The Dickinson press., 1890-01-25

oIAO 6O lIidV Oll1y uc COulu
hear. "Waitl"
And, much bewildered, Mr.. Perry
waited.
She stood where she could look
through the screen door In the parlor be-
yond, watching furtively until the party
were grouped under the hanging lamps
and absorbed in looking over one an
others shoulders at the famous albums;
then, beckoning to him to follow, she
fitted, like some ecrie sprite, on tiptoe
to the southern end of the vcranda,
where clustering vines hid her from
view from the walk along the parade.
Perry began to feel queer, rs ho after
wards expressed it. but he stplkcd along
after her, declining to nodulato the
thunder of his heavy heels upon the re-
sounding gallery. She put her finger to
her lips, and, after nervous glance
around, looked at him warningly, be.
seechingly.
"What on earth's the matter?' was all
the perplexed and callow youth could
find to say, and in tone so utterly de-
void of romance, sentiment, tenderness
anything she wanted to hear-that in
all her experience-ands she had had not
little-pretty, bewitching little Mrs.
Belknap'could recall nothing so humil-
iating.
Glow can you be SO unkind to me?"
at last she whispered, in tho tragic
tremolo she we'll knew to be effective; it
had done execution over and again. But
big, handsome Ned Perry looked only
like one in maze; then he bent over
her in genuine concern:
"Why, Mrs. Belknap! What has hap
pened? What has gone wrong? What
do you mean by unkindness?"
She faced him, Indignantly now: sis
it possible you profess not to know?"
"By all that's holy, Mrs. Belknap,
haven't an idea of what you mean to
charge me with. Tell me, and I'll make
every amend know how"
He was bending over her in genuine
distress and trouble; he had no thought
but to assure her of his innocence of any
conscious wrong. She was leaning upon
the balcony rail, and he rested one strong
hand upon the post at the shaded corner,
above her head, as he bowed his own to
catch her reply.
For a moment she turned her face
away, her bosom heaving, her little
hands clasping nervously, the picture of
wronged and sorrowing womanhood.
His blunt, ragged honesty was some
thing she had never yet had to deal with.
This indeed was "gamo worth the
candle" but something of higher order
than the thrcadbare tlirtations she had
found so palatable heretofore. She had
expected him to be revealed by this time
as the admirer who had only been play
ing part in his apparent acceptance Of
the situation of the last two days; she
expected to be accused of coquetting
with Dana, of neglect, coldness, insult
towards himself; and this she would
have welcomed; it would have shown
him still a victim in her tolls, mouse
she might toy and play with indefinitely
before bestowing the final coup dc grace.
But instead of it, or anything like it,
here stood the tall, handsome young fel-
low, utterly ignoring the possibility of
her having wronged him, and only beg
ging to be told how he had affronted her,
that he might make immediate amends
1t was simply exasperating. She turned
suddenly upon him, hiding her face in
her hands, almost sobbing:
"And l thought wo were such-such
friends!''
Even that suggestive tentative did not
lay him prostrate Fancy the utter In
adennocy of his resnonso.
"Why, SO did I!'' This was too much.
Down came the hands, and were laid in
frantic appeal upon his breast. He did
not bar the way; she could have slipped
from the corner without difficulty, but
the other method was moro dramatic.
"Let me 80, Mr.. Perry" she pleaded
"1-1 might have known; l mil ght have
known" The accents were stiflcil, heart
rending.
"Don't go yet, Mrs. Bclknap; don't go
without telling me what-what I've
DONE" And poor Ned imploringly seized
the little hands in both his and held them
tight. "Please tell me-" he pleaded.
"No, no! You would not understand; !;
you do not see what have to bear. Let
me go, 1 beg, please; l cannot stay"
And her great dark eyes, swimming in
tears, were raised to his face, while with
faint--very faint-struggles she strove
to pull her hands away, relenting in her
purpose to go the moment she felt that
he was relaxing the hold in which they
were clasped, but suddenly wrencling
them from his breast and darting from
his side, leaving Perry in much bewil-
derment to face about and confront the
doctor.
a little opening had been left in the
railing at the south end of the veranda-
the same through which the post surgeon
had passed the night Mrs Lawrence had
shown to Perry the answering signal
light; it was the doctors "sllort cut" be-
tween the colonels quarters and his own
side door, and soft, UNDERTAKING turf lay
there between. Absorbed in her melo-
drama, Mrs. Belknap had failed to note
the coming of the intruder; absorbed in
his own stupefaction and his fair part.
ners apparent depth of woe, Ned Perry
heard nothing but her soft words and
softer sighs, until a deep voice at his
oliOuluei NOlCC WIlOoc uSCellO Dell dy CO
no apology-gave utterance to this un-
compromising sentiment:
"AIrs. Belknap, this is the thirtieth-
not the first-of April"
"And what has that to do with your
sudden appearance, DIR. Quin:" an
swered tho lady, with smiling lips but
flashing eyes. She rallied from the shock
of sudden volley like the veteran she
was, and took the brunt of the fight on
her own white, cleaning shoulders,
needing no aid from the young fellow
who stood there, flushed, annoyed, yet
too perturbed to say word even had
there been a chance to get in one edge
wise. Blunt as lie was, lie could not but
realize the awkwardncss of the situation.
And to be so misjudged by such man as
DR.. Quin! All this was flashing through
his mind as the doctor answered:
''Nothing with my appearance, Mrs.
Belknap; it was yours remarked upon