Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-07-20
An Unsusnected Heroine.

An u us llOCISu ACEOl
When hired lodgings at Madam Hamp-
TONS 1 had no idea that she owned so pre-
,iOus thing as a daughter. Not that it
would have made any difference if had
known it. Ihad become Indifferent to women;
they interested me only as a trivial study
You viii say that woman as a study is too
dangerous bat it had never proved so with
me. In the meantime neither sought nor
avoided them; those whom fate threw in my
way ] placed under my mental microscope,
not caring much for what it revealed. Ny
Indifference, however, did not arise from any
lost illusions. had never been in love, and it
never occurred to me that the thing was
possible 1 had been on friendly terms with
blonde and brunette, with the prude and the
eoquette, the clever and the designing; but
kindergarten eirexistence haitian hOurlater.
Madam Hampton herself never left her
room; she WIS doubtless dying; but she had
been so long about it, and made SO little cir
cumstance about it, that nobody gave It a
thought, it would seem. She saw her dodgers
and arranged terms, and sent msthe bills; and
yet the house and aIIits appointments seemed
to share the order Of the planstary system.
The motive power was madam 3 daughter. I
tnVOluntarily pictured her, since we always
picture those who appeal, individually to as
in anyway, as a cORFsefeatured woman, with
''siiyer threads among the gold, ~ a. face more
or less wrinkled, a sharp voice big round
hands, and a geniusfor snubbingbhe servants
and haggling with the butcher and baker.
On entering madam's room enc day, IN
order to settle my account, according to. the
custom Of the houses: behold a slender being
before the open fire, with one ting kand On
the mantel, while lavender morning gown
turned the knot of yellow hair at. the back Of
the head, from which, some curls escaped in
20 pure gold There WIS an air of hI11urv
ond leisure about which was simply delicious
in view OF the facts.
MY daughter" said madam, presently
''Estelle, this is Mr.. Van Huysam; you have
heard me speak of him
Estelle turned q beautiful. naughty flee IN
my direction, bowed slightly, smiled vaguely.
Indeed might say have heard you speak
Of no one else. - Plainly the old lady had
been singing my praises, and the younay Lady
did not fancy the tone.
do not know what chord thrilled. Ia nv
heart at these words in that soft minor
voice. capable of all melody. of that terse ex-
preston. nor how l got myself out Of the
room. \ man who has received q. fafa5 bull
let IN the breast does not recognize tbs sen
satiOn, for the reason that he has uRyezr ex-
peripnced it before; he dOes-not know its inn
port. We met often after this. always by ac-
H. staircase.
nan, ana nnally one night made so bold as
to knock at the door of her music-rCOEn.
She welcomed me with her naughty cordial
ity, if haughtiness can be cordial
There were three or fOuryOunp men a READY
in possession, but she placed her seat near
my Own,a and while she anon threw out rave
Inns Of wit for the general benefit. / received
the lions share of attention. This was fat
tering to my amOurprOpre. But still, when
ever repeated my call, L had always to
wrestie with handful. OF younger men for
the supremacy. must confess that before
reached this point i had been Obliged to
wrestle with myself to- overcome ppejuCiice. A
Van Huysam in love with. his Iandiady's
daughter was an anomaly. What would nv
family and friends say to such an affair?
With what eyes wOuld they regard itt What
would Miss Douglass think, for whom had
been destined, but whO,had been a hCbblede-
hoy girl of thirteen, when / had least seen her?
Of course e,0Ouldl care nothing for me; it
would be a wound to- her vanity at the most
I had never intended to marry herr. / had
never consented, in fact; that bOny, shy
SCHOOLGIRL, with. the big eyes and the lank
figure, had never appealed to me; had new
er been able to'foEgiTe her for stammering
and blushing.
Besides, there had been some rumor that
the Golfers OF the family had suffered during
their sOjOurn abroad, and l had lost sight of
them through their own negligence. But
landlords daughter The idea would wither
all my acquaintance However, love not
only laughs at lOcksmiths, but at ones re-
latiOus When 1 summed myself in Estee's
presence, cared no more for the world s
opinion. OF for that Of any Van Huysam but
myself than for the inhabitants of falkland:
bat once away from that subtle magnetism,
than my poles changed. / saw a thousand
reasons for giving up what one does not pos
sess- Such a thing as a Van Huysam marry
ing out of his sphere had never been known in
The family annals. But how did / know that
Estele would marry me- To be sure, if
had been quite certain OF that perhaps /
should have hesirated TO proceed further.
The 1ar-0H- unatrainable. and din is dear TO
the soul of mau.-at least tlli 1T Is his TO take
OF leave. One day when we were reading a
new poem together. "a card was brought IN.
''Tell Alr. Chester thar am engaged and
cannot see him tonight / overheard her
say TO the servant. mir. Chester does not
appreciate our author, she apOlOgized to
me. and 1 am not self-sacrihciug enough 20
accept him IN exchange for Browning II
occurred to ne at thar time that there were
other young men belonging TO aEisrOeratic
families who had no fear of a mesalliaEce with
q landladE's daughter, although, TO be sure,
they might be simply amusing themselves, IS
Silded youth were won't to do EsUelle would
never 60 out with me; she had no chapeEou,
she said / wondered what my sisterln-law
would answer should 1 write her TO chaperon
my laudiadE's daughter TO 'LOhelgrn she
who cLaperOned only the very elect so TO
spegk-
one evening the conversation drifted into