Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-04-05

man friends, VINO DOIc Ing AVP..e"V
unto himself They readily agreed 70 ac-
company him in this call. Each o. these
gentlemen felt himself particularly ealeu
upon TO appear at his best, eacn imaglne1
J he ready bushes and bashful coyhess OF
the vounr lady when no should converse
with her. He had no doubt Of the victory
which awaited him; Of the quickening
heart.throbs and haif.drawn sign Wneh nc
should bid her farewell
Thus each, fuh OF conscious power ana
tender tolerance toward bis less gtted
companions, sailed forth as II the con-
quest were already won.
The girls had been unusually. par
iicular about their toilets, II we
may Judge from the length OF time
they spent in their rooms that afternoon.
Miss Crofton was tall aud slender; she
wore black dress, so made that she APP
reared even taller than she really was,
while rich masses Of dark auburn hair
were piled high on her head. In appear
ancc She was all, and more, than these
gentlemen had hoped for. "Would she
! prove herself one more victim TO the un-
SURPRISING charms of these, sociciy's
most gifted young mcny"
She rose as they entered, blushing
| slightly, and the meriiest Of dark blue
eyes looked into each Of the admlring
faces as the gentlemen spoke her name.
These eyes seemed to say, through
the small, gold-rimmed glasses, perched
on the daintiest of noses, ''if you
but knew what | know" and her most
bewitching mouth might have echoed the
words.
But when eho spoke there was an af-
fected stiffness in her accent; she spoke
with cool delibsration, pausiDg often as
II embarrassed, her eyes bent down.
Once she lifted them and glanced at Miss
Isabelle and Mr.. Bartlett again saw them
fairly oycIfowing with merrlment which
| seemed in strange contrast with her
voice.
The air Of mystery which hung about
her made her all the more enchanting;
aud as she gaiupd co0rgc hcr voice lost
/ its affected tone, she ,apa sed lhcin all in
witty r,mGrks aud playful repGrtee, and
1 Il was late before the gentlemen left that
! nig0t, each TO dream Of the fair stranger.
Mr. Bltleti could not ret her from his
/ thoughts. She fascinated him, charmed
/ him, aud be waited impatiently for the
/ opportunity OF seeing her again. His com
/ piacent dreams might have been some
what disturbed could he have heard the
merry voices, full of suppressed laughter,
us the three girls talked it oJerl after the
gentlemen had left, and made their plans
for the morrow.
The next afternoon Mr.. Bartlett was
walking down the street, his thoughts in
tent ON the stranger" aud impatient for
the evening that he might be with her
again, when he saw the Misses Harding
and--yes, Miss Croiton with them, pass
ing In u carriage. She wore tho most
becoming Of black caps, which, with her
auburn hair, made her most enchantingly
picturesque.
She raised her head, adjusted her
glasses with the utmost GOODNESS, and
gave him the benefit OF most decided
stare; then gracefully bowed her dainty
head aud turned TO admire building on
the opposite side Of the street. This
plqued Mr., Bartlett, and he thought, "she
shall regret such unusual conduct toward
myself, | will heap Goals of lrc on her
headn
In the evening, when he reached the
home of the ila,dings, his companions Of
last evening were there before him. How
ever he determined not to be outdone.
Never before had he devoted himself so
assiduously to obtaining the favor of a
young lady, The evening passed
off very pleasantly aud quickly,
although at one time the young ladies'
seemed unaccountably embarrassed Mr..
Bartlett was recalliGg some "reminiscences
81 n picnic OF the summer before, and
mentioned Mss Triton, with the usual
naughty curl of the lip, and was about TO
say more, but was stopped by an angry
glance from Miss Crofton and look Of
/ hnrritlnH fAur pNf ha farne - I'd
ing and her sister At this moment Mrs.
Harding entered to tell the girls they
, would have Just Time to catch the train.
/, Miss Harding at once proposed that they
all walk to the station, it was such a
short distance from their home To
! this they readily agreed Miss
Crofton took leave of Mrs. Hard.
, Ing, thanking her for her kindness
during this visit, and urging her to allow
the girls TO come to her home very soon
: Mr., Bartlett took her small valise ano
j, asked that he might accompany Miss
y Crotton, congratulating himself that the
= end was not yet. INSTRUMENTATION wa:
spirited and interesting, Miss Croftot
!, talked freely and rapidly. Mr. Bartlett
h actually forgot his own personality for
Il time and was spell-hound. Had II no
y been that the small vallse was so alarm
: ingly heavy as to annoy him, we cauno
:; tell what our friend might or might no
= have said; let it suffice to say, he neye
~ forgot that walk.
~ They had but few moments at tn
20 station; crowds were rushing for tn
~ train. Miss Crofton spoke few tende
: words of farewell Mr.. Bartlett led he
I to the car steps and touchlngly graspe
!, her hand, While still repeating tines
u good-byes, Miss Croiton stepped back
II dropped her glasses, lifted her hat an
" will 1t the superb auburn hair and b,
, holdl there stood Miss Triton, tn
y home young lady Mr.. Bartlett droppe
l. the yallse, it opened and large brio
:, rolled out. AT the same time the girls
!, the sweetest Of accents, in their pecullal
10 ly penetrating soprano voices, said
4 "Didn't you remember boys, that this
!, the flst Of AprilGn
10 To this day Mr.. Bartlett refrains frol
= tender glances, and guards uneeaslngl
: his every heart-throb.
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