The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-04-22

Il gIrl, l dare say
\ nice sort Of a giri, The wretched
/ man. | hated him,
We think a great deal more of her
Z than that said that dear old Mr.. Ram
say.
Indeed. replied his companion. with
I out evincIng the slightest interest IN
+ the matter.
~Yes-indeed and indeed echoed my
old friend. But. joking apart. did YOU
/ not notice she bids fair 10 be most
beautiful womanE7
/ II would have needed little more 20
[ have brought mefTOm my luTking-place
/ on purpose To kiss that good old man,
I Vincent Hope laughed quietly.
/ "To'tel You the truth, he said. Il
/ don't think | noticed her much. She
/ seemed To me of the ordinary school
+ girl type. | don't care much for school
I girls
/ | dug my nails into my hands and
1 ground my teeth. Handsome as the
I man looked in the moonlight. | could
I have killed him then and there.
Yet said Mr.. Ramsay. i noticed
/ she talked pretty freely TO YOU"
The Shrug of Str. Hope shoulders al
+ most maddened me.
Yes; but sad nonsense he said.
although it was rather amusing at
=
her now. She is very raw. and. / should
( say. rather awkward. If properly look
ed after, no doubt She Will grow up to
be d decent sort OF Young woman
Raw and awkward, He spoke of me
me. whom many of my school friends
called Queen Heritage. from the stately
and dignltied manner | was supposed to
3 assume at times. \ decent sort of a
young woman, That | should hear a
, d
judge in such matters, graYely set
this up as the standard TO which might
arTlVs-lf properly looked after. II was
too much; the fall was too great. And
as the horrible thought flashed across
me that his description might be true
| his prediction correct. tears of sheer
modification sprung into myeyes. Even
| Mr.. Ramsay 5 almost teSty rejoinder
gave me no comfort.
oh. nonsense, Hope, She will grow
up beautiful, accomplished. and clever
woman. You judge her wrongly. Talk
To her again in the draWing-room: there
she will he more at home"
All right, | WILL" the wretch answer
ed. But at present | want to talk to
you about more important things than
young ladies'. l have to-day been offer
ed the editorship of the PiccddUlg MdQu-
zine. Shall | take it,"
serious a matter todecide out here. We
will talk it over by and by. We must
join the ladies now. | see every one
else has gone in"
Then l suppose we must" said Mr..
Hope rather ruefully, and tossing his
cigar away with a half sigh.
| waited a minute; then peered out,
and at last ventured to creep round the
laurel and recOnnOiter. Thk broad back
pf my candid crit Ic was iISA Jfcuupaa,
ing through the dining-rOOm window. |
shook my fist ViclouSly at it. | watched
Mr.. Ramsay follow his guest. saw the
window close and the blind fall: then |
flew at top speed to the library; whence
l had made my exit. entered noiselesSly.
and threw myself into a chair. feeling
that my life was blighted.
The room was family lit up: the door
was closed: | was alone with my misery:
for misery it was-I use the word sober
l. and advisedly, without a thought of
testing. Fortunately or unfortunately,
| | had heard myself appraised at my true
value. My merits had been weighed bv
an impartial hand; | had been judged
and condemned. | was a failure. Raw
and awkward" "A decent sort of q
Young woman"-the words ate into my
heart. No expressions could have been
devised which would have wounded me
more deeply.
He would give me another chance in
| the drawing-room. Would he? | think
not. Mr.. Vincent Hope. No power on
earth shall take me there tonight. |
turn TIE gas up. and look at myself in
the mirror. Ny hair is disheveled. my
eyes are red, and / cannot help fancy
| ing that my nose looks rather coarse.
! Yes: it must be true; | am not even
! good-loOking.
/ Beneficial as it may be for one who is
not without vanity to learn the truth, |
hate with deadly hatred the man who
| has revealed it to- me. Solemnly | de-
| clare, somehow. that some day | viii
| have my revenge. ! am very young,
/ which Is an advantage to one who may
| have to wait a long time for a certain
/ object. Oh. yes; / can wait-even for
/ ten, fifteen, or twenty years. | can wait.
/ but / Will have revenge, full revenge.
/ So | raved ON and on, growing more
/ tragical every moment. until | broke
| down. and began to cry again.
| | had barely dried my eyes, when
| Clara entered the room.
What, Heritage." she cried: "yOu
| herel | have hunted high and low for
you. but never thought of looking here.
/ Come into the drawing-roOm; We must
/ sing our duet"
/ / pleaded a splitting headache: | could
/ llOl DtdT lllt not room. L SitOltiu 20 10
! bed at once; and in spite of Clara ; en-
/ treaties, to bed ! went. and had the
! pleasure of dreaming that ! was stick
/ ing stilettOs and scissors into Mr.. Vim
cent Hope. This was so comforting,
| that | was sorryWhen morning came
and | found it was but a dream.
Wasn't he delightful?' was Clara's
| first question when we met
"Wasn't who delightful?"
mir. Hope, of course. The other men
were fogies."
Now, Clara. look here. Once for all.
l tell you | found that young man de-
testable-simply detestable. ! hate
him. | never met any one | took such
dislike to-"
Clara's blue eyes opened in amaze
ment.
Il thought YOU got on so well togeth-
er." she said. lie asked for you in the
to hear you were i'll. We all liked him
| immensely"
He asked after me, A piece of i'm
pertinence-a gratuitous insult-a piece
| of supeTtluOus hypocrisy, which, were
it possible, made my wish for revenge
stronger.
We'll. 1 loathe him" said. and
there's an end of it. l won't even talk
about him."
L AdS dS EOOu dS IlS NDIu. anu tldId.
for the want Of listener, was obliged
to desist from ringing the changes in
praise of Mr.. Hope.
| left Twickenham two or three days
after this. As ] drove to the station.
Mr.. Hope-most likely on his way to
the Ramsays' house-passed the car
riage. Clara was with me- so the young
man bowed to us collectively | made
no sign of recognition.
= g..
Hope. Didn't you see him."
Was it," | replied. y had quite for
gotten what he was like"
For a beginner. this was pretty
good fib. After telling it 50 calmly.
felt | was getting on. Raw and awk-
ward" Oh, no. u did not forget either
the words or the speaker. When | de-
clare vendetta, | mean it.
Five years passed by. / was twenty
two. / had seen many people and many
things. Either for better or worse. ]
had changed in much. but still retained
my knack of never forgetting a foe OF
friend. Incredible as it seems. my an
ger against Mr.. Hope was keen as ever
my wish for revenge as strong. The
injury he had unwittingly done me haC
been greater than. even in my first burs
of rage. had imagined. During the in
terval his words kept recurring to my
D4ilio- diiu Hll3ucLeA tLic grow III ol prop
er confidence and self-esteem. j Ions
series of pleasant little social triumphi
alone permitted me to say at last tha
his prophecy had not been fulfilled. Blu
now. after five years. the more / though
of the annoyance. even anguish, hi.
words had caused me. the more viciou!
| felt toward him: the more resolved t
compass revenge when the opportunity
occurred. Oh yes: l was good hater-
not doubt of it. | could carry m,
stone seven years in my pocket. theI
turn it and carry it seven years more oi
twice seven years. never for momen