The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-12-09
CHAPTER VII,

CHAPTER VII. g..
When the door closed on Rupert the mas
| ter pulled down the blind, aud trimming his
lamp, tried to compose himself by reading
| Outside, the Great Day for Indian Spring.
was slowly evaporating in pale mists from
! the river, and the celebration itself spas
medically taking flight here and there in
| Roman candles and rockets. An occasional
outbreak from jewellers in the barroom be-
| low, a stumbling straggler along the
| planlSed sidewalk before the hotel, only
seemed to intensity the rustic stiffness. For
the future of Indian Spring was still so re-
mote that nature iisensibly reinvested its
boundaries on the slightest relaxation of
| civic influence, and Mr.. Ford lifted his head
| from the glowing columns of the Star to
listen to the far-of yelp of a coyote on the
| opposite shore.
| He was also conscious of the recurrence
| of tnat vague, pleasurable recollection, so
| indefaite that, when lie sought to IDENTIFY it
| with anything-even the finding of the
| myrtle sprays on his desk-it evaded him.
| He tried to work, with the same Interrupt
| ton. Then an uneasy sensation that he mad
not been sufficiently kind to Rupert in his
| fOoiih love troubles remorsefully seized
| him A half pathetic, half humorous pict
IRE of the miserable Rupert staggering
under the double burden of his sleeping
| brother aida misplaced affection, or possibly
abandoning the one or both III the neares5
ditch in a reckless access of boyish frenzy
and fleeing his home forever, rose before his
| eyes. He seized his hat with the intention
of seeking hin-or forgetting him in some
other occupation by the way. For Mr.
| Ford had the sensitive conscience of many
| imaginative people; an unfaillng monitor,
it was always calling his whole moral being
into play to evade it.
| ha no
Mrs. Trpp hooded and elaborately attired
in a white ball dress, which, however, did
not. to his own fancy, b C )me her as well as
| her ordinary costume. Ii was passing her
with bow, when she SAID, with COM
| placent con ciousness of her appearance.
Aren't you going te the ball to-nightm
| He remembered then that ian opening
| BALI at the court house was part of the
| celebration.
| NO" he sail, smiling; but it is pity
that hubert couldn't have seen you in your
charming array
hubert, said the lady with slightly CO.
| quettish laugh. "You have made him as
| much a woman-hater as yourself. | offered
to take him in our party, and he ran away to
| you" She paused, and giving him fur
| tive critical glance said, with an easy ming
| ling of confidence and audacity. why
| don't you 20. Nobody'll hurt you"
''rm not so sure of that replied Mr..
| Ford gallantlv. There's the melancholy
EXAMPLE of Rupert always before me-"
Mrs Trip tossed her chignon and de-
seconded step of the stairs.
You'd better CO. she continued looking
I'D over the balusters you can look on if
YOU can't dance"
Now Mr.. Ford could dance, and it SO
CHANGED rather well too. With this con-
seriousness he remained standing in half in
| dignant hesitation on the landing as she
disappeared Why shouldn't he go! Itwas
true that he half tacitly acquiesced in the
reserve with which he had been treated,
and had never mingled socially in the gath
erings of either sex at Indian Spring-but
that was no reason. He could at least dress
himself, walk to the court house and-lcok
| on.
| ANY black coat and white shirt was suf-
| ficiently de riguer Cor Indian Spring. Mr.
Ford added the superhuous elegance Of a
| forgotten white wastcoat. When he
reached the Sidewalk it was only o'clock,
but the windows of the court house were
| already fiaring like a stranded steamer on
the barren bank where it had struck. On
the way thither he was once or twice
tempted to change his mind, and hesitated
even at the very door. But the fear that
| his hesitation would he noticed by the few
loungers before it, and the fact that some
of them were already hesitating through
bashfulness, determined him TO enter.
The clerks office and judges chambers on
the lower floor had been invaded by wraps,
shawls and refreshments but the dancing
was reserved for the upper floor or court
room, still unfinished. Flags. laurel
wreaths and appropriate floral inscriptions
| hid it's bare walls. but the coat OF arms Of
the state already placed over the judges
dais, with its illimitable golden sunset, its
| triumphant goddess, and its implacable
| m HoItr
| occasion better than the Inscriptions. The
room was close aad crowded. The Pickering
| candles in tin sconces against the walls or
depending in rude chandeliers of barrel
hoops from the ceiling, lit up the most
astounding diversity Ct female costume the
master had over seen. Gowns OF bygone
fashions. creased and stained with packing
and dlsuse, toilets of forgotten festivity re-
vised with modern additions; garments in
and out of fashion, a fur-trimmed jacket
| and a tulle skirt, velvet robe under n
piuue sacdue; fresh young faces beneath
| faded head-dresses, and mature and buxom
| charms in virgin white. The small space
| cleared for tho dancers was continually in
vaded by the loofers-on, who in files Of
three deep lined the room.
As the master pushed his way to the
| front, a young girl, who had been standing
| in the sides Of a quadrille suddenly, with a
nymph-like quickness, darted among the
crowd and was for an instant hidden.
| Without Distinguishing either face or figure,
| Mr.. Ford recognized in the quick, impetuous
action characteristic movement Of Ores
sy's; with an embarrassing instinct that be
| could not account for be knew she had seen
him, and that for some inexplicable reason
he was the cause Of her sudden disappear
ance.
But 1t was only for a moment. Even
while he was vaguely scanning the crowd
She roappeared and took her place beside her
| mystihed partner--the fascinating stranger
| OF Johnny's devotion and Ruperts dislike.