The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1886-04-08

are, Laura, if YOU committed an ac,
which reflected GiShonor upon our
| name. could never, never forgive YOU.
Nay, dear child" he said. kissing the
pale face which was raised pleadin@ly
to his, ''do | not know how impossible
it is for you to do q WRONG? 1 only
wish to prove to You how irrevocable
is my resolution. Every man has q
SHELTON in his house, and l must not
grumble at mine. would like to lock
it in an iron safe, and throw the key
into the sea-
What. whatr' cried Doctor Bax,
who, coming into the passage with the
household cat upon his shoulder, heard
the last words of the uncompleted sem
tence. What do you want to throw
into the sea?n
The key of the safe in which l
would like to lock my skeleton" re-
piled Reuben HaFriid, with a smile.
TRYING to get away from your skel-
etonr' exclaimed Doctor BaX, tickling
the ears of the cat. Pooh! rubbish
As if YOU or any man could escape it!
No, no, my friend, it will stick to you
while you draw breath, and, as likely
as not, it will follow you into the other
world. Just now you have house full
of old invisible bones. l warrant you
every mans skeleton has stepped cut
of its cupboard to accompany its owner
to Your Christmas party. and that there
are a score of them jostling up against
Us, if we could only see them. For
curiosity, now" he said, motioning
Laura and her father to the half-opened
door of the room where some of the
elderly people were playing cards, and
most of the young ones playing forfeits
and making love. ''looh at Stephen
Winkworth there, sitting by himself
what skeleton he has got a perpet-
ual day and nightmare! II never leaves
him. 1t perches upon his shoulder,
like the bird of ill-Omen we read of:
Leave my Loneliness unbroken,
Quit the bust above my doori
Take thy beak from out my heart,
And Thy fern from OIL nv door,
Quoth the raven. "NeVermore"
And Stephens daughter, poor child
has not sne a skeleton? Heaven help
heri hers is the saddest of all, for it
stands at the portal of girls bright
est hopes, shutting out the light. Look
at little Mr.. Ramage-Mrs. Rbmage il
his sleleton-and is not she an awful
one, hanging round mans neck?
And you. my dear" he said to Laura,
you have your skeleton, and l have
mine-here, hereI' and he smote his
breast Electrically, and upset the cat
Your skeleton, Doctor BaX," said
Laura; ''why, what kind of a one can
that be?'
"a tearing, staring, horrible, mali
cious, wicked skelcton!" cried the doc
tor, SO loudly tina: the eyes of every per-
son i'll the room were turned upon him.
"a fearful, hiGcous, monstrous, hob
goblin kind OF skeleton. l will tell you
what it is-in confidence, so that nobody
shall hear" Gle raised his voice to its
highest pitch.) Il love you, and you
are going to marry another! If it be
not true, may this kiss | am going to
give you under the mistletoe be my
lastr'
But Laura darted away, and the little
doctor, pursuing her, turned all the
card-tables topsy-turvy and set the
whole room in an uproar.
Oh, but it was a merry Christmas
party, despite the skeletons, and little
Doctor Bax was the life and soul of it!
Had an account been kept it would
have been proved that he kissed every
female in the house at least half dozen
times over Even Mrs. Ramage sub
mitted to the SALUTE; and as for Miss
Wymer, she stepped under the mistle-
toe Ike . willing lamb and smacked
her lips after the operation.
There were two or three cozy little
rooms on the lower floor of the house,
in which the guests found themselves
almost by chance if they happened TO
stroll out of the larger apartment
where the chief merry-making was
carried on. In one Of these, an hour
later, were Stephen Winkworth and
his daughter.
Take me home, father" said the
girl. Il am weary of this; want to
be at home
Il thought you wished to be here"
he returned, wistfully. 1T is gayer
than our dull house"
Il know it is-but how can l be
merry. seeing what | see?" she ex-
claimed, fretfully, 81 am like a baby
crying for 4 toy which somebody else
has got
Child" whispered Stephen, bend
ing low, Ii William Fairfield loved you,
you would be happy"
DO not speak of it, father.' sobhed
Alice. 1T can never, never be! Love
can not be bought
But it can be won and lost" he
in tone so low that his
words did not reach her ears. ''f it
can be proved to man that the woman
he loves is false" He stepped q
few PAGES from his daughter, and closed
the door to prevent interruption. My
girls happiness may hang upon the
| have made tonight. Shall
l let the opportunity slip from me? It
was destiny that led ME from the house
an hour ago, to see-what? To see
this immaculate, spotless woman who
is engaged to marry William Fairfield
in the arms OF another man, and to
hear her make an appointment with
him at midnight. At midnight, by the
Lord! when no third person is nigh to
witness her disgracem A low. scorn-
fnl laugh fioated on the air, unheard
by the weeping girl. This fair Great
ure, so outwardly honest, this paragon
Of mOdesty and virtue, is like the rest
Of her shameless sex-false, false to the
backbone! On, my ladies. shame upon
YOU! Not for me-, whose life has been
blasted by your treachery, not for ME to
spare you! l would whip your false !
bodies with whips made of your own /
delicate hair-ay, every mother daugh-
ter of your
There was bitter, biting ring in the .
mans muttered tones, inspired by |
which it was torture to re- |
call