Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-03-04

y
added: ':Will my presence disturb
you? Shall l go away?'
''By no means," | FASTENED to re-
ply, ''on the contrary. Indeed,
shall take the liberty, if you will al
low me, of asking your opinion on a
little melody that want to run over. .
She looked out of the window for
a moment, and then, turning her eyes
full upon me once more, she remark
ed:
81 came down here because / was
so lonesome upstairs. Auntie has
gone out on business, and some
friends / expected to call and take
me for drive haven't arrived
''Is it possible?' was my rejoinder,
and in ten minutes we were the great
est friends in the world. We sat in
the drawing-room of the Grand Can
on Hotel for nearly an honr, chatting
gaily of America and England, and
of our hobbies and of ourselves. At
the end of that time she arose and
said:
"Well, it's humiliating necessity,
but we must eat to keep alive; and
if you will excuse me we will go down
to luncheon
rose also and answered; "You
are quite right; if there were no pro-
sy side of life we should not appreci-
ate the poetry of it, And then, after
a moments hesitation, | added: 81
am a foreigner, and don't quite I'M
derstand your rules of conduct over
here; but would it be very casual of
me to suggest that as | must also
live, and with that object in view
must also lunch, we should lunch to-
gether, as you are alone?''
"Why, of course, why shouldn't
WEI" and then she added, with
look of perplexed inquiry coming
over her brows, 81 don't know quite
who is going to introduce us to one
another, Mr.--?'
"Neal," said |, "Ronal Neal, at
the service of Mademoiselle-'
''Tressahar, Pauline Tressahar,"
said she. LET me give you card. "
She fumbled for her card-case and
| for mine, and standing in the door
way of the hotel parlor, we gravely
exchanged cards and bowed formally
to one another.
Il live in Nashville, Tennessee, "
she said, "and if you ever come there
it will give papa-Col. Euclid Tres
sahar-very great pleasure if you will
come and see us You will come,
won't vou?''
[ assured her that | would, and we
went down to lunch. The head wait
er gave me menu and check, and
I ordered a tiny little meal with some
care, during which operation she
watched me with a nervous, perplex-
ed look which | perfectly well under
stood, but which for the life of me
1 couldn't see any way of softening-
unless told the head waiter to give
me two checks and filled up one for
her and one for myself-which would
have been foolish to my English ideas.
AS we finished our microscopic repast
however, she said in the most matter
of-fact tone to the waiter:
"'The check, please"
The italian brought it to me natur
ally, and she looked up and said
'And mine, too, waiter
''They are both together, madam"
"Oh !-but-no-I want-''she be-
gan.
Greatly" said [, feeling very I'M
comfortable, ''it is such an absolute
nothing that it would be simpler, and
would give me pleasure into the
bargain, if you would allow me to
sign this, Miss Tressahar.''
'sCertainly not" she replied, blush
ing, though her tone was quite decid-
ed; "will you hand it to me for a
moment?'
l did so, and she gravely calculat-
ed what her share of our lunch had
been, and then, producing her purse,
she counted out the exact amount in
silver and handed it over to me with
the check.
"Now," she said, eff you will sign
it it will be all right
| did so without a word, fascinat-
ed, but withal feeling little 'mean,
and then the child, laying a quarter
down beside her plate for the waiter,
said;
"Now let's go back to the parlor
for a few minutes, and then | must
go out
We went up stairs again and sat
| for half an hour or so, talking of
quite serious matters, and then we
babe one another farewell, mutually
expressing a hope that in truth il
might be not ''good-by," but ''au re-
voir." She was leaving Denver in an
hours time; 1 was leaving the same
evening.
And thus we parted.
"Up-stairs in my room ] had 6
somewhat battered copy of my las
volume of poems. l put pen thro
my name on the fy-leaf and wrote
thereon a little inscription in verse
expressive of the pleasure | took il
transferring to her the volume, ant
so | sent it down to her by a servan
and betook myself to my packing.
was thus employed, talking to frien(