Marble Hill press., 1890-02-13

y 0ol2 1D1(k but - Q ouoooQ0 tor
niss 4orf1a Of The Ha1l. he really
euaht 70 n h sonsthiig a his own. !"
SO he ought II fortune vent by
merit not by favor; 90 he VIII have,
thanks to himself. by-and-by," 1 an
swsred. with happy fiippancy; "at
any rate, II Misc Gerard Of the Hall
may nos have the husband of her
choice. she will hsve none ct all, but
live and die . most respected and
respectable old maid"
ssIrene!" Mother darling!"
We looked ct each other for few
moments, and mothers eyes were
filed with dismay; then l drew my
stool up beside her chair as used to
do when I was Q little child, as she
liked me to do still when We We're
alone together. and. leaning my arms
on her lap, looked up into her dear
kind old face.
Mother dear, this is not q joke-it
Is a matter Of life and death 10 met"
l said earnestly. IL hope uncle Archie
will be kind; l hope he will under
stand; but II he does Motif he makes
me- choose between the Hall-and
Dick, shall let the Hall CO."
Mother " as very good to me then.
My words, ! know, struck like an axe
at the very root Of the one cherished
hope of her life; but she did not scold
nor try to change my purpose in any
way; she just gave one quick
searching glance, then bent her head
and kissed me, saying gently
"Indeed. my dear, l hope your
uncle will be kind. All we can do now
is just to wait and hope"
We did wait-not too hopefully,
think-for about q week; and then
uncle Archie's letter came-a letter
that electrified us all, and gave poor
mother shock from which she found
it hard to recover.
Letter, l have said; but there were
letters for US all. How we'll l remem-
Der the afternoon they came! Dick
and had been making languid half
hearted attempts to play q
game at tennis; but the weather
was very hot, and we were
too restless and excited to settle
steadily to anything in those days. 1t
was a relief to US both, / think, when
mother appeared in the verandah ex.
citedly wavinga couple OF envelopes.
"From uncle Archie, Dick" I cried
as / throw my racquet down and ran
10 mother at once.
Dick followed slowly, and stood at
the foot Of the steps, looking up at
us with deep flush on his bronze
skin and an eager light In his blue
eyes.
II would not open the letter till you
came," said mother, with tremulous
laugh. There is one for you, Irene,
and one directed hero for Dick.
think it is happy argury that he
should write to us all-don't you?"
"Open your letter and see. You
shall tell us the news, DEAR" cried,
endeavoring to subdue my own intense
excitement as l began to feel (. little
nervous about her. Mother was never
over-strong, and l had got into a
habit of watching her carefully now.
As she glanced over the closely
written tiimsy sheet of foreign note
paper, watched her pretty face close
ly, and saw 1t change in a curious
fashion. Surprise, bewilderment, and
then startled incredulous anger, were
in turn reflected there; then suddenly
she started to her feet, trembling, her
face deathly pale.
''Irene, what does it meanp Your
uncle must be mad!' she cried ve-
hemently.
l began to tremble too, and turned
appealingly to Dick, who had been
quietly reading his own letter, and
who increased my wonder by looking
by no means dissatisfied with its con-
tents. He came forward at once,
and answered mothers question him
self.
tn ne CONTINTIED