Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-19
CHAPTER XVI.
TUi. DISAPPOINTED LOvrR.

Of course, Era,ttls was told of lMcv's eh9a"enrnt to Mir. Annelscy. In llci he learnel it from Jennie in aiyancc of any other member of tie family
 As they w r. driving home from the landing on their rrtur.! f.om san Fran cisco and chatting of .ltSt t,ing- N hich are O more interest to Noun Y ople, hainely, otter young reopc, Jennie suddenly broke out with:
 Say. Lucr, I'm moin to Icll Ras.' ant without va ting fo, a tcpl, or m " ing any hcod lu ti.e blu~ue, which flooded her sister face and neck, $ e rattleu on with all the spc d wh ch her tongue could comm@nI: ''Il,w q vou like have Mir. Anjl", Scy for q broth in-law, RaS? 1 know you q dn't ed to like him very well. but you I have to now, for Lucy and he are engaged. and are going to be ma:rir-l when he co mes back from New York in ab ut q Ncar There now, Lucc, it's out, anl you won't have to he carrying the aw ul load of havin" 10 tell t any lougrr"
 "l think you are just as mean aS you can be, retortrd Lucy. half angry and uncertain whether Io laugh or cry. "I hadn't said q wor! about Mir. Ensign, who has been almost as constant as your shadow ever since we met him on the boat. You would be engaged to hlm, too-you know you would if it wasn't that he has got nothing 10 90 to Housekeeping W tn. So, there now, Ras. you know all about Us girls, and can confess that vol are go ny 10 marry Julia Ennis if you want to with out blushing."
 But Erastus mado no such confession, anu instead of bushing. his face ocean very white, and he luok d straight ahead and did not speak for some sec on !S. and then said. in a voice which sounded hoar>c and unnatural:
 ''l am not going to marry Julia En- his or anybody .>y. .'
 Alter that little moro was sail for Sonl1 t;mc
 Once or twice Jennie, who felt that she was the innoc 'nt caus. of the sud- den silence w Il had ia len upon them, attrm 'tcd tp sta t the convrrS l. ton a-a n by asking questions a out neighborS or affairs on e ranch but EraStus only replied in the eve tworL, poSsi }ic. and stll looked straigh m front of him.
 Jenn e Was half inclined to ba offend ed at this. She thou Int hm an :ry be- eau Lucy la engaged herself to q man whom he | dd not like. Cou.d she h ve seen his fa"e she would have known tat some feeling deeper tn n mere dislike for Anncl>ey was at work within l. is breast.
 NI 'or Lucy. the assertion of ErastllS. that he Wa not goi 2 to marry Julia 1 Ennis or a rvbody else gave her a sud G.'n t II and d monlcntarv insight into b T. q trriing>,
 Was It possible after all that he loved ! hcro
 The thought sent ali the blood rush ing b3cl upon her heart. and for q moment she felt that Sne shou q sutfo- gate. then came another thought. Perhaps Erastus lad D opposed to Julia aad btel rc c>;r l. This she felt ,ou:d noi be unlr,, Julia had suddenly be- come cnamovei oi some new ,dluIfrr, for crrIa'n,y >hs. lad aiw; > shown a pre.c e,lco for Era>tus over the other young men of the nuW borhood
 Sl!l' the thour.'t clHng to Lucy that such might bc the, ease, and that iu- ste td ot feeling bad hrcau.c of her own engaGrmtut to auotner, his silence wa, caused by pain at being rcmn ed of h;s refusal by Julia, and her whole mo d changed, an S e iecame as cod and hard a. he himself appeared
 As they n ar, q hul1, >hc began talk ing ghblY oi an th.ng and everything she coull think uf the presents they . family-toys for ,johnn<, a dress for mother. a neck-tie for EraStus himself, and silver tObacco-hoN for fa.her-all bought with money saved out of that sent them for their own use; going oa from this to tell of their school, anu of q couple of girls who came an tho boat with them as far as Sacrampnto, where their parents lived; and how these girls were related to one of their own .gh- bors, and how. in answer to their in quiries, Jennie and she had told tn m all about this nei rhbor; how near they were to their own home; how their ranch looked, and how it had been in jured by the washings from the mines. Here she came to a sudden stop.
 She had llnintcutionallv run upun that which they were al, trying to avoid the mention of, and there came to her not only a knowledge of her blunder. but an entirely new feeling--a feeling that she was somehow responsible for the losses and suiferin9s of this family and avery other family in the valley whose homes were endangered by the opera tions of the hydraulic mining compa- nies at Gravel Hill.
 At least she had arrayed herself on the side of the coml 'anies; was engaged to be married to one Who Was in crested in the continuance of the work which was certain to bring more loss and suf- fering to these people.
 She was no longer of them or with them; for om the moment she became the wife of James AnnelSey her inter- ests would be opposed tp these of every one she bad known since they had set tied in the valley.
 Even ner f"ther and mother, and ErastuS, must feel that she had del b. erat ly chosen to desert them in the hour of their greatest 10 $, and had gone over 10 ,ir enemies in order to save her elf from shar ng in the hard sips which m1ght be coming upon tn m
 All this passed through her mind in an instant, and she sank down in her seat w tn a feeling of shame, and a