Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-01-07
MARGUERITE.
gym. I. ARMSTRONG;.

i a LUCRATIVE mercantile business In New
York. Tom was good sort of fellow,
a little ccceptric, perhaps, but upon the
whole frank, congcnial warm-hearted
friend. He was wealthy, and besides
his house in the city he had avilla at
Long Branch and small summer
residence in the Adirondacks; but this
| time we had come to a little out-of-thc-
way fishing village on the Pcnobscot to
spend the summer, / think from the
fact Tom had got tired of being angled
for by mammas who had manageable
daughters.
Tom was a great favorite with the
fair sex. That is one thing i never
understood about him. While he was
always attentive to their most trivial
wants, he frankly declared himself per-
fcctly Indifferent to their subtle charms.
But it was his way, and i thought
nothing Of it.
People seemed to come here mostly
to build up tlcir systems, instead of
reducing them, and enjoy few weeks
of rest. And yet, there were those who
came to kill time, or because certain of
heir set were there; and so it usually
turned out that there was a fair display
of beauty, fashion and folly-enough to
attract the admiration of the observant
villagers, the feminine portion Of which
took birds eye view from all the cham
Der windows of the quaint houses, in as
close proximity as possible to the world
gone mad.
For mel was too much taken up
with my sketches to take part in any
of the doings which took place at the
hotel, and was quiet observer Of all
that passed. 1t was an out-of-thc-way
place, and the only possible inducement
for people to come here was the vast
amount of pleasure they could have on
of little money, Ia PLEASANT country,
dotted aroundby brown Old homestcads
and orchards Of, delicious fruit; there
was but little opportunity for. amuse-
mcnts here, except the~plehsant walks
that -na.ufe had f,rnehats-fssF
,9'here were here at tbs tfno4 about
100 Yisitofs, stopping at the hotel in
quest of rest .and health We met in
the upper saloon and lower saloon; on
the veranda, in the pleasant walks, and
on the shore; and very motley crowd
we made in one place and another.
One s.eyening ! came in later than
sashal. The dining room was deserted,
save by a lady who sat opposite my
usual place ..at the table: Twas out of
.,nnaor, forI hEad not succeeded IN get
ting thefight shadeto hiy picture that
day, and Idid notapay any attention to
my new neighbor,-until she asked me
to pass ihe patter;; whcn-I looked up
and bsh@ III most bcsntiful face /
had Sen She was very farther
small Shead, tie clustering hair, the
youthful eyes, sgare to her an almost
ichildislsiees, wAonrAidosuses had sent
| up to sspk tpr ljfe dndslight. sg
Beg aAxion,' ! stamrhered, ''did
|syouspeaks
Il Eyes. was the simple reply; 81 have
ispoken to. you twice, but yeu were owl
Identity very much pl'eoccupied, for you
4 did not hear me. I,
And she gave. a low, sweet laugh
that sounded very spiea3apt to my ears.
| 4 he ice once bfokcn, We talked about
I things in general, and before supper
was over / learned that she came with
an invalid lady. as companion and
they were there for the season.
I, There was something about her so
simple and childhke. yet so brave and
womanly, inwardly made up my mind
she should find friend and protector
in me; for, judging from her oonyersa-
ton, she was poor and had hard
struggle to get along in the world.
| think she must have read my
thoughts, for when we passed out of
the supper room, she held out her
hand and said: Thank you; am
very much in need of friend like you.
Call me Marguerite, for like it best. -
/ would have asked her more about
herself, but there was something in her
voice that forbid such familiarity.
"Elwood, old boy" said Tom that
night as we sat on the verandar smok-
ing, tell me about her"
| "WhoP'' ! asked, taking down my
feet from off the railing, and looking at
him with surprise.
Now don't feign innocence, old fell
low he replied, with the utmost non
chalance imaginable; "she is wondrous-
| ly beautiful.
His praise of Marguerite nettled me
there was an under current of sarcasm
in his voice which did not like; but
told him all l had learned about her,
and ended by advising him not TO fall in
love.
Never fear; there is no danger" he
replied, with a shrug. you say she is
very poor?"
Yes, / replied, depending entirely
upon her own exertions for her living. y
Then you may have herr was the
heartless reply; ana 1om pulled hard at
I his Havana, while fell to thinking OF
Marguerite. was provoked at him;
all the more so, because he was wealthy
and she was poor girl.
saw good deal of Marguerite dur.
ing thu next few days. There seemed
to be some spell in her beautiful brown
eyes, something subtle in her speech
and magnetic in her presence that the
best men paid homage to. The ladies'
at first, hardly deemed her worthy o.
notice she assumed so little ant
! dressed SO plainly; but within weel
they found they had in her dangerou,
rival.
| But strange to say, Tom did no
trouble himself about Marguerite, bu
devoted his time to flirting with Mis-,
Fosberg, a wealthy belle from New Or
Orleans, whom he had met Mt Ions
Branch the previous summer. / didn'
understand him. / was disappointed