The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-19
OLIVES ~STEP-MOTHER.

0t040C0llv.
.Humphr n" said Mis-. Jane Darlington.
ssPeople didn's u.e to talk 30 OF stop
moshcrss i'm my day." -
ssBus then, yosi SEQ" rcsorted Olive, with
che air a one who ~effectually allen es ar
RumeuN, sAtherc never was exactly such q
ssep-moehcr before"
.sShe's NOT ten years older than your
SELF" sAtd Miss Jane Harrington.
"And that is the very reason that
svmpashises I'm all my interests and pur
ssShc married your poor. dear pa for .
home aud tn avoid the necessity Of going
ous - . governeas." uttered Miss JAM
BarrinGtnn with acerbity.
s.Is 10 false! 2" cried Olive. "She mar
sied him because .he loved him."
"Humphv' said Miss Jane Harrington.
You're hewitchcd, I see. Yours under
You'll have n disaarecabIe awakenine
.omc dag. Miss ORilvie; see IL you don't-
Perhaps you haven't noticed IL.
spirit, 49, the malicious spinster paused a
second. u.;, >s;..I.,. IA.
rinston. tanning herself and rolling up
II you haycn't p,rcisycd IL" >.,-.
Oeilvie, impaticntiy. .Oh, dear, how I
do hate these mysterious hints and dark
~inucndo"i II you've got anything TO
have done with il. II NOT, iii go down 10
b river and see how the child,,n are get
"H fh %a driven To- .ns vail, Mis-. Jane Bar.
rin9ton said her say, with n relish i'm the
communication which can scarcely he de-
"As I remarked bcfore," said Miss Bar
ringtan, 81 am the last one to promulgate
Idle REPORTS; but il il quite plain tn all dis
mother. che charming widow. whose deep
weeds are NO exceedingly becominR~
"Do go on'" cried Olive, in an agony OF
ala is quite the gossip Of the place."
went ON the ~backbiter, ''ihat Mrs. Hayden
with Xibcrs S,aniicld."
with Albert Stanield! Impossible"'
cried Olive i~ncrssduously. .
NJust what I should have said myself"
said Miss Jane Harrington, piously. riff
haan't b'cn an sye.w,tncss TO all her
ss oin3f, n 20. vs S' sa, der IN S Sis sra assr: . l,s~' n""-
"Be silent" cried Olive. springinR to
her feet 80 suddenly that Miss Jane Bar.
with more precipitation than grace over
a square "How dare you utter
such slanderous falsehoods? And To
me. of all other persons i'm the world, who
maternal ~kindnessi Id.spisc myself for
And sSns swept away with the royal face
of u princess, her checks dyed carsninc
and her eyes Rlittering like wrathful stars.
suite OF par ments occupied Jointly by
herself and her young stcp-mother at the
Crown hotel, n summer resort OF some
celebrity among the molntains that wall
in the blue waters of a Cumberland lake.
The door was open, the soft August
20 and fro, and u piece Of embroidery lay
Ola the table with tho needle yet sticking
in it's folds and tins thimble beside it. All
ehe tokens of u recent presence were
there, but the room WAS empty.
"She has taken her book down To the
little woodland sprinR," said Olive Ia her.
path. whers. interminGlcd sunshine and
shadow made y moving checkcr.work at
her feet, calling: where arc
bat no answer came. The woodland
epring bubbled out i'm cool drops over the
sang overhead, and that was all.
"Sh. dcar," said Olive I" herself,
She wandered along further down the
glen. swinging her hat by its strings an she
walked. her footsteps falling noiseiessly
paused, stricken Ia thc heart as IL u barbcd
arrow had pierced her quivcring flesh.
For, hidden away by the leafy covert of
the mos~-roversd trunk of u fallen tree.
sat Mrs. Ogiivie. in her deep mourning
wh;I. in an ns,,s,,Ic ~ ~, ;n'."ss ssavu,
ton Albcrt Stanfleld leaned over her.
Olive Ogilvie did not mean to listen;
sense of dclicacy; but ali ~volition seemed
gone from her at IA moment. She leaned,
pal. and trembling. up AGAINST a tree. and
in a sts.nss's throw OF her.
believe me, Albert, I appreciate the
TREASURY, of your love-" SAID Mrs. Oxilvie,
softly; 'but I do not know whether I am
justified IN accepting what you offer"
"Dear Mrs. Ogilvie-"
stop" said the widow, rcsolutcly
motioninR him away AS he would have
drawn nearer to her. Are you not pre-
mature? Have you reflected how very,
very brief n period of time has elapsed
since Mr.. Ogilvie was laid in his grave ~
~ have forgotten nothing the ardent
lover made reply. "Nor to l deem il any
disresrect to the dead i'm that 1 would
fain extend the tenderness and protection
of my love over the one who was dearest
40 him i'm life. Say that you will grant
my prayer. Give me but one word of ell
and 1 shall la happy"
~ must have time for reflection" Mrs.
Ogilvic answered, hesitatingly.
"Timei time Z" Stanfield impatiently re-
torted. "iou have had time enough al
ready. surely"
'But thisi is IA matter of such vital impor
tance. Albert, You must rest coutcntrd IL
1 promise you your answer to-nlorrow.'
"You will not forget the truth and sin
cerity of my iove-the deep loyalty of IN,
heart
81 will remember il all, Albert; only le
AIS return to the hotel now. Olive vii
miss us and il grows toward sunset"
So they passed OH, and Olive, waiting
in "a sort of dull, dead passiveness fo
them Ia disappear through the green viii
<lerness of the leafy dell, took her langui,
way back To the hotel.
"And I believed that he loved me!