Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-07

"Weil, Hilda, has somebody been asking
you eonundrun, Or is the momentous
question OF what to wear tonight still I'M
answeredYi
l am afraid that Hilda was so full of
~hat mad just happened that when her
latuer spoke to her she only half heard
"haJ ne said, ana answered as If he must
Know all about it, for she said, rather
| angrily:
mo; what l wear is of no consequence
now. He won't"
When she stopped and ran up stairs.
mr. Trevor seemed surprised, as we'll he
might, at the irrelevancy of her remark.
put being somewhat Indifferent man he
soon forgot all about his question aud IT'S
diminished answer. Miss Trevor was
scarlet when she got to her room, not SO
much at the thought of this mans marked
admiration what else could he be follow
ing her tor!) but rather because she had
SO nearly behaved like girl in her teens
before her father, who would only have
laughed at her and poOh-poohed the no.
uloh OF the man having noticed her at all,
except In her own imagination; besides,
sne was not in the habit of making a con-
hdant of her father. 1t was long since
any man had cared for the society OF
Hllda Trevor, and though of course she
SUN dld ner best to try and please those
VINO came to her fathers house. she did so
with considerable WEAKNESS, feeling every
day how useless it all was. Therefore YOU
must make some allowance for her when
say that this man was very much in her
thoughts as she dressed herself vita more
than usual care for the ball she was going
10 mat evening; just as if she knew he
would be there, when, alter all, nothing
was more unliRely.
AS She took last look at herself in the
glass she said. 81 think | look very well
to-night-tOr an old maid" she added,
with bitter smile.
And she did look very well, for l saw
her. The rouge was we'll, not too well,
managed, ana far from looking old maid
ISL, she gave me the idea of very hand
some woman.
have noticed that when women pro-
claim, not only to themselves, but openly,
that they intend to be Old maids, YOU may
take 1t for granted that they have strong
hopes of somebody proposing to them
whom they intend to accept uncOnditiOn-
ally, and the fact that Hilda made that
remark To her looking-glass, and shortly
afterward to her father, only goes to
strengthen my observation. She started
for the ball III very good spirits, in spite
OF feeling that she would probably shine
only III the capacity OF a Whatsoever, tor
she was much above dancing with Tom,
Dick and Harry. Toward midnight she
had been sitting out long enough to make
her look sullen and unapprOachable.
Every now and then her glance wandered
toward the door, as if she expected some
badly; but all she saw was the usual half
dozen unhappy-loOking men, who are al
ways to be seen, leaning against the walls
ut the doorway of a ballroom, getting in
eVeryhOdy's way, and with difficulty keep
ing from yawning.
Why don't they 90 to bed, if they neither
want to dance or speak I'd anybody, in
stead Of wearing out the back of their
coats, and depriying themselves of that
rest which they seem so much to re-
quire2
Suddenly her eyes frightened, though
she could scarcely believe what she saw,
and was half inclined to think it was the
result OF thinking too much of her late adj
venture. For there was her unknown
friend among the melancholy band, star
ing at her as if he meant To take mental
photograph of her. But though he stared
as usual, he made no effort to get Intro.
duced to her, which she expected and
hoped, or even to move away from where
she first saw him. IIilda could not very
well make any advances, so she was
obliged to wait as patiently as she could
for events to develop. Of course, to add
to her VexatiOn, (why was he so shy? he
didn't look asif afflicted with that obsolete
virtue, several men, embOldened by her
sweet expression, perhaps, now came and
asked for dance; men of the kind every
woman knOws-thick-ski and incap-
able of seeing that they are unWelcOme,
and who always want to snap up those
dances which she is keeping for her par
ticular friends. Seeing how engrossed
she was in this man, it is not surprising
that she refused them one and all with
little ceremony, fearing that, if she gave
one dance away, it might be the very one
he would want. Two or three times the
OminOus scOwl was produced for the
benefit of the more importunate of them,
no one of which escaped Jack; and the
angrier she got the more interested did
he seem to be IN his observation. When
the last Of her white-tied prosecutors had
been sucee ssfully frOwned away you may
imagine Hilda's feelings when she saw
her nero quietly walk of. He did not
come back either; so, still more puzzled,
and for the first time rather disap-
pointed in him, she fastened TO find
her father and insisted ON going home at
once.
''Well, Hilda; enjoyed yOurselfw said
Mr.. Trevor, who had been holding excel.
leuL ndHus at WHloL, anu was III SOOu
humOr in consequence.
Miss Trevor was seriously put out, for
all she replied was, "NO, bored rather
more than usual" aud then pretended 10
90 TO sleep. But she was still thinking Of
her mysterious friend, and wondering who
he could be. The more she thought of
him. the more inclined she was TO con-
cnde that the whole thing was myth,
and that the man, whose behavior was 50
strange, only existed in her Imagination;
for. after all, she had never seen him
speak 20, or appear to know, anybody. IL
was rather shock to her 20 admit that
she must have seen a vision, and that,
too, in the shape Of handsome man.
Stiil, as a week went by, aud neither IN
BrOmptOn road nor anywhere else did
she see a sign of him, she made up her
mind that he must have been the result of
a dlsordered digestion, now, happily, itself
again.
However, the disorder returned, and
under such exceptional circumstances
that she was Obliged 10 acknowledge that
he was flesh ard blood; aud very glad she
was to do 10, too.
Ii was about fortnight since the ball,
and Hda was having one az her own
house. II was one OF the best IN her
circle (Mr. Trevor did those sort OF things
wnll). and the rooms were crowded with
pretty women and irreproachably dressed
men.
lIlda was taking a well-earned rest
after hereNertlOns as hostess, IN the coW-
pany at man friend, with whom she
T..