Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1888-09-29
FITZhERBERT

contentea with it till | fell IN love
With Katie Rogers. Katie had new
ar sneered a5 it, but her older sister,
Miranda, had more than once limited
that it wa neither romantic nor TT
common +; and her father, IN his
somewhat lengthy dlscoucses about
The British arisSo cracy, had az ag-
g-avating way of looking APOLOGIZE
cally at Nc every time ne spoke Of a
good name"
In our commercial community
Smith was counted better name
than Rogers, and young Smith, the
Using cotton-broker, more disting-
uished member OF society than old
Rogers, e. Captain of dragons, who
could scarcely pay his thirty-pound
rent, and never wore decent hat.
quite ag-eed with my neighbors
on these points until I fell in love
u.th Kat, and grew familiar with
A.i1anaas sentiments about the igno-
rance Of p'!'sSine Riverbank.
Captain Rogers was descended
from Foo &, who came over with
the Coaqls.or, and, as / listened
reyerently 10 the history of the fam
" progress through eight centuries,
there was total collapse of my once
foolish PRIDE ia belonging 10 what a
local paper called some Of the Oldest
families II Riyerbank. For River
bank was scarcely IS old as my ia
Their, hagiar sIown into a town with
q speed rarely equaied on this side of
HE Atlaasia.
in a general way ] did not under
value my II, but It was with deep
sense of humility chat 7 implorcd the
defendant Of t'itzroger to become ny
lather-in.lsw. We we're alone togeth-
or in the ing room of the thirty
pound house, he sitting in a shabby
armchair, i Standing on still shah
DER nearthrUs. He looked up at the
battle Poll of Hastings" which
hung over the nanteipiece, and down
at the fire kept low by economical
Miranda. Then, having apparently
weighed the past glories of Fitzroger
against tho present price of Goals, he
accepted ~ proposal with the mag
nifcent condeseension of king con-
senting, for certain State reasons, to
bestow the hand of royal princess
on an aspiring subject
So Katie and l were engaged, and,
for a time, was supremacy happy.
/ was not quite vain enough to share
my dariing's opinion, that l, John
Smith, was better worth worshiping
than all Carlyle's Heroes" put to-
gether but 7 was rather easily con-
WINGED that 7 was far too fine tel
low to fear any rival. So, when Ka-
tie went on visit to London, there
YVES no bitterness in my regret, for l
believed il her-and myself.
At FIRST was not disturbed by Mi
randa'a boasts about the advantages
her sister waq enjoying in the chest
society" brit when the London visit
extended for weeks and months be-
You'd It's original hmit, I began to
feel vaguely uneasy. In those days
Katie's letters. though loving, were
not long, end she more than once
apologized for their brevity by plead
ing 50 particular engagement" the
nature Of which she never explained.
NJ confidence sank, my jealousy
rose.
At last she came home, and then
noticed q change in her that serious
ly alarmed me. She was paler and
quieter, end at times there was
wistful look in her eyes, suggestive
of something on her mind. 1t could
not be anxiety about her fathers Pc
cuniary affairs, because about that
time he appeared IN new hat, and
Miranda kept better fires. These
outward and visible signs of prosper
ity would have given me sincere
pleasure if it had not been for the