Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-07-08
A WALTZ.

Ny drs impulse vas To rush In and
ask Ellen what ,roubled her. bat there is
-omething about my cousin tia, pre-
vent. any display ~ sympathy. - clos
ing the door ~ quickly as its romons,ra.
tive old hinges would allow. suppressed
nv wonder until stood lrforr the long
mirror In aunt. spare room. IA usual
once thcfr. my reflected and rejecting
..lf put our heads together 10 puzzle tile
thing out Everybody In this house u
10 painfully superior tina, have BEN
driven 20 seck the companlonship u this
girl In the glass. and. 20 let you into a
.ccrvt. We really have great liking for
each other. though you may think dif'
f,rcntly some time u you happ.a TO bc
present.
Daisy said thi. amiAble IsrSonago,
you've ju., discovered tao very strange
things That Ellen was careless enough
10 leave her door oIen u one myst"ry'
tina, she IL lying there on the I'D with
her heal burici In the pillow. u an
other
No wonder the glass Daisy looked as
II all ths problems u Euclid and algebra
together would not ouiwcigh this one,
for never t-lorc hal Il entered her Wild
little head that Ellen could feel sorry.
or worry about anything. Ellen, Who
elose. her door In a way that no one ven
tufcs 10 question; Ellen, who's. calm.
clear eyes hold such a tine contempt ior
somebody Who cries over her look. Ellen
TO H. lying there spbbing-for heard a
sob. did. po~itiyelyl il-gan IN wonder
N IL wer, worth while dressing for din
ter. II SEEMED out of place that plain
EVERYDAY dinner should H. served where
such thing- as this were happening.
Where's Sclly' askel uncle, glancing
at her empty chair as We gathered about
the table. Ssll laicl Thiswas almost too
much for INV po~.r- u silence. was
iu., on the POINT of unburdening myself
of everything had sen and thought
when my cousin came In looking n calm
and impsriurbablc a. ever and s~cp, to
her place with the old stateline-s have
been envying three times day for the
last two weeks.
To 10 SURE shc didn't say much. ] did.
I always did. Auntie calls me "Unquos
tionabie.- 30 1t was quite possible Tor
her 90 h. quiet without attracting atten.
ton, but thought strange ligh, leaped
into her eyes when Uncle Harry saidi
"By the way. isaw Maxwell on the street
today. When did he retumr'
The question being addressed 10 the
center 81 the table AMI that dignitary
not being communicative ] thought IL
Quit. time % ask "who u MAXWELL for
am only visitor here and am not yet
as well acquainted a. Intend Ia IL.
Zee, I did soe Aunt Jeans quick glance
that meant not Ia ask anything more.
but ID was all wasted. II was absolutely.
positively necessary 10 my happiness that
/ should know all there Was 90 IL known
OF the mysterious Mr. Maxwell. - j at
once stated my views 10 the family at
large, whereupon my uncle, who knows
something of my perseverance,, conde.
scended to inform me that be was an old
friend OF ''ours--"ours." indeedl and ]
had n Il even heard 81 him b.fore-thai
he had been away for several years and
had suddenly returned. A. II any girl
could not have deluced that much from
his question: Aunt spoiled my nice little
speech, telling him how grateful ] was
| for hi, wealth Of information. by rising.
OF course Ne had to follow suit. though
any one could sec her coffee had not becn
tasted-and auntie's love of coffee IL one
of her weaknesses.
wasn't IL contemplate 81 mo Ia pre-
tend I wanted something from my noon,
as an excuse for following somebody up
stairsy Wasn't IL atrocious ~ me To
stand In that someboiy's doorway. just
% see how she would manage To get me
awayi Was it not perfectly ridiculous
TO hunt out crying and run away when
Ella said, gently; at was good Of you Ia
Close my door. Daisy" Perhaps " she
had not kisssd me afterward would not
have been 20 frightened. but ] didn't sup
pose she knew how To do such thing. u
was ~ unexpected. No wonder ] rushed
10 the glass Daisy To tell her what would.
I knew. frighien her. too. But she looked
% absurd with her rcd eyes that laughed
ut her la spite of myself. "You foolish
thing she said. "inquisitive and prying
N you can he ono minute. crying and
making a gooss NJ yourself generally the
next! Better bathe your face and behave
like . zane girl OF as near Ike one as poe
sible." Then, ~ 1t is woman's duty tc
obey as well % to command (herself).
hathed my eyes forthwith and reached
the drawing room just In time TO heal
my uncle kay, "Why. Maxwell. old Tel
low. glad TO SEQ you again!-
So this was the mysterious stranger
this tall man with such black, deep 81
syes that scarcely knew for looking q
them whether hs had anything elss Ia
hh face oe not. He didn't seem u ~