The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-06-21

ever been any spoonlng between you and
that fellow Mark Spofford it must be
broken off. Do you hear me, grip
eyes, sir, sadly.
eWell, now, mind what say; l would
cut off daughter Of mine with a shill-
ing who would dare to disobey me in
such case. With shilling, dye hearT'
Eyes, sir, meekly.
eff no dares to write to you, Kitty,
you must send his letters back unopened.
Dye hear, Kitty
'sYes, sir, tearfully.
That was all, and Kitty had never
thought of disobeying When Mark was
at home she avoided walking out, and
always drove in the carriage. She kept
away from all the windows on the Spot
ford side of the house. She never APP
peared on the veranda Already she
had returned FIVE Of Marks letters I'M
opened, and had sent back all the books
and little presents he had given her.
But, strange to say, when that great,
breezy, all pervasive Mark was at home
the Childers house seemed to Jingle with
the knowledge in some mysterious way,
from foundation stone TO the highest
tendril of wisteria sporting above its
chirnneys. Kitty never knew precisely
when he was coming, but she was al
ways conscious of his arrival She saw
him through the back of her head, heard
him whistling about the Spofford garden
even when all the doors and windows
were closed and curtains closely drawn,
49, l,1,-r,1e +bn ocxf71r ~
rooms ON the wrong side of the breeze.
The cat mewed Mark has come, !" the
birds sang Mark has come" She felt
as if his eyes were following her In the
darkest corner of the house. There was
suppressed excitement about Kitty on
such occasions that made her eyes bright
and her pulse uncertain, and she was
always starting and looking behind her
at the least noise.
Mark, however. did look upon it as
very malicious in Kitty that she seldom
frequented the drawing room on the
Spofford side of the house unless Rigsby
called-Rigsby, Marks hated rival, the
young dude favored by old Childers be
cause of his neutral temperament and
large bank account. Rigsby, according
to Marks estimate, was fellow who ran
all to clothes and manners. who would
have thought it capital sin to wear
shirt collar of any but the most modish
cut, who held his elbows at a particular
angle and grasped his cane in the middle
with serious acrimony, and was the ez-
treme swell and anglomaniac of Little
field. Whereas Mark Spofford, whose
thoughts were always wool gathering,
never knew whether his trousers bagged
at the knee, or his coat wrinkled in the
back, or his necktie was screwed under
his ear IF he went alone to the tailor
to buy a suit it was generally too short
in the sleeves, leaving his big hands and
wrists exposed in q somewhat ridiculous
fashion. But people never laughed at
Mark. The fellows at college had tried
it once or twice in practical way, but
after that they grew sad and lneditatiye
when Spofford was mentioned, and when
they met him it was noticed they treated
him with marked respect. He was like
some big dog that has not O particularly
beautiful coat, but you would not care to
monkey with him more than once. There
was something lordly, too, In his great
shapely head, looming above all the men
about, that made him observed in all
companies. There was nothing malicious
in Marks feeling toward Rigsby. He
contemplated him as good natured,
shaggy big dog looks at a stylish little
one-with the amused desire of taking
him gently by the scruff of the neck and
rolling him over in the mud. The idea
that Kitty, his Kitty, elected and fore
ordained from the foundations to be his
own, should care for tailor made Rigsby
was too preposterous.
Now, as Mark paced round the garden
bareheaded and in his slippers he was
mildly melancholy. 1t was a beautiful
June morning, and every rose and lily
on its stem spoke to him of Kitty. He
chafed at the thought of the obstacles
that pigheaded, obstinate old Childers
had put between him and his true love-
Every fiber Of his large person seemed to
be enamored Of Kitty u different way,
so that his heart was only the seat and
center of this confederation of loves. AS
he stood looking vaguely up at Kitty's
window above the spikes of the brick
wall it occurred to him that it would be
an easy thing to rig up a telephone be-
tween the two houses. He, who was so
expert in telegraphy and allied sciences,
could do it in few hours, but what
would be the good if Kitty refused to
speak to him along the wire? Mark had
never studied these things as related to
the art of love making. He had never
heard that they had been of the least use
in melting the hearts of obdurate fathers
or winning over lovely girls to disobey
their parents.
Now, as Mark strolled disconsolately
about the garden, kicking an occasional
pebble out of the path or stopping to
pluck ripe strawberry, he spied lad
der near the dollhouse. It was only the
work of a moment to place itagainst the
wall in secluded spot under low
branching apple tree, which gave him
the opportunity to spy upon the Chill
ders' domain without being seen. Mark
stealtinly mounted the ladder and peeped
over into the other garden. Grip, the
great mastiff, lay just below, with his
paws extended out of the straw of his
hutch, and his great, moist, black muz-
zle resting upon them, his infiamed eye,