Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-03-02
MARTINsBURG, Wv SATURDAY, MARCH 2 1889
"But who told him.''
"Your mother-Mrs. Fields"
- - III l13f

+ xDut VIII tDxl Ultils
"Your mother-Mrs. Fields"
'sAnd who told her?''
'.You told her yourself, and you told
her more than have spoken Of"
''Nonsensel''
s.But you did. You told her you were
engaged to marry this person. I insist
on having my racquet, Mrs. Fields"
.sAnd this person is-is-a-prize
fghter2"
80 you said"
.'Oh Lordl'' cried Phil, and he lay
back on the grass and laughed until Re
gina was SO offended she arose and
walked back to the house.
After that she saw no more of Phil
until after supper, when he came to her
as she finished most stupid game of
tennis, there being no one engaged in it
who could contest it with her.
miss Scott said he, 'sMrs. Fields
would be glad if you could come to her
for one moment
Regina hesitated, and then said that
she would come presently with pleasure.
Would he be kind enough to say sol
81 think she wished me to bring you,"
replied Phil, boldly and SO, not wishing
to expose their quarrel to the public, she
was constrained to go with him, but
she did not speak to him, and in
deed he did not ask her to do so. He
was perfectly silent, and seemed humbled
and quieted enough.
Mrs. Fields was not in the house, but
over by the well--a forlorn and weed
grown place, where only the servants
went She was sitting on the stump of
tree. She turned when she heard foot
steps. II have waited ages for you,
Phil" she said.
Miss Scott was engaged" replied
pardon me-" said he, turning to Regina,
'.for my mother did not send me for
you, but wanted to ask her question
before you, and I had no alternative.
You would not have come had asked it. !"
Certainly mott" and Regina turned to
60. Phil laid his hand gently on her
arm.
Surely" he said, "you will not be
unfair to me?'' And then, all in q
breath, he turned to his stepmother.
'sDo you remember" he said, ''when
yOu OuCe dSh6u LlC dUOub SlONC you
found in my room? You leased me-
Mrs. Fields laughed. Certainly. Do
you want me to tell you what you said?"
II do.n
sit wouldn't be polite, Phil.
''Indeed you are mistaken. 1t would
be very polite-and true"
"You said it belonged to the prettiest
girl in America. 7"
II cannot see," said Regina, show
this interests me"
Phil made no answer to her..
"Then you asked me who she was"
eyes, and you said she was some sort
of q professional character"
"a prize fighter2" said Phil.
Mercy no. Your father calls her
that, because he is SO indignant with you;
but you never said SO. I understood you
perfectly. Some kind of athlete; not a
teacher of calisthenics, but something
like it.
Again did this young man burst into
laughter, but he controlled himself, and
it would not have been wise to have irri-
tated Regina much farther.
'Oh, mother" he said, snow that
Mrs. Darlington is dead, why do you
want to play her Elisha2 Did say calls
themes and professionals"
II do not care what you said" cried
Regina; and again she turned, and this
time ran away, leaving poor Phil looking
like the stupid she had called him.
Now Mr.. Fields always said when he
was congratulated on his daughter-in-law
that he had made the match. He GER
tainly never made the explanation, and
convinced Regina that Phil had said the
glove belonged to ga champion" and he
never showed the glove to Regina and
made her confess it was hers, and she had
missed it. 1t was very true that the old
gentleman knew that Regina had played
match games Of tennis, and had carried
off the title and honors of champion, ~
but he never confounded her with a
''prize fighter" He always held to q
vague belief in the existence of repre-
hensible young woman from whom Re-
gina had won Phil, and that he had in
duced her to do SO, and when Phil called
her, by way of pet name, Synonym,
he asked for no explanation of the joke,
if joke he considered it. 1t was
Phil only who could have told what an
uphill task he had in convincing Regina
that if he loved her now, SO had he loved
her always. How many times before
the summer was over did he hold his
breath thinking of his stepmother's i'm
agination and his fathers credulity. To
have said he was engaged to her was
ever Regina's grievance, and 1t was diff.
cult to persuade her that what was once
a fiction of others should be fact of
their own. And indeed he made little
Roadway until he found out that she
liked men in business after she found
he was in brewery, and that Wall street
was not enticing to her.
But of course it all came right at last.
and every one was satisfied And when
Phil went into politics and made short,
brilliant campaign, both the fathers were
delighted, and Regina In Washington
was more charming than ever to them.
And so Mr.. Fields pride and compla-
cency over his feat always remind me OF
Jack Horner. 1t is all very well to be
proud of your plum, but where should
one look for plums if not in Christmas
pie?-Louise Stockton in Harper's Bazaar.