Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-08-23

@/X be snubbedw and Miss
ZGR.N Nettie Archer, aged 10
n TNl drew her graceful fig
- m ure up to straight line
49, and lifted her head up an
~ 4 inch higher.
N "My dear Nettie I" sale
Miss helen Archer, aged Sc, in d
tone of remonstrance, "what very vul.
gar expression -
"Snubbed? Oh, no; everybody un.
derstands it, and it expresses Just what ]
mean. The next time we meet Mr.. Sid.
ney Barclay, | shall most certainly snub
him, with strong emphasis upon the
Objectionable word.
II thought he was very polite" said
Miss Helen. "What should we have
done without his help, stuck in horrld
hole, and tho ponies just prancing and
rearing, and not really pulling at all.
We might have been there till now"
''Oh, some one else would have passed,
auntte ! l don't deny that he was very
useful, and very polite, as you say. But
he had no business to-" and here Miss
Nettie paused abruptly, walked to the
other end of the sitting-room, and struck
up an animated conversation with the
canary.
Mr.. Barclay had certainly asked permis-
sion to call, after giving his card to Miss
! Helen, but he need not have been in such
a hurry, Nettie thought, as a glimpse of
his tall figure coming up the garden walk
| Interrupted her remarks.
Yet, she considered, what was she GO
ing to say? She could not tell her aunt
| that her Indignation was caused by look
OF devotion and admiration, perfectly re-
! spectful, yet certainly startling, after an
acquaintance of less than half an hour.
She was still absorbed in contempla.
| tion of the canary when Mr.. Barclay en-
| tered the room, and spoke to her aunt.
If he saw her, he took no notice of her,
making courteous inquiries as to Miss
Helen's state of health after the annoy
| ing interruption TO her drive the previous
| day. commenting upon the weather, adj
mirIng the display Of roses in front of
! cottage, and seemingly oblivious OF
everything but the lady in the armchair
at the front window.
The room was not a very large one, but
Nettie stood in n bow window at the
other end, lace curtains vailing her, with
out really eoncealing her. She had not
spoken since Mr.. Barclay entered, but
gradually an amazed wrath rose in her
bosom. She was not accustomed to be
ignored entirely. Miss Helen, placidly
working insane devices upon crazy patch
work, caught glimpse of the rising
color and indignant eyes, and had a mis-
chevous enjoyment of them. Mr. Bar
clay was "a tine-looking man of five
or six and twenty, a gentleman in
every word and movement, and it must
be admitted that, as a rule, Miss Helen
Was not, when her niece was present,
usually the recipient of all the attention
of such visitor.
Tho onnt1aInnp hipncaIf or
conscious of that veiled figure in the bow
window as he appeared 10 be. Moss
dale. tho little cluster of cottages two
miles from the small village of Avon,
was not fashionable resort. New
Workers and Brooklynites had not dis
covered it; summer boarderS mad not in
vaded it. The cottages were owned by
women, as rule-farmers' widows who
had left the farms to sons or sons-in-
law, and lived in modest comfort in these
tiny homes. Sidney Barclay had drifted
There to rest after winter of hard, con-
scientious work in the law courts of
New York, where he acted as junior
partner to his father, well-known law
yer. He was beginning TO weary OF the
utter stagnation and seclusion of Moss
dale. not being an enthusiast about ma
lures beauties, and he was startled into
the low pony phaeton, with two ladies
therein seated, whose costumes spoke
plainly of New York and limited at Paris.
The first pleasing shock of surprise was
followed by one of vivid admiration for
face and figure far above the average OF
merely pretty girls and ecstasy sue
ceeded when the ponies suddenly be-
came freakish, drew the phaeton into a
deep rut and refused to draw it out again.
Quick, courteous service could not be re-
fused, and each recognizing the other as
u member of that educated class that
constitutes American aristocracy, the
three were soon in animated conversa-
tion, the ponies trottiDg meekly along
under masculine persuasion. and the gem
tleman walking beside the phaetou 80
be sure they reached home safely"
The mean little cottage was another
surprise, having been furnished by
Archer pere for his sisters use during
the summer, and the visitor was so car
ried away by delight and amazement
that he forgot the brevity of the ac-
quaintance until that one look that
rankled in Nettie's mind called forth such
a quick, indignant flush, such naughty
uplifting of the small, dainty head, as
recalled his scattered senses.
He was on his guard again, when Miss
Helen, BY an appeal to Nettie's memory,
forced her to leave her temporary shell
ter, and advanced to greet the now cool,
self-possessed young lawyer. Perfect
courtesy, cold as ice, was in his exchange
of greeting; and once moro Nettie's
quick, impulsive nature was stung by the
absence of any sign OF the admiration
too manifest the day before.
Piqued, she allowed herself to thaw,
then to try to waken fresh interest;
never descending tS any coquetry, but
letting her natural vivacity, her quick in
tellect, have full play. The power OF
conversing, drawing out the best of her
companions, answering with quick COM
prehension, yet never absorbing the
talk, that is so often an art acquired by
long study and practice, was Nettie's
natural sift. Without inslncerity she
could take deep interest in all passing
events, all CHARGE acquaintances. For
the hour, each one was the center of her
thoughts, and there was such a delicate
tlattery in her frank betrayal OF this in
teIest that Nette Archer was unani-
mously voted as charming as she was
beautiful.
Sidney Barclay felt all his defences
giving way. He once more forgot that
two days ago he had never even heard of