The Arkansaw traveler., 1886-05-08
. When a man,s married his

vhepton felt that hls share was falling
 unon him somewhat prematurely. He
 isd not object, as some elderly bride
 giiooms-elect might have done, to the
 Eng rides which his nephew and his be
 fzothed took together every afternoon
 Ion the contrary, he much preferred to
 perform his own moderate spell of ex-
 sfcise alone, or in company of Mrs
 ,asle. who never cared to urge her ami
 nal out of a trot. But what he did ob-
 feet to most strongly was the increasing
 heedlessness and apathy of Ellinor over
 the evening task, to which she had for
 merly applied herself with some meas
 ure of success.
 "I don't know what has come over the Grll" he was moved to exclaim irritablv
 one day to Hubert Her blunders are
 nconceivable-literally inconceivable;
 and if it were not for the good nature
 of Mrs. 0gle l should find myself se-
 nously embarrassed by her-well, I
 really must call it stupidity" N "l am afraid" said Hubert, shaking
 his head gravely, that she will never
 learn to punctuate"
 "Punctuate! cried the old man If
 she would learn to spell, it would be
 .omethingl"
 Meanwhile Ellinor herself was not al-
 ogether happy. Her rides with Mir # Mallet were certainly delightful. and T sometimes in the course of them she
 managed to forget that she was engaged
 to be married to man old enough to
 be her grandfather; but pleasant, Il friendly, and kind as her companion # hoe >ot tl,o,, l. I
 liyering her from her fate; and, indeed
 she did not see how the thing was to be
 done. To make Lord Shepton repent
 of his bargain might not be a very diff
 cult matter; but she knew very well
 that the important person to be
 reckoned with was not Lord Shepton
 but her mother
 & At length, one afternoon, she took
 heart of grace, and asked, Mir Mallct S do you remember what you said to me
 last week about-about your uncle and S myself ?"
 They had just come in from riding
 and were alone in Mrs. Ogle's sitting \ room, that lady being still out, in atten- dance upon Lord Shepton. Hubert who had taken up his station at the window, and was idly watching the passers-by, started and turned round at this question
 ITO be sure do, he answered. Are you not satisfied with the way in which l am trying to effect your rclease?' Are you trying? l didn't know Poor me! l have been getting no credit then, all this time. Have you imagined that it has been out of sheer personal amiability that your mother has been allowing you to neglect the old man all day, and has sat up correcting your mistakes for him at night?"
 The girl looked bewildered and a lit tie frightened My mother!" she re- peated incredulously But you can not have spoken to her It is not pos sible that she should be on my side She will never, never coppent to my letting Lord Shepton go"
 That is where you are mistaken. 1 have spoken to her; she is upon our side; and she will consent to your let ting my uncle go, because-prepare yourself for slight shock-she does not mean to let him go very far. Did it never strike you that your mother is in some respects better fitted than your self to be helpmeet to Iily uncle?" Ellinor clasped her hands and let them fall upon her knee. A light broke in upon her. "Oh." she exclaimed "how clever you are! "
 "So my relations are fond of telling me. That was why they sent me hither By hook or by crook, l was to prevent you from marrying my uncle Well, l believe have as good as succeeded in my mission; but the question for me is whether have succeeded in something which has become of far more conse- quence to me than that" He drew a little nearer, and said, in an altered tone, Miss Ogle-Ella-you haven't known me long, and what l have just told you is not likely to make you think better of me; butt love you Can you give me any hope that you will ever care for mel"
 Perhaps he was sufficieA tly clever to have guessed beforehand awhat her an swer would be; but possibly also-for true lovers are always modest-he may really have felt the doubt that he pro fessed. In either case there can be no reason for making promising member of the diplomatic service look foolish by recording the ecstatic speeches that fell from him during the next twenty minutes or so His language was more in accordance with professional princi- ples when he arranged the climax of his operations for that same evening, and assigned to Miss Ogle the part that she was to take in bringing it about
 But l shall never dare!" she de dismay.
 There is really nothing to be afraid of. Think of the immense moral sup port that you will have at your back mine, your mothers, that of your own conscience; not to mention that of the eternal fitness of things"
 As the result of this exhortation, a sufficiently amusing little scene was en- %AA ofx Lof