The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1888-03-31

Oh, no. l did not forget either the words
| or the speaker. When declare vendetta,
/ mean it.
Five years passed by. w. twenty-five.
had seen many people al, many things.
Either for better or worse, had changed
In much, but still retained my knack of
never forgetting foe friend. Incred-
IDLE as 1t seems, my anger against Mr.
| Hope was keen as eyer-Ily wish for re-
venge as strong. The injury he had un-
| Willingly done me had been greater than,
| even in my first burst of rage, had i'm
agined. During the interval his words
kept recurring to my mind, and hindered
the growth of proper confidence and self
esteem. A long series of pleasant little
social triumphs alone permitted me to say
at last that his prophecy had not been full
filled. But now, alter five years, the more
l thought of the annoyance, even anguish,
his words had caused me, the more vicious
| felt toward him; the more resolved to
compass revenge when the opportunity oc-
| CURED. oh, yes; | was a good hater-not
| doubt of it. / could carry my stone seven
years in my pocket, then turn it ana carry it
| seven years more, or twice seven years,
never for moment forgetting its ultimate
destination.
But when should / have the chance of
! hurting it, and how should l act when the
|
ally, / had never since met the man. Vim
cent Hope visited no friends of mine save
the Ramsays. They left Twickenham
shortly after my visit. and now lived a
hundred miles from town. / had stayed
with them several times, but my foe had
never appeared. OF course, l had heard a
great deal about him. He was now quite a
famous man. To keep myself posted up
in the light literature of the day, | was
compelled to read his books. and in homes
/ ty l am bound to say / admired them, al
| though | detested the author of them.
| Surely We must meet some day. l went
out great deal, and / heard he was much
sought after. But our paths as yet had not
| crossed.
| 1t was winter. l was spending some
weeks with new friends, who had taken a
great fancy to me-kind, hospitable peo-
! pie, who like to have a constant stream of
visitors passing, but very slowly, through
their house. The Lightons were a wealthy
county family, noted for their open hearted
hospitality. | never stayed at a gayer or
| pleasanter place than Blaize House. 1t
was not very large; but from the way in
which it seemed to extend itself to accom-
modate the numerous guests, my belief Is
it must have been bnilt on the plan of an
accordion. ! can only account for its
capabilities by this theory,
Except from the tiny village which gave
| or took its name, BlaiZe was miles away
| from everywhere; but its resources, SO far
| as amusement went, made it immaterial in
what part of the world it stood. The FAM
| lily consisted of Mr.. Lighton-called by
everyone, even his guests, the Squire; his
wife, fitting companion to him, who
shared his pursuits and heartily seconded
! the welcome he gave to everyone; and
/ NV
may be termed the nucleus, the standing
| congregation of the establishment. In
addition there were two sons who turned up
unexpectedly and at intervals; and two or
three cousins were invariably sejourning
there. Add to these, again, the floating
population in the shape of visitors who
came and went, and you will realize that it
was merry house.
Breakfast was just over; we had been
longer about it than usual, the weather
being too damp and drizzly to tempt us
out of doors. Letters were being read with
| the last cup of tea. The Squire selected
one from his pile, and tossed it over to his
wife, remarking that she would be glad to
hear the good news it contained. Then it
went from hand to hand until / had the
| pleasure of reading:
"MY DEAR SQUIRE: have lust written
! the delightful word Finis at the bottom of
a page, which is the last of my last immor-
| tai @ production. l will do no more work
for weeks, but will take the train to- NOR
row and come to Blaize House, in time, |
hope, for dinner. | do not apologize for
this short notice, knowing there is even
more JOY within your gates over the unin-
vited than the invited guest.
Yours always, VINCENT Hope"
| Vincent Hope! 1t must be my enemy.
! The allusion to his literary pursuits put
| that beyond doubt. My time had GOMEZ
| could not have selected a fairer field on
which to mete out the vengeance / had
stored up. AS l read that letter, | posi-
lively blushed VITA pleasure, so wildly
that feared people might jump at entirely
wrong conclusions. l thought of nothing
all day but the way in which nv enemy
was delivered into my hands The delight
of having at last the chance of paying out
the critic for his criticism produced frame
OF mind which seemed to urge me to 90 in
to quiet corners and laugh at my own
/ thoughts. | had plenty of time to mature
my plans and draw soothing pictures of
the effects of my revenge. | resolved to
risk no chance meeting with the foe; and
feeling that good beginning would be half
the battle, before six O'Clock I went to nv
room to arm for the fray.
Remember, l am confesslng, not
! testing. / sent for my maid, and
/ babe her take down my hair and
/ brush it. f. as her deft fingers
! braided my locks to my satisfaction. l had
| thought the girl would have comprehended
me, | might have quoted certain lines of
/ of Mrs. Browning's which kept singing
! through my head:
/ Comb it smooth, and crow il fair
/ would look in purple pail, from the lattice
/ down the wall,
! Ard throw scorn on one that's there.
/ Anyway, she crowned it fair enough, and,
/ by my express desire, clad me in my most
becoming gear. Then, few minutes be-
! fore the bell rang, | sent her away, and
stood alone before the cheval glass survey
I ing myself with o contented smile. For
nv plan of revenge had at least the merit
/ of simplicity; it was to win that mans ad-
mlration-if possible his love. Upon the
the day when he offered me the latter, and
l coldly and scornfully rejected it, should
/ feel that | had squared all accounts be-
tween US in manner highly satisfactory to
myself
: How do women win mems love? | did
not quite know; but l fancied, if conducted
properly, the operation was not of diff
cult nature. l hoped and believed l should
succeed Although my resolution reads
| badly, and sounds even worse, | comfort
myself by thinking that as | meant TO re-
| fuse what | had laid myself out to win, no
one would dare to censure me or accuse
me of very unbecoming conduct. And
now what are my weapo4s with which to
/ conquer?
/ looked at myself in the glass.
1t may read like vanity, but l feel
that old Mr.. Ramsay's prediction is fairly
verified. Although | blush as l appraise
myself, / know | am no longer the slim
/ school girl-but that | am something not,
| perhaps, far off a beautiful woman. I
am tall My figure is certainly good. My
/ complexion will bear any test; and some
I thing tells me / could if l wished, make
my eyes dangerous. SO much for nature!
AS for AIT, | have chosen the prettiest of
many pretty gowns, and my gowns now
have knack of sitting we'll upon me; SO 1
am not ashamed to walk gracefully across
/ the room, and, courtesying to myself in
the glass, say approvingly to my double
/ Yes, Heritage Rivers, you have grown
into very decent sort of Q woman-a verv
/ decent sort" Having refreshed nv mem
/ ory by the repetition of that peculiarly
( Calling phrase, gather up my skirts and
sally forth to victory.