The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1891-02-27
CHAPTER x.


AS conscientious man, Russell could
not fully persuade himself that Browns
desire for Miss Rays intellectual ad-
vancement would be adequately met by
the work of the Society for General
Culture. If the society should map out
q plan ior itself at any meeting he
foresaw that at the time of the next as
sembly there would be at least seven
different ideas of what that plan had
been, and seven opinions of any thing
that might be offered as substitute.
The resulting debates would not be in
the line of mental progress.
But it was not because Of these con-
sideratiohs that Russell continued to
call upon Miss Ray as frequently as the
circumstances would permit. He went
because he found it more and more
agreeable to do SO. He was becoming
even deeper involved In money-making
schemes of q nature i'll calculated to
make man feel at peace with himself.
These fanciful projects appeared to
spring up without his volition g, to
control him. He was their creature.
They gave him living, but for all he
could see they might cut him off with a
shilling any day. He regarded himself
as an inflated fraud, and though this
was on the whole rather pleasant at
first, he eajoyed the variety OF feeling
honest once In awhile.
And when such desire came to him
he called upon Alice Ray, and talked OF
the subjects which interested her as
frankly as she herself. and derived a
pleasure which he did not understand,
but which came to him because he really
was honest in regard to her, and hadn t
thought in his brain which couldn't
have been safely photographed for her
inspection or Browns. He liked her
simply as he liked sunshine and resh
air. She was so palpably innocent of
small deceits and vanities.
Russell rather liked Mrs. Ray. too.
She was inferior to her daughter in
every way. Even in her youth she had
not possessed half of Alice's beauty, yet
at forty-five she was by no means the
embodied prophecy which sometimes
frightens suitors away. Mentally she
was almost o blank, as Brown had said.
but with good instincts and breeding
she had never felt the want. A safe
mother for girl, after all; for it is inn
possible to inherit evil tendencies from
q person of no tendencies whatever.
1t was easy for Russell to WIN her ap-
probation. He made no special effort
to do so, but he was iRnately respectful
and of most courteous demeanor. Gill
bert Ray had told his wife that Russell
was hustler who would be heard
FROM" and she had taken this to mean
an active young man who might be sup
posed to prefer theaters and wine sup
pers of riotous and forbidden char
acter, rather than peace and quietness.
She therefore felt complimented by
his evident delight In the home-like
evenings he spent there, with no more
hilarious entertainment than some
what vacuous conversation and little
music. If he had been in love with
Alice that would have been another
matter, but the maternal eye detected
no sign.
The life of the family was simplicity
itself. They spent almost all their
evenings at home, and enjoyed each
others company in the good old fashion,
Alice sang and played we'll, and both
her parents were good listeners, though
Mrs. Ray had slight tendency to
somnolency. They stayed in the city
very late that season, to Russell's great
satisfaction.
He made other acquaintances through
the Society for General Culture. This
organization discovered at it's second
meeting that the approaching summer
would dry up the springs of knowledge;
and it was voted and reconsidered and
voted again and finally settled by gem
eral misunderstanding. that the third
session should be the last till fall. The
girls all pledged themselves to read