Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-18
HER REVENGE.

HOW p0eCty your COUSIN III" 1SWl 00~ayn
MD, laxily, to Mis Bertha May, q they
stood In . cory corner Of . crowded saloon
watching the dancing.
3Yes,n Bertha replied, her EYES following q
little figure in blue, dancing with the keen
enjoyment and sest that como only to the
very young. ~she win b pretty when hez
manners are moro formed and she gets over
t her hoyden tricks."
II like . tom-boy GIRL" was the reply.
mind, I don't mean q fast woman. That h
simply detestable; but q girl who Is natural
. and has the fresh vivacity Of youth"
@You win find plenty Of fresh vivacity In
Bella Bertha replied, dryly. "6he Is rather
!, overpowering to my taste, though l love her
! ! dearly"
Then a mustached, perfumed exquisite
> claimed Miss May for a galop, and Paul Ross
lynn was left alone in his corner. A tall,
: broadshouldered man, with q face of fault
less regularity Of feature; large gray eyes,
! whose color changed with every emotion, and
, Q languid manner, that suited well the slight,
} very slight, drawl in his voice.
The little figure he was watching was
most unlike the stately blonde with whom he
had been converting, the daughter Of his
hostess
Isabelle Huntley was neither blonde nor
brunette, having a fresh, clear complexion,
large brown eyes, and a profusion of short,
nut-brown curls, that nestled closely round
her shapely little head. She was small and
thin, being at the age when scragginess IL
fully developed, and her movements were far
too abrupt for grace; yet she was pretty,
too, as she lifted her great eyes to her part
ner's face M revealed q row Of milk white
teeth in some laughing remark.
When she sat down near her aunt, Paul
sauntered across the room and commenced q
conversation with Mrs. May, which led, as he
hoped it would, to an introduction to "my
niece, Miss Huntley."
"This is our nearest neighbor, Bella" the
lady said; $50 you will meet him often this
summer" And Bella, too entirely uncon-
scious Of her selfhood to be bashful, held out
her gloved hand, and gave Mr.. Rosslyn q
schoolgirls grip Of welcome.
Mrs. May left them together, and Bella
opened a conversation by informing the gem
tleman that she knew all about him. No
reply following this startling piece of infor-
nation, she added:
"Bertha drove me past your place yester-
day as we came from the depot, and she told
me you had just come from Europe because
your father died-oh, I did not mean to say
that; please pardon me if I hurt your feel
ings" !.
"You did not" he said slowly, watching
with lazy admiration the quick changes Of
the expressive face.
u thought how awfully jolly it must be to
" that lovely house and grounds and do
just as you please. When I leave school I've
got to teach, you know, in the city; so all the
country l ever see is what I find in vacation, /
when Bertha has me down here. Bertha Il I
very good to me" she added, gratefully.
us she's" questioned Paul, amused at her |
frankness.
@Awfully!" with a great sigh. ave got
no father nor mother, only Uncle Frank,
and he's in China-and Amt May. But |
Bertha tries to make up in vacation for the
lonesomeness the rest of the time. Why, do |
you know, she gave me this party just to
please me? do so love dancing"
Will you waltz now2" said Paul; and in a
moment he had taken a place among the
dancers, and was waltzing with the easy
grace OF motion that is positive luxury to
one who loves dancing for its owl sake.
After the waltz was over he led his partner
to a vine covered balcony, where they PACED
up and down in the summer starlight and
chatted of many things. Something in the
frank, bright vivacity of Bella Huntley had
great charm for the world-weary man, who
had Travelled through the best society of two
continents, and had his heart still his own,
though it had been badly bruised and pune
tured in his thirty years of LIES warfare.
They talked of pictures, and Paul invited
Bella to view the collection he had brought
from abroad; of books, and he promised her
some nor procurable in this country: of
music, and he had an "Erard" that nobody
opened.
Looking back, after her head pressed the
pillow, Bella wondered if there was ever
sucu a'ueugnIIul parry ana Jne walk On the
balcony, the soft eyes of Paul Rosslyn, were
certainly most prominent in the delights of
the evening.
And he, smoking a cigar in his lonely L.
brary, yawned and voted all parties a
bore" country seat gatherings worst of all.
I'm the city one can escape on plea of an
other engagement, " he thought, and then his
musing took another form, and he concluded
that he must marry and settle down.
The home of Mrs. May being separated
from that of Mr.. Rosslyn by only a slight
iron fence, it was but natural the Young
man should find himself often in his neigh ]
boris grounds strolling under the trees in the {
morning, playing croquet in the afternoon
or sentimentalizing upon the porch by moon {
light. And the ound of his low, musical
voice, the sight Of his handsome face, grew 9
TO be dangerously pleasant to Bella.
He had read deeply, had Travelled much. i
and the girl, as the happy days flew along. U
became SO much more sedate that Bertha no
iced with a keen pang the dawning woman s
1ood whose source she guessed only too well. Il
She saw the careless dress becoming the sub e
Jet OF dainty finish, the brown locks care o
.ully curled, instead Of being combed hastily Il
tangle as they would, knots Of ribbon tied !
'nder snowy ruf1es, where hastily pinned
Collars were before. Loving her little cousin.
he trembled, knowing what a sensitive brain v
md heart she carried under her brusuue man.
lers. And the man Of the world studied the
rank, expressive face and smiled to sea how
could make it flush and brighten bv his
raise or droop under bis ~disapproval of a
ointment or even a ribbon. he liked tn
vatch the changing color upon the round
heck, the flash or mistiness of the largo ewes
the quivers of the sensitive mouth: and.
elng OF a thoroughly selfish nature. he never
bought OF the exquisite delicacy of the in
trument that severed so quickly to his
ghtest words.
For, In a stately fashion, he was wooinp I
'ertha May for his bride. She was hand. !
'nne, would be wealthy and would preside \
raceful]y over his house. So one NOON
ght night, when they sat alone on the wide
alcony, he asked her to be his wife. neither
them seeing a little white robed figure be-
md the lace curtains of the drawing room
Bella's heart seemed to stop as she heard
proposal. In a second the child was a
oman, q m scorned. Clear as a bell
me Bertha's voice:
You are mistaken, Mr.. Rosslyn; I am not =,
Ella"
"Bellar' with q light laugh, "why SURELY !
~ do not imagine I wish to marry that M.
ild?" "9
''she is 16. Many girls marry at that Va
g." >"
"A bread and butter school girl9 Ten wears oni
om now she will be a glorious woman: but
Q is a mere girl"
Yet you have wooed her as woman.n
You mistake! Inever wooed her! Surely
nan of my age may talk to a child of hers
misconStruction. Br1t Won Rartho