Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1885-01-31

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falls he was so surely nearing.
"But what can l say" sighed
poor little Constance Dale. "Miriam
is so beautiful and so fascinating while
l am nothing but country girlH'
So the time passed on, until the
ripe, full beauty of the summertide
was at its height, and Miss Cres-
wick was packing the trunks to join
her aunt at Cape May.
"Of course it has been very charm
ing here" she SAID as she sat on the
old farmhouse piazza in the moon
light the night before her departure,
"but one can't dream on in Arcadia
forever"
Percy Wylde sat silent by her side
and she fancied that his face looked
unwontedly pale in the moonlight.
"Then you are determined to go,
Miss Creswick ?"
81 must" she answered, infusing
bewitching softness into her voice.
"My future fate is to be at Cape May
next week"
"Your fate"
"The man whom suppose l am to
marry" Miriam added, carelessly.
"Miss Creswick i"
"Mr. Wildew
"Then l am to understand that you
have been deceiving me all this
time ?"
"Deceiving you, Mr.. Wilde? In
deed l am at a'loss to comprehend"
"Stop, Miriam,' the young man in
terrupted, speaking in low, meas
ured voice, which awed the coquette
more than burst of fervid passion or
overpowering rage could have done.
$50 you mean to tell me you have de-
hberately enticed me ON all these
weeks, knowing that at last you would
cast me off as plaything of which
you had grown weary? Miriam Cres-
wick, l should have scarcely believed
this of you"
Miriam colored scarlet and tapped
her foot Indignantly on the floor.
'It was your own fault, Mr..
Wilde"
at was-and l accept the conse-
quences of it," he answered calmly.
II would rather be myself than you,
Miss Creswlck. A disappointed man
may yet find some sweet drops in the
the cup of life but heartless firt
can never wholly respect herself, or
be respected by Others"
Miriam bit her lip. 1t was not
such fun after all, to be lsctured af-
ter this fashion by the man she had
befooled SO delightfully."-. Nor did
she regret the softsound of Constance
Dale's football on the porch floor-a
sign that her tetc-a-tete was at an
end.
"Ons would really think l have
been committing a State crime," said
Miss Creswick to herself, her cheeks
still blazing and her eyes sparkling in
the moonlight. "Conny may enter
tain him now if she pleases-Pll
have no more to say to him"
And altogether it was decided re-
lief when Miss Creswick and her
trunk departed for Cape May.
elias Mr.. Dalton come, aunty?"
was her first eager question when she
arrived at the huge, swarming hotel,
and began to unpack her treasures of
gauze, Grape and lustrous silk.
"This morning." Mrs. Creswick
answered, with an air of self-satisfed
pride. $50 stylish and dlStang'te he
is, too-the handsomest man in town,
| think"
Miriam smiled proudly. How long
ago those moolight evenings at the old
Dale farm seemed to her now. Poor
Wylde! but what else could he have
expected? Who can play with edged
tools without incurring the risk of
cut fingers?
''Do you suppose he will send up
his card, aunt" she asked, "or wait
for less formal introduction ?"
But her aunt could only leave the
answer to this question for fate to de-
velop.
And it happened that Miss Crss-
wick and Mr.. Dalton met that very
evening.
Miriam was standing near the door
way, in fleecy cloud of white,
with roses in her hair and corsage,
when suddenly the color deepened
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