The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1884-05-01

that old ogress, her grandmother, |
| hope, and | only want one chance.
! I'll make the old woman consent in
spite of her.
| The top of the wall reached, with
Bob holding the foot of the ladder,
Louis peered cautiously over on the
other side.
! Not one thing could he see but
| leaves-millions of them it seemed to
him-a perfect thicket of verdure, Ia
| penetrable to his eyes, at all events.
There must be limb somewhere,
| he said to himself. Here goes.
And letting himself down by his
| hands, he felt around with his feet for
a landing. and presently discovered
| one.
''All right, he whispered, for Bob
to hear and let go.
The next instant there was tremen-
dous crash, followed by the most dread
full screams that ever deafened mortal
| ears.
'.Gone through that rotten old sum-
mer house, I'll bet my life on itr' said
Bob, grinning from ear to ear.
And that was precisely the fact,
though really, as Molly said after
wards, alluding to fMr. Basle:
'sHe looked much more as if the
summer-house had gone through him;
and grandmother was worse"
AS soon as he could disentangle him.
elf from the debris, and get his wits
! .ogether, Louis offered to assist the old
! lady, who was not, however, at all
| hurt, only badly scared, and was told
to mind his own business.
A good deal dismayed, but not at all
discouraged, he followed her on into
the. house, apologising profusely all the
way, and at last blurted out his errand
with, what result has been seen.
To tell the truth, Molly was not
quite so easy in her mind as she pre-
tended to be.
For once her grandmother was too
enraged to be appeased, or to be laugh
ed out of her wrath.
She vowed that Molly should be sent
away to convent-school, which was
the one threat that had power to touch
the naughty child's wayward heart.
Il won't gor' declared Molly stoutly.
..WeI see about that" was the
grandmother angry response. eff
you can outwit me this time, I'll give
you leave y
Molly was in despair.
To crown all, Louis did not come
near her. That faithful plastic soul
| seemed to have at last attained the
conviction that she did not care pin
for him, and the sooner he blotted her
tantalising sweetness out of his men,
orv. the better
Madame Hoogly lost no time.
You won't need any fine clothes
where you're going" she grimly as
| urged her wardrobe as an excuse for
! delay.
She telegraphed the Lady Superior
to know if there was vacancy, and on
| receiving favorable response, set off
at once.
Molly, with all her boasting, never
thought of resisting, or even running
away. She just sulked, trying that as
a last expedient, perhaps, for softening
her relatives obdurate heart.
The last ten miles of the way was to
be by carriage. When they got to the
| little station where it was to meet them,
it was night, and, to use Molly's own
apt illustration, sit was raining pitch
forks, tines downward.
Molly proposed that they should go
to the hotel near, and wait till morn
| inc.
But Madame Hoogly, suspicious of
her slippery and frolicSome charge,
obstinately refused.
In the crowd, as they were elbowing
their way, somebody spoke low in
Molly's ear:
My darling! l cannot live without
you! Quick! come with me. We can
be married in no timer'
| 1t was her lovers voice.
| '.Molly!" called madame. "Where
are you? Come hurry upr'
Hope, which for an instant had en-
tered the poor girls heart, died at
sound of that stern and implacable
voice. The next instant it shot up an
expiring flame
Slipping out of her big waterproof
cloak like lightning, she put it on
Louis before he had time to think of
objecting, and pulling the hood well up
over his cap, she just touched his face
with her pink lips, and whispered, as
she pushed him towards the carriage:
'.If you can get in there, and keep
her from finding out it's not me for
half an hour, I'll marry you on sight
any day after date"
Louis heart jumped.
Without word he yielded, and art
| fully shrinking his tall dimensions to
something nearer Mollv's diminutive-
ness, he slid silently into the seat OPP
| posite Madame Hoogly.
The darkness, the fact that madame S
glasses were in her pocket instead of
astride her nose, and Molly's previous
sulky refusals to talk, all favored him,
He might even perhaps have kept up
the farce beyond the half-hour, had he
not, in ecstatic recollection of that
rapturous moment when Molly's soft
| breath was on his cheek, so forgotten
himself IS to give utterance to a most
pronounced and unquestionable mas
| culine ''Ahemr
'.Molly!" screamed madame; and
| getting no answer, leaned forward to
touch her, and instead, came in hor-
rible contact with pair of heavy
whiskers.
We drop the curtain, and return to
Molly, who, as the carriage whirled
away into the night, drew deep sigh
OF relief
The country is safeT' pronounced
she solemnly, and betook herself to the
hotel, where her unblushing assertion
that she was to wait there till her
| grandmother came for her, was accept
ed without question.
She ordered a room and fire, to be
! art tod in h
supper for three as could be produced
at such short notice. She had calcu-
lated closely.
In exactly an hour the carriage came
tearing back to the hotel. and Madame
Hoogly sailed in on Louis Basie's exult-
ant arm.
Il wash my hands of your she
loftily announced to Molly. '.Mr.
Louis Basle is welcome to your
And she pushed that radiant young
7 l.