
to pull up his horses. But the driver, like
the billiard marker, had been very liber-
ally feed; and he was determined that
nothing should stop him until he reached
Harlech; he therefore cracked his whip
to drown Miss Marrable's voice, and drove
down the next hi. at pace which threat
ened to shake the carriage to pieces.
"Stop, stop" For goodness sake, stopw
shouted Miss Marrable; but finding that
her words were not listened to, she drew
in her head, and strove to revive the
wretched man in front of her. She held
L., hot+ l., Oh -, L.
hands; she famed his brow; and she
allowed his feverish head to rest upon her
shoulder; but she could not awaken him.
"If he should die!" she thought. Il
intended to frighten him; but not so much
as this. o, this is TERRIBLE" And once
more she tried to prevail upon the driver
to stop; but in vain. The sight of distant
lights, however, gave her at length some
salts action. The carriage entered a long
avenue, the gate of which Law ready
opened for it; and about an hour and
quarter after leaving Abermaw it drew up
before the Joneses' house near Harlech.
With sigh of relief Miss Marrable
threw open the door and sprang out, to find
herself in the presence of half dozen
people who were congIegated upon the
steps.
"Quick!" she cried; 'don't ask ques.
tionS! He is ill; he is dying. Take him
out!n
for the apparitiOn of a middle-aged spin
ster, and who were expecting Mr.. JellicDe
and Miss Attention, were somewhat aston
ished.
"Who is inside?" asked Mr.. Tom Jones,
the son and heir of the family.
80! Mr.. Jellicoe. Be quick! For mer
cv's sake, be quickw
''YOu don't mean it ?" cried Tom, rushing
to the carriage to succor his friend. Bat
an instant later he burst into a violent fit
of laughter. "Why, it's not Jellicoe at
ALL" he said. 'It's tiriffi his, the billiard
marker from the COrs-y- GedOl; and he is
hopelessly drunk. Nice companion, in
deedw
Miss Marrable is, as have already said,
a woman without weakness. On hearing
this announcement, however, she tainted
away. When, thanks to the kind atten-
tiOns of the female members of the
Joneses' family. she revived, she indignant
ly charged those estimable people with
having deliberately plotted her discomfit-
ture; and she insisted upon at once return
ing TO Abermaw; but the carriage land
Griffiths) had gone; so Mr.. Jones, senior,
who grasped the situation, volunteered to
drive Miss Marrable back to the Cors-y
Gedol Hotel; and by twelve o'clock, or
shortly afterwards, she was again in her
own room. 1t was then that she learned of
the desertion of Lucy and Amy. / need
not describe how she received the news.
and how she declared that her abandoned
nieces should never again behold her face;
nor that, although she is a woman without
weaknesses, she passed the greater part of
the remainder of the night in violent hvs-
terics. She telegraphed next day 70 Mr..
Larkspur and Mr.. Allerton; and repairing
to the Red Cow, furiously denounced Sir
Thomas JeIlicOe as the basest and most
heartless of men!
Three weeks afterwards, however, the
edge of her anger had worn off. Lucy and
Amy were married. It was foolish, but, |
perhaps, it was not wholly inexcusable;
and thus reasoning, Miss Marrable, in the