Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-10-31
ernaps henry urayron can nelp me- Ii,

And. with this object in view. he cultiva-
ted that young mans acquaintance.
But the Squre'S nephew proved of
surly. unsociable nature, and showed no
disposition to meet Arthur's advances even
| hall way.
Arthur at length concluded to let him Sc
verely alone. and turned his attention to
| Mrs. Andrews who was q kind motherly
woman fond of talking. and OF genial,
conflding nature.
She hal taken great fancy to Arthur.
and he found it easy to draw from her all
that she knew or surmised concerning her
| nieceS love Affair."
But she could tell him very little. and 1t
was substantially the same as he had heard
from the Major.
rs her cousin in love with her?" asked
Arthur with start OF surprise.
"Yes; he has been in love with her for
years. and has asked her half a dozen times
to marry him. He was keenly disappoint-
ed when she became engaged to Major
! Hartwel. but bore it much better than
had expected. His wedding-gift to her was
! as handsome as anything she received. and
he could ill afford such present, for his
income is very small. and he is partially
! dependent on my brother. l think he is
thinks she will consent to marry him at last
| from sheer weariuess mt his persistence.
But think tnat scarcely possible.
The day following that on which he had
! had this conversation with Mrs. Andrews,
Arthur was walking through field with the
Squire. who was explaining his method OF
fertilization. when all at once they were
startled by loud "Goodmorning, Squire"
uttered in clear, feminine voice.
They turned, and saw a young woman
standing on low stile which separated the
field from IA tiny orchard. in the middle Of
which was a small cottage. overgrown with
| vines
Good morning. Rose" said the Squire,
coldly, and then continued his conversation
! with Arthur.
The young woman appeared II little
piqued at being thus summarily disposed
| of, and tossed her head pettishly. her bold
black eyes fixed on Arthur. whose young
athletic figure evidently took her fancy.
But she did not speak again, and the
Squire soon moved away from the vicinity
Il hear that Rose Ellis is back again."
said Mrs. Andrews, at the dinner table.
Yes, 1 saw her this morning" said the
Squire.
Il hoped when she went away that we
were rid of her for overland Mrs. An
drews sighed. Her grandmother told me
that she had excellent wages and was get
ting along well. l wonder what has in
Pure deviltry. of course" said the
Squire. She'll have the whole neighba
hood by the ears in, weeks time. Rose
| isn't happy unless she is the central ilg gu.e
of Il perpetual broil."
She is very handsome girl" said Ar
thur, but OF a very coarse STYLE"
Her beauty has been her bane,' said
Mrs. Andrews.
~"Her grandmother used to be housekeeper
here great many years ago, but lately she
has lived in Il little cottage the Squire gave
her, about Il mile away. Rose has almost
broken the poor old woman's heart: she has
an idea that her beauty will pave her way
into u higher sphere than that in which she
was born and IN some way she manages to
make the acquaintance of nearly every gem
tleman who comes into the neighborhood.
Then II fuss OF some kind is always sure to
Hollow"
Il believe she would stoop to anything to
Sgain her end" said the Squire. She is I'M
tscrupuous to the last degree, and utterly
without delicacy or refinement | beg ycu
Ito avoid her, Hazard, or you may have II
moose about your neck before you know it.
She is extremely artful. and her beauty and
audacity make her dangerous.
Neither Lois nor Henry made any remark
on the subject but. glancing at the latter.
Arthur saw that his face was scarlet. and
that his hands shook as he took cup of
coffee II servant handed him.
Evidently he has had some experiences
of tho wiles of the fair Rose" thought
Arthur and felt very sorry for him.
But a little later. pity was changed to n
very different emotion.
The Squires household retired early. as
is customary in the country, and at ten
O'Clock that night Arthur was on his way to
his room.
As he was about to enter it. he saw
scrap of paper folded like u note lying Just
u,
opening it, read as follows:
Meet me to- night ut the big oak tree near
the pasture gate. will be there at eleven.
and you must not fail to come. l must and
will see you.
Arthur could scarcely believe that the
note was intended for himself and yet his
curiosity was excited and at eleven
o'clock. feeling restless and unable to sleep.
he concluded to investigate the vicinity of
that old oak tree if only to kill time. AS he
neared the oak tree he heard voices raised
in angry dispute.
He crept closer, and could distinguish the
forms of man and n woman standing
facing each other. The woman was speak
ing now. and Arthur paused,
Il tell you once for all that | won't wait
any longer she was saying, in fierce.
Two come back to make you keep your
promise. and you can't put me off again
with excuses. If you don't look out you'll
get yourself into trouble"
Hush you can't be too careful what you
say" and Arthur, to his amazement. recog-
niZed the low, cautious voice as that of his
hosts nephew. Il tell you 1t will come all
right If you only have "A little patience.
when l have n little money to bless myself
with you'll see that won't forget you. If
you'll only keep quiet LII have matters set
tied in six months time"
That's Just what you said last year. and
the year before, and the year before that.
While I'm having a little patience you'll
be getting married to Lois Drayton. Oh.
Two had things told mel There's them who
watches out for me. No. you'll marry
me now and we'll wait together for your
cousins money"
Il tell you it would be madness for me to
take such step. ose. do listen to reason.
| l wouldn't come in for a cent il you were
my wife. Wait while. and do make up
your mind to go away for n few months"
| No, YOU can't throw no more dust in my
eyes. If you'd been hols,st and meant
rltnt YNaNt nj "a l,fN
| off so long. And If ] had known you as
! well three years ago as do now, wouldn't
| have taken any part in cheating your cous-
| in. I'd have let her marry her gentleman"
Hush hush. Rose, for Heavens sakei
1t would ruin us both II you should be over
heard"
Who s to overhear me2 l rather guess
there amt many folks hereabouts out o.
their beds at this hour.
still, you can't be too careful. Come.
let's walk toward the cottage; we can talk
as We go along"
They moved away. and Arthur heard no
more.
But he had heard enough to fill him with
the keenest suspicion and distrust.
Was 1t possible that ut last he had
stumbled on q clew to the mystery that
had bafled him ever since his arrival at
Westholt?
"She must have told Lois some big yarn
against the Major" thought Arthur.
But then he remembered that Lois had
declared positively that sho had heard
nothing against the character OF her boz
trothed.
He lay awake until daylight. cogitating
over the matter, and when at last he fell
asleep it was with the determination to un-
ravel the mystery at any cost.
After breakfast he drew Lois aside. and