The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-05-19
THE ARKANSAW TRAVELLER
"Certainly!" And Mrs. Dalton.

"Certainly!" And Mrs. Dalton, taking it back, quotes from it:
 "'Though 1 cannot pretend to offer you the one great passion of life sad passages beyond the ken of other mortals have tarnished the pure luster which once surrounded my soul as with halo-yet, if you will take 8 heart weary with the sorrows of the ages, dimmed by the darkling doubts with which an intimate knowledge o1 humanity clouds the spirit, take me to your tender breast, and let me find shelter there from life's griefs and dis appointments. What recompense a heart blighted as mine has been can bestow l will strive to make to your angelic sympathy and goodness"
 "Is it not beautiful?" cries Dolly, in an ecstacy. q wonder what he means! l suppose some horrid woman threw him over once."
 "I think it is exceedingly imperti- nent, and hope you will resent it.'
 "Resent ]" almost shrieks Dolly. "Why, it is declaration?"
 "Get me my plotting book off that table," commands Mrs. Dalton reso- lutely. "Now," she says beginning to write, "you will answer it in this way, or 1 wash my hands of you, and tomorrow he will have reduced you to abject misery again."
 She writes hurriedly for few min- utes, and then, with frightened color reads the draft aloud:
 DEAR MIR. LAscELLEs: I have received your melancholy letter, and am truly sorry for all you seem to have suffered. But, for my part LOOK upon the world as very pleasant place, and have made up my mind to enjoy my self as much as possible; so, as l could not console you. and you, with the ideas you express. much better look for somebody whose tenn perament Is more like your own. l suppose you mean me to understand that you have than you are with me, which, to say the least, IS not very flattering No. l must have an undivided heart, or none at all. Your sincere friend, D. s.
 There is desperate fight between Mrs. Dalton and Dolly before the lat ter could be persuaded to copy and forward what she considered heart- less and flippant missive. In the end Marian triumphs. MT. Lascelles does not appear at breakfast, and Dolly, though her soul quakes within her, laughs and talks to Dick.
 Later in the morning, when they are playing lawn tennis, Clement Las celles, feeling much smaller than he has ever done in his life, seeks counsel from Mrs. Dalton. With an angelic smile she alternately bricks him with daggers and makes him gulp down bowls of poison but she does him an excellent turn by taking good deal of the nonsense out of him. He con- fesses that he adores Dolly. How, o how, is he to win her? Has he the ghost of a chance?
 Mrs. Dalton, looking solemn, de- clares her inability to reply to this. She hints at Dolly's youth and love of amusement. She hints, too, at Dicks unfagging good spirits and temper. And the upshot of it is that when Dick returns, crest-fallen, from his afternoon ride with Dolly, having spoken and received his answer, Clem- ent Lascelles carries off the young lady to her boudotr on pretense of wanting to be shown something, and, replacing the melancholy of Hamlet by the con- quering airs of young Loveloce, takes her in his arms, swears he has been a fool, and has never really loved any one but her sweet self, and that if she &C., cepts him her life shall be one round of pleasure.
 Twenty minutes later Dolly has passed on all his embraces and more to Marian.
 "How clever you are, darling !" she says admiringly.
 To which Mrs. Dalton replies "Now you know how to manage him, make good use of your knowledge."- London World.