The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1890-05-01
miserable creature in the Woodland
want c hundred dollars.'

uIuu eA1Ctly uo IL HiSs l, Du0 "eN
riding Pretty Jane around the meadow,
Just for practice, and forgot and LETT tht
bars down, and the colt get out On the
railroad track, and the train came along,
and--oh J never can look Uncle Joshua
il the face again, unless I have that hun
dred dollars to pay him!
81 shall be able to earn plenty for my
self before long, mamma" she added,
breathlessly, "for l can ride better than
the woman in pink tarlatan and spangles
who jumped through the hoops at the
circus. When the old gypsy told my for
vune last year, at the county fair, she said
horseshoe would bring mo luck some
day; and I knew of course; what she
meant. So I've been practicing riding
ever since, whenever 1 could get away
from Aunt Beck and Uncle Joshua,
and"
"Mrs. Dappleton Ames is in the draw
ing-rcom, ma am" said the whitecappcd
maid, appearing with an oxydized silver
card-recciver in her hand
And Mrs. Blythe checked her daugh-
r's condolences at once.
- "Lydia," cried she, "I'm surprised at
you! A great girl like you scufiling and
romping around the country! Go back
to Shady Plains BY the very next train,
and try to behave more like lady.
Why, you must be fourteen at least!"
Seventeen, mamma" confessed the
culprit. "But aren't you going to give
me the hundred dollars2"
II have not got hundred cents"
impatiently cried Mrs. Blythe. "And If
I had, wouldn't give it to you, you
naughty, ill-bchaved, romping-Yes,
Matilda, tell Mrs. DappIeton Ames that
/ shall be down directly, and bring some
tea and buns for-for Miss Blythe be-
fore the next train goes"
But when Mrs. Dappleton Ames had
finished her call, and Mrs. Blythe came
back, the bird had flown. Lydia, deeply
wounded and rcsentful, had promptly
returned to Shady Plains.
''That old gipsy must have been a
humbug, after all, thought the despair
ing gill. "Oh, what shall l say to
Uncle Joshua' Why was mamma so cold
and cruel to me4 Oh, dear, am very,
very unhappy
"Shady Plains!' shouted the con-
ductor.
And as Lydia crept sorrowfully out of
the train, something bright, like fallen
drop of dew, scintillated on the floor at
her feet. She stopped to pick it up. 1t
was diamond scarf-pin in the shape
of horseshoe.
esquire Carhart's company must have
dropped it," said Lydia to herself.
ooh, how it sparkles! If it were only
mine! For 1 am sure it must be worth
more than hundred dollars"
She glanced furtively at tall, broad,
shouldercd young fellow who had been
seated in the train few seats beyond
her.
::He never looked around" thought
Lydia. "I'm glad Of it, for he must
have known that had been crying. But
must give this back to him."
With light, swift step she fastened
to overtake Squire Carhart's city guest.
"Please, IS this yours2" she said,
holding up the glittering half-circle.
II found it on the car floor close to
where you were sitting"
He started and raised his hat.
SIT is Mr.. Wotton's neice, isn't it,"
said he-"Miss Lydia? Yes, it is mine,
and I'm thousand times obliged to you.
I must have fastened it in very carelessly.
And 1 value it very highly, too; it was
a gift from my father"
''Is it worth a great deal of money!"
asked Lydia, lifting her sea-blue eyes to
his face.
"About a hundred dollars, Isuppose. "
81 wish it was mine, said Lydia, with
long sigh, as if she were thinking
aloud.
"Yours2 Why, it isn't lady's orna-
ment."
"Oh, not the PIN" Lydia hastened to
explain, "but the money-the hundred
dollars. Good-by! Here is the carriage
waiting from Carhart Court"
"Will you let me drive you as far as
Wotton Farm2" asked the stranger,
courteously.
And tired Lydia willingly acceded.
The upshot vas that when she entered
her uncle's presence, she gave him a
bank bill representing the price of the
"prize colt"
"Wherc did thee get this money,
child?" solemnly asked Uncle Joshua.
"1-I borrowed it," confessed Lydia.
"Don't ask me any more questions, un-
Gle. I'll pay it back if I 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 SIC remem-
bered how the diamond horseshoe had
glittcred on the floor at her feet that day.
Her color rose, her heart heat.
''Thee must remember, LYDIA" ad-
monished Aunt Rebecca, "that all di-
viners and fortune.tellers arc snares of
Satan"
eyes, Aunt Rebecca," murmured the
girl.
But from. that day an inscrutablc
change came over the whole character of
her life.
The pleasant summer sunshine had
faded out of the land. The Saratoga
L l.. Il i