Los Angeles herald., 1890-12-25

propriety. "The devil you dol" 1t was
very improper; but then to think of her
being sold to man of 60, and then "lov-
ing so utterly!" Wonderful creatures are
women. My abruptness made her recoil,
but it was only for moment.
"Then you won't think me immodest
-unwomanly? | could not bear it. You,
of all people in the world!"
There it was again. Why in the deuce
did she care for my opinion so much if
she loved Goldwin 80 utterly?'
"Unwomanly never!" l said vaguely.
''Oh, thank you! thank your She was
beginning to get excited again. 81 felt
you would understand; you have seen
more Of me than any one else; you can
make allowance for Il young girls feel
ings overstepping the bounds Of prudish-
ness"
Irose and walked to the mantel. l
began to believe that the stone sphinx
that upheld it had turned suddenly soft
and blonde and crept into the form Of
the White Mouse. She was surely talk
ing in riddles of the deepest
Tell me once more" she said, follow
ing me to the hearth, ''that lose moth
ing il. your eyes by--by what you know"
Under any circumstances" began,
walily, real, deep love-
"Oh, and how 1 do Lowell God knows
how deep and pure is the passion that
makes me forget all bonds and almost all
proprieties! What else could excuse my
being able to speak of it now-to you?
You know am pledged unwillingly to
another
"To what" l almost shrieked.
"To Mr. Goodwin, whom I-yes, whom
hater' the girl answered, with ten times
the spirit Thought in her.
"And you don't--it isn't-you don't
mean its Goldwin you care for?" stam-
mered in confusion.
Goodwin! Oh, how can you jest with
me at such a moment? You know whom
I-you have long guessed even before
confessed my love for-for-a anotherr'
Again the purple flood dyed her brow
and neck, and then died quickly out.
felt deuced queer. Here was l alone at
midnight with timid White Mouse,
who had suddenly asserted herself, and
told me she did not love the man she was
engaged to, and ''did so" love somebody
else. There was nobody else except Tom
Jones, now talking terrier with the
groom up stairs, and-myself Great
heavens! conld the girl mean me? No,
nonsense! | must be mistaken. smiled
Il siclily smile to reassure myself Then
| said, Il don't-that is, you know-I--
could not-you would not suspect me of
jesting about a-um-your sacred feel
ings." She seized my hand impulsively
and pressed it.
"They are sacred!' she cried" sacred
as the first worship of a pure girls heart
must ever be. Oh, you know, you must
feel how strong ara all absorbing is the
passion that can change me into self
asserting woman. that can make me
defy prejudice and custom, as you see
do, when say that l will give up home
and friends-that l will face all the
world and tell them boldly as l now do
you, that from the bottom of my heart
lover
She dropped her face into her hands as
she spoke the last word. but all the rest
she had said with her eye fixed I'M
swervingly upon mine and looking down
into my very soul. am considered by
most Of my friends TO be rather a modest
man. On this particular occasion l must
confess that | was rather taken aback
and became rather misty in the mind.
But there could be no doubt as to what
the girl meant. Driven to desperation
by her forced engagement, feeling the
unbearable grasp Of a hated fate tight
ening on her, she wa3-yes, there was no
room for doubt-she was making love
to me!
For second the base idea crept into
jilt, the shameless flirt, cannot triumph
over me if Imarry the heiress of 'Shady
nook" instead of the poor lawyers daugh-
ter! For q second | was on the eve of
clasping the White Mouse in my arms,
and blackening my soul with the per-
jury that | adored her-that | never had
loved but her!
Thank heaven it was only for sec
ond, when the unnatural, the frightful
want of modesty stood naked in my
sight. Much as l had despised the girl
before, actually loathed her now. But
to tell her so? There was the rub.
appeal to any young lawyer who has
had an heiress make love to him at mid
night if it isn't u little awkward to re-
fuse her?
Miss Belton," said at last, looking
into the fire, Il make every allowance
for your trials-for your unusual excite
ment that has driven you to say things tc
me you may wish unsaid tomorrow
Tomorrow l shall glory in them
even more than now!'
Tomorrow you may regret" l con
tinued, needless of the interruption,
that you said them to me-"
You are the sole man on earth to
whom would ever dream of speaking
SOL! she broke in hastily; ''to no one else
could be so immodest rs to-to"-
Here she melted into perfect cataract
of tears. don't like tears. They wash
all the manhood out of me- they dissolve
me as if l were beet root sugar. began
at once to regret the accident that had
made the young woman care for me
and, to try and be a little more gentle
l put myself through strict cross-ex-
animation as to whether had ever given
her any cause to believe cared for her,
any encouragement, any reason. But a