Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-04-24

ing up lne SulttIlhS ndll CHClS. L
found it on the car floor close to where
you were sitting"
He started and raised his hat.
1t is Mr.. Wotton's niece, isn't it?"
said he-"Miss lydia? Yes. it is mine,
and I'm a thousand times obliged to you.
| must have fastened it in very care
Iessly. And 1 value it very highly, too;
it was gift from my father"
''Is it worth a great deal of money!"
asked Lydia, timidly lifting her sea blue
eyes to his face.
About hundred dollars. Isuppose
81 wish it was mine said Lydia, with
a long sigh, as if she were thinking
aloud"
Yours: Why, itisn't lady's orna-
ment"
.Oh, not the PIN" Lydia hastened to
explain, .'but the money-the hundred
dollars. Goodbye! Here is the carriage
waiting from Carhart court"
'Will you let me drive you as far as
Wotton farm?" asked the stranger, eour-
teously.
And tired Lydia willingly aceeded.
The upshot was that when she enter
ed her uncle's presence she gave him a
bank bill representing the price of the
price of the prize colt"
Where did thee get this money,
child:" solemenly asked Uncle Joshua.
'T-I-borrowed it," confessed Lydia.
Don't ask me any more questions, un-
Gle. I'll pay it back if have to pick
blackberries at four cents a quart all
summer"
81 hope thee will give up this hoyden-
ish business of scampering about on
horseback, Lydia, after this" severely
spoke Aunt Rebecca.
"But, aunt, the old fortune teller told
me that my fortune would one day be
made by a.
Lydia stopped abruptly as she remem-
bered how the diamond horseshoe had
glittered on the floor at her feet that
day. Her color rose, her heart beat.
Thee must remember, Lydia" ad-
monished Aunt Rebecca, "that all di-
viners and fortune tellers are snares of
Satan"
"Yes, Aunt Rebecca," murmured the
girl.
But from that day an inserutable
change came over the whole character
of her life.
The pleasant summer sunshine had
faded out of the land. The Saratoga
hotels were closed; gay Newport was
deserted.
And Mrs. Blythe, sitting in the yell
low light of her ionquil silk curtains,
was smiling over card which Matilda
had just brought in.
"Dear Algyw she murmured. 81
knew he would Gomez
She glided into the white and gold
drawing room, all gracious cordiality.
"You recreant cavalier!" she smiled.
"I've half mind to scold you, and
yet
"Do l deserve that title?" Mr.. Vane
asked. 'For you are the first person to
whom 1 have told the great happiness of
my life. Oh, see you don't understand
me! Come out from from behind the
draperies, Lydia, and help me to ex-
plain"
And Lydia, blue-eyed and fair-tress-
ed, came.
"We are married mamma" said Ly-
dia, "Algy and l. And we sail for Eu-
rope in the Comandria, at noon. Won't
you kiss me, mamma, and wish me joy?"
Mrs. Blythe kissed Lydia-and Algy,
too-and wished them joy.
But it was the severest ordeal to which
she had ever been put. A mother-in-
law instead of bride! This was hard
ly what she had looked forward to.
But even in that trying moment she
noticed the glittering pin which fasten-
ed Lydia's lace bonnet strings-a quaint
device of tiny diamonds remem-
bered what the girl had once said about
fortune teller and horseshoe.
Mamma didn't look quite pleased,
Algy," said the bride, when they were
back in the carriage. driving to the
steamers wharf. "Do you suppose she
is vexed because we didn't take her into
our contidence?"
81 dare say" remarked Mr.. Vane,
''that no mother likes to lose her child
so suddenly"
And neither of the two suspected
what poisoned dagger was that day
ranking in the breast of Mrs. Rosamond
Blythe. .-PhilG. Saturday Night.