Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1888-02-04
A TURN OF TIE WHEEL.
BY EVELYN THORPE.

BY EVELYN THORPE.
Flora would haze ked TO say som,
thing m0rc-to have soficncd in some
way the edge OF what had gone before.
bat, after all. what could o..r saw
Maskt''n did not seem TO exp ct, or
wish Tor, an ing furthc.. H. walked
on by Der side speechless, sul,cn, st ing
In front Of him. nee or twice, Mnel
the roughncss of the descent rendered
such service nc:essarv. he offered his
hand, md always W hDut locking at her.
Flora concluded detcrminudly at lust
that the ence should not be broken by
her. He was taking his refusa' Us man
might be expected to take these Thugs.
vi curse 1t hurt thoI pride drnadlully.
Ana not more nan one of them Jut of p
Thousand really cared enough for a cir.
20 bc 'rn'K her f. e8G after she had done
| Als vanity this, to hin, unpardOnab!e in
jury.
The camp was in sight now, in the
valley below them. Fora hoped, pctu
, intly, hat, since h IT. .cctcl suitor
would ass.me g uncomfortable Jqd dis
agreeable an all.tude he would at least
keep as much as possible out of her way
until she should start for the East. in "A
feA lays.
This Maskelyne scrupulously did.
| And yet Flora was scarcely satisfied.
There was vague discomfort in her
senses.
Once she brought herself sharply to
task. Well, after all, what did .he
want' Would she have liked to accept
Maskelyne, to marry h.m: She was very
young, she knew she vas beautiful, and
now, witt all this money that had come
to them, ambitions, slumbering before,
had sprung into life vivid and insistent.
And why nOtl Was it not natural,
Flora Wade asked herself, deiiantly, that
girl who felt su,h capacities within
her rs she was conscious of should want
to exercise them in 4 brilliant field, and
WELD such social prestige as they gave?
For little while, few years at least,
she wanted to live-to live and TO en-
JOY her life! If she married now poor
engineer, in the Western wilds, what
would her life bel OF course, if one
loved q man very much. B,S
she did not love Maskelync, she assured
herself, fiercely. Not, at least, enough
for that. Oh yes, he would think her
frivolous, fliplant, vain, shallow,
worldly coguette.
lie would say she had trifcd with him
had led him on.
Flora stopped in her inward solioquy.
Her heart beat just little more quickly.
& tall, fair-haircd fellow had crossed
SLOWLY in front of the open door. lie
was '.ot conscious of being scco. lie was
walking With his cap pulled over his eve
brows aniamoody Look il his down bent
eyes.
"Hc might at least have the decency
to wish me bon voyage" thought
Flora, with angry bitterness.
She was going East the very next day.
Her trunks were packed. A letter from
the distant relative, a fashionable woman
OF society, who was to chaperon her dur
ing the next few years, and who already
had Flora's younger sister with her, lay
before her. Visions and dreams Of sue
cess, of happines S such as the brilliant
world gives, opened beyond. Flora sat
staring out at the westering sunlight till
1t had quite faded and the shadows filed
the valley. When she finally rose from
her chsr, as one shaking off sleep, there
was a suspicious moisture in her dark
eyes.
After all, If Howard Maskclyne had
bided his time, if he had not been pre-
cipitated, perhaps Flora Wade would
not have gone East the next morning.
Who knows9
Howard Maskelyne remained West
for three years. His resolution to succeed
to "get ahead"-had, as some of his
companions who knew him better than
the rest perceive without perceiving the
cause, been reinfor ed by soft of
dogged defiance. He gave himself up
to his work with that undivided and
tireless allegiance which aman manifcs,s
toward the stern as spects of life when he
has suffered sentimental dsenchant-
mcnt-if, that is, he docs not take the
opposite course and slight that aspect
altogether. He did not take vacation
when he could have done so. He
seemed to dread even a days idleness.
He grew older, and the lines deepened
in his face. Some of tie other fellows
surmised, at times, that there was
woman in the case. But their habitual
cast of thought did not induce them to
dwell upon suppositions of this nature
very abidingly.
1t is probable that Maskclyne would
have gone on in this fashion ten years
longer, slowly but surely rising in his
profession, and making money which he
did not seem to care for or know wha; to
do with, ifhis father had not suddenly
died. Mask,lyne. on this event, came
Eat. Old Mr.. Mashelyne had Teen
frugal person, highly respected as an ex-
cellent citizen. He had not Eeen held
to have laid by much of this worlds
goods. But it proved contrary to expec-
tation, in the course of investigation,
that he had left large fortune behind.
Howard Maskclyne was East. He deter
mined to stay.
He took up the old existence now, by
his long absence lie ONE a new one, list
lessly. He thought the zest would como
harE hut somehOw it did not. He looked