The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-05-02


and her adopted sister, Mary Peck, and
for the rest of the day was in quite a
flutter of excitement over the event.
Roland Holland and his friend, Jack
Staples, had CHANGED upon the Plummer
farm for their hating place in this neigh
borhocd while sketching. When they
returned to late dinner the voluble, gay
hearted Betty chartered of her morning
callers, and with country freedom soon
had given the young men q full history
of nelghbor Tinkham's oldest son,
who had ''years ago left the farm and
gone to New York as clerk, and later
had become what the country people
called a stock gambler; had been rolling
in money few years, and married city
girl; later had lived in Europe a few
years, and then, Just as all gamblers do,
suddenly he began to lose, and all at once
found himself at the bottom of the heap
and glad enough to send his two girls
out to his old home, which had never been
good enough for them to visit when they
had lots o money"
She told the young men that the girls
were real nice, but couldn't do a thing to
earn a dollar, and seemed actually proud
of it!
Then she talked of her valentine party,
and the young men having identified
Mabel Tinkham and Mary Peck as the
two stylish young ladies of the morning
episode, entered heartily into Betty's
plans, and soon had given the quick
witted country girl some hints about
valentine tricks. Betty was always ready
for good-natured joke and readily agreed
to their suggestions.
In response to one of these she went
over to grandpa Tinkham's on the eve
ming of the thirteenth and told the girls
of these tricks. One was for the girls to
take an early morning walk on the four
tenth and the first man they met would
surely be their future husband! Others
'r's-- *n1b be tried at the house. One of
these was 70 - ouC mo the darA, ana
standing on the doorstep unwind ball !
of Irvine for few yards and holding the |
end of the Irvine in one hand, with the !
other throw the ball as far out into the |
darkness as possible, then begin to wind |
up the end in their hand, repeating these |
lines:
Il wind this long line so very fine,
Hoping to find at the other end,
The love 1 would call my valentine,
The man I'd choose for lover and friend"
Then, unless one was a predestined old
maid, at the end of the line would stand
before the maiden her future husband,
who would yield the line to her, clasp
her in his arms and take his first kiss and
disappear in the darkness, and when the
Fates were propitious she would meet
this very man, perhaps be introduced to
him in the most prosaic and orthodox
manner; but surely some day he would
come to claim the hand of the maiden he
had kissed in the dark
81 shall go for walk before break
fast tomorrow morning, Mary; will you
go too2" cried Mabel, gleefully.
sIndeed I will not. You'll be sure to
meet somebody's hired man driving the
cows to the spring for water" replied
Mary, scornfully.
Then she continued, 81 will control
my impatience to see my hero until even
ing. I shall throw the ball of Irvine
from your back door step, and let it
roll down the slope into the garden, and
then gently draw my hero up to give me
that betrothal kiss, and as it is hardly
proper to accept anything from stranger,
I will return 1t at once" and Mary joined
in the general laugh.
Pattv want homo and raDortad
Early the next morning Mabel went
out for walk, and for half mile met
no one, not even hired man driving
cows to water, nor a milkman going to-
ward the village.
Suddenly, as she turned a corner, she
came face to face with the dark, nous
tached stranger she had seen few morn
ngs ago posing so gracefully beside the
stone wall as his friend sketched. With !
i chivalrous air he lifted his hat and !
passed around the corner.
Mabel was not more romantic than the I
girl, yet her heart throbbed
more rapidly, and the rich color swayed
pack and forth in her shapely cheeks, as |
ihe wondered if there could be anything :
N such happenings, and queried mentally !
over and over again, ''who could he be, ,
where from, and with whom was he stay {
ng in that neighborhood, and would she |
maybe sometimes really meet and speak !
With him?"
But it was time to return for breakfast, j
md, To- he was returning, and politely q
fitted his hat once more from the close ,
ut, dark, curling locks.
Evening came, and Mabel and Mary /
we're much entertained by the society into l
which they were for the first time intro c
luced. Hitherto they had held them 1
elves aloof from the young people about t
hem. a
The hours ran on In games until ten /
iclock, when one by one, the unbetrothed f
naidens slipped away from the party to
ry some trick. Unobserved they were
lot, and it was easy to guess who hoped
0 be the favored one, as, after each girl
iassed out, some admiring swain was h
ure soon to follow. h
None of the country youth dared fol- t.
DIV stately Mary Peck, and the envious t,
ongues whispered: ''She'n not meet v
nyone; she holds her head too high" 81
On the back door step Mary stood, half Il
hivering with the chill night air, half e
nth superstitious thrill. is
Slowly she wound the bail after throw is
ng it, softly repeating the rhymes as told "
y Betty. For a while the line was slack, Re
S if lying along the ground, then it be- fl
anne bit more taut, and soon she was t
lre there was some unknown attachment II
the other end of the hue. a
When she saw a6gGEs- asFqslly coming @