Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-05-06
CHAPTER XXI.
RECONCILIATION.

CHAPTER XIII
RECONCILIATION
Some scales had fallen from my eyes
saw clearly that if a woman loves man. as
had now good reason for supposing that
Blanche loved me, it is not her place that
she should be always giving evidence of it
without something in return. My inherent
dislike to the namby PANTY Interpretation
OF love peculiar to Eastport had led me I'M
consciously to suppress all external methods
of evincing affection. Something now whis-
pered to me: Be more confident in your
thought toward her. A woman needs to be
very sure of the love of the man she would
choose, and the greater her love, the greater
may be the doubt as to its return from you,
unless such return be shown clearly, unmis-
takably.
met Blanche the next day Possibly 1
carried this thought in my eye for as it met
hers there seemed in the lighting up of her
features recognition of it. She took my
offered hand with frank, winning smile,
and an openness of manner which said more
than any words could have done Words
after all, are but one means for conveying
thought, and not always the strongest
She desired to return to the Bar as soon as
possible, being still anxious on her uncle's
account.
We Travelled ON horseback The moon was
at its full as we rode back to the Bar to-
gether
But my trials were not yet over. / had
the greatest of all to meet. | was burdened
with sense of over-much obligation to a
woman. Three times had this girl stepped
in and served me at crisis; first in loaning
me money; second in rescuing me from the
high-binders; thirdly in confirming my story
at fba f,-iaI he had
practical chiyalry in the affair, ana looking
over the whole matter, 1 felt sense of
humiliation
/ was silent Possibly she felt my depres-
sion. Moods may travel from mind to mind
in close rapport as well as words.
what are you thinking of, Johngn said
She
A month previous 1 should have evaded the
question, and said: "Of nothing in particu-
lar.n Latterly had come to the conclusion
that between some individuals, at least, the
fewer secrets of any sort the better; the
some" being limited in this case to two.
1t was hard work to speak my thought 1t
seemed TO resist my attempt to drag it out
1t would bury itself deeper than ever within
my breast And when hesitated it coniured
up Immediately series of evasions with
plausible reasons for using them.
/ shook them off and said: Blanche. the
trouble is now that you've played the mans
part all through and | the woman's, and now
that it's all over | want to go and hide myself
somewhere"
'You feel, then, under too much obligation
to a woman!n
''Well that's about what l mean,n re-
piled.
Suppose" she asked, ''our situations were
reversed, and you had been of the service to
me that you say have to you, how would it
be proper for me to feelE
''Oh, well, | replied, ''you know what's
generally expected of the man in these mat
ters.n
Expected by whomgn she asked.
''By the world-people, everybody
"And what right has the world-people
everybody-to expects What! That the
man should bear Off all the honors of knight
ly service, while the woman stays at home
and does fancy workl Has the world any
particular business in these matters which
concern Blanche Seton and John Holder,
Listen, john there is side to your case
Pardon me if | take the liberty of arguing
it for you. | do so the better to
argue my own. 1t is not, I admit easy or
pleasant for man or woman to act in opposi- |
ton to the worlds verdict or opinion in any |
matter. Nor may it always be wise. GER |
does expect the man to act the mans part in
all that concerns the woman. The world is
right also in this respect, though the mascu-
line half does not always fully carry its SEN
timents But when a woman sees an oppor- |
tunity to serve the man she loves will she re- !
fuse to so serve him if the opportunity does
not take the shape she desiress Certainly.
my womanly instincts recoiled from facing
the crowd that night in the hollow. Ger
tainly, | had rather not have faced that
court room full of men, andsin this country.
where now a woman is a show, stared at
and stared through with sentiment
far more Objectionable than mere
curiosity. But was there any one
else to act at the times Was 1 not COM
PEELED to do as / did quite as much for NV
own sake as yours, for had l not so done
would not my responsibility in the matter.
had harm came to you, have haunted and
harassed me ever afterward? Was it not
circumstance, after all, that reversed the sit |
uation, and would you not do the same for |
me? OF course you would. / should EXPECT |
1t of you | mean by ''expeetn that l know
you have it in you so to do. Be assured.
John, that if you wish to stand well with me,
you will not lack for opportunities to act like |
a man. And now is there any other griev-
anceP'
There Is that affair of the fandanco |
house,
''Do you wish to exchange your present
company for what you may find there to-
night" she asked archly
As some sort of luck would have it, we |
were obliged to pass through camp that |
very night where one of these standing revels |
was in full blast and quite open to our inspec-
ton from the street / turned my head
away.
1T does not seem so interesting to you as
formerly" she remarked
Its not fair to hit man when he's down, +"
replied.
'Wen, John, you know the way of the
transgressor is hard. / shall not punish you
often by these reminders-say once a year,
when your memory needs reviving"
CHAPTER XIII.
BACK AGAIN.
All Eastport was shaker from center 70 cir
.umference. People bugzed the news on the
street 1t was the first item dealt that morn
ing by Varney, the gossipy storekeeper, to his
customers over the counter. Deacon Hodges,
who kept the grocery at the corner, was so
full of it that he filed Miss Pelter's pail with
vinegar instead of the molasses she asked for.
Miss Pelter was so full of it that she did not
discover the mistake until reaching home
IN the pail DOttOn were QlSCeTnlDte u pair
Of spectacles. They were the deacons. He
had dropped them there in his abstraction
and the obscurity of the store cellar.
What was it!
Mrs. Pelter was telling Mrs. Ann Hedges
over her backyard fence in an interval taken
from the preparation of breakfast She was
on her way from the pump to the kitchen
with pail of water. Sausages were frying
in the kitchen You could hear them sizzling
and spluttering, and their SAVIOR was in the
morning air.
blanche Seton and John Holder came