The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1886-02-10

meet him againl
These were the thoughts that occupied
the hour, but at last fell asleep. ''My
eyes always did make pictures when they
were shut" great pity never could put
the pictures en- canvas My dreams that
night would have been a fortune, either
painted or written. Oh, such glorious
sights and scenes-and always that
stranger somewhere near.
Well, a week passed, and l am
ashamed to say how frequently l thought
of him. of course, as l told myself then,
it was due to loneliness. to my entire
isolation, and to the fact that it
was my first prolonged absence from
home.
One afternoon, a chilly, drizzling
autumn day, a servant came to my room
with card. "a gentleman to see you,
Miss Stretton"
took the card wonderingly, thinking,
perhaps it is the minister" Then l
gave hasty look into the mirror,
smoothed back the curling bangs, gave a
touch of powder to my forehead and
pinch to my cheeks-I was beginning to
look little pale and went Immediately
to the parlor
The light was rather dim, and /
walked the length of the room before
discovering my guest. He was looking
from the window, and evidently did not
hear my steps, but turned suddenly.
Honestly, will be ashamed as long as
| live of what l almost did. 1t reminds
me of the little boy who said, "Pins
have saved lots of lives by not being
swallowed" think kiss saved mine
that time by not being given. was so
astonished, and, to tell the truth, so
glad, that very nearly returned his first
enthusiastic salutation; and if l had
well, there is no telling what l would
have done; jumped into the river 1
suppose; l always was thoughtless, i'm
pulsive creature.
We shook hands, though, and then
laughed, both of us, before he asked
pardon for calling, saying he had pur-
posed doing so each day since our first
meeting, but feared would consider it
presumptuous. At last he had decided
that he must offer an apology and ex-
planation for conduct which doubtless
appeared scarcely that of sane man.
81 was expecting my sister" he said
"my sister whom have not seen for ten
years"
Would you believe it-I promised to
tell you all the truth, or you should not
hear this-my heart all. ost few out from
my lips when he said that2 So "Chris-
tine" was his sister. only his sister. /
had not told myself before what manner
of bird, beast, or fowl she was; now
felt an unacknowledged satisfaction in
discovering.
"The mistake was due entirely to the
duster," he continued; ''she distinctly
wrote that her costume would consist of
a gray duster and blue veil, but since l
have thought of it, it seems to me all the
ladies wore busters. What masking
stuff is here! will tell her to be more
explicit next time; / might make an
other blunder, and it might be worse
one"
/ scarcely knew what this meant, but
it sounded pleasantly in my ears anyway"
He left, after awhile, asking to be al
lowed to call ''now and then," and
flew back upstairs, and went up to the
looking glass, thinking, 81 wish had
worn my blue cashmere to-day. instead
OF this sombre brown" What giddy
creatures girls are, to be sure!
Well, he did call now and then, and I
must admit he was always welcome.
One day, just about the beginning OF
the Christmas holidays, we had an en-
gagement for walk. and after returning
(the evening was dark and cooD he came
in, only for a moment, he said. The
room was warm, with a red fire slumber-
ing under great bank of black coal.
opened it q little and leaned forward,
holding my fingers to the blaze. Di-
rectly, something Influenced me to look
up. He had remained standing, and
was very near me, gazing down upon my
face with such an intense. searching
look, that involuntarily l clasped my
hands before my face. l cannot say why,
exactly. fear it was to conceal what
he might see there, but l shrank from
his glance, intuitively.
"Don't," lie said, very gently, and
STOPPING over me, drew my hands away
and held them in his own.
have always contended that there
was an unfair advantage, for | never
could conceal my feelings. He held my
hands in a tight clasp, and turned away,
but directly he drew me nearer and lifted
up my face until he could look straight
down into my eyes.
Then a quick indignation, sudden
anger, took possession of me, and
wrenched myself away. and asked,
proudly, "How dare youl by what
rightw
'Because dare to love you" he in
teTTupted 'dare to love YOU with all
the intensity of my whole being"
Then those foolish tears OF mine came
again. and he threw his arms about me,
and gazed down into my eyes, exclaim-
ing: "Now you look rs in the first mo-
ment l loved you"
Then he kissed my lips for the second
time, and we were betrothed.
1t was a queer courtship altogether
one in which the climax, the acme, was
reached in the very first moment, for !