The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-04-04

-"
can't make me believe that"
"But, my dear Venus, I do want You TO
bslisvs t." pl0ded Bob, with esrncstness
very far removed from his usual tndffer-
once OF tanner. sit docs soundf funny, !
suppose" he continued, rather ruefuliy,
~ am such . gawk, but ! o you just -
much ~ II were better looking ana
graceful ind al that"
Bob's companion jumped lightly down
from her elevated perch on the stone wall
and turned . resolute little face up to
him. "You needn't think that I'm such
IN awful idiot, Mr.. Pearson, just because
! happened TO have been born In tho
country. It's horrid of you to talk to
me that way, trying to turn my head with
al your praises OF city life and how hne
1t Il; you don't love me one bit, you-oh-
oh ~
The rest of The sentence was unintelli-
gible, for Venus burst out in q most sud-
den and unexpected ft of weeping, loav-
ing the already bewjldered Bob quite daft
and overcome with q thousand conflicting
emotions.
at say, little one" he finally managed
to gasp, after he had watched the tears
trickling down Venus's cheek till he
could stand 1t no longer; "don't cry;
don't, please. amt worth IL, I amt,
honest. Oh, / say, darlin', quit, won't
you. You don't want to-to-to see me
cry, too, do your"
There wa . dangerous fash in the
young maiden's eyes as she shook herself
loose from the arm of the unsteady Bob.
IL amt your darling; ! never will be,
90 there. Oh, ! don't want you to go
home with me, thank you. ! am quite
capable Of walking without support OF
any kindl" (This last sentence probably
had reference to Bob's arm.)
As that decided young lady attempted
TO pass him and run Town the road to-
wards her ancestral mansion she was
seized boldly about the waist by a muscu-
hr pair of arms with an embrace that was
gentle but very frm.
"Venus," his voice whispered in her
ear, "you must not play with me like
this, dear. Why, the true love of a man
10 not q thing to trample under foot as
You have mine. Perhaps you do not un-
derstand me yeti is all SO plain to me.
] love You and want you to be my wife,
will your"
Venus raised herself upon tiptoe and
struck Bob full in the face.
"You are an awful coward" she cried,
passionately, "to make low to me, and
then say the terrible things about me
which you did the other night. / hate you,
and Railways have, and always will, and
-oh, go away, can't your"
For once in her life Venus was terrified.
The arms which were about her waist
shook for q moment, and then closed up
on her like Q wise. Bob's face, white as q
sheet, looked into hers.
"Venus," she heard his voice say, calm
ly enough, only It was the sort of quiet
ness that makes one shudder, " you should
not say such things. ! was so mad for q
minute that / almost killed you. Good
by"
"where are you going" sobbed Venus.
"To the devil" was the laconic re-
Spouse.
Bob turned around; the decided young
lady had become wofully weak. Bob's
heart smote him; he turned to come back,
hesitated, and was lost. He felt per-
fectly miserable, and therefore manlike,
In order to disguise q sensation he should
have been proud of, he grew sullen.
"Hope you win feel better soon" he re-
marked pleasantly. "And, by the way,
tell Mrs. Elmore not to wait supper for
me, I won't be there"
"Oh, you're not going away, Bobf"
Venus raised q pretty fearful face.
ooh, no, not far. I'll leave my body
behind me-. Come down to the river to-
morrow md you may ind f~t-depends on
which way the wind blows thought
may take me out to sea-"
"You don't intend to drown yourself"
"Dear me, what an idea. That would
be wretched form-just fall into the river
you know-current strong
too bad, nice fellow. You drop in, river
does the rest, ha, ha, hal"
Bob walked rapidly away, he could not
trust his feelings any longer.
venusf She tainted in the most orthodox
manner
. .
For over an hour Bob Pearson walked
straight down the dusty road which led *
Old Mission. Many times he stopped,
furtively behind him, then settled
his hat still further down upon his fore
head and again plodded onward.
II was all Of . long month ago that he
had first seen Venus. He had come
down from Chicago, worn out with work
and worry, not in making, but in taking
of his fortune, for a months rest.
He had secured . room at the. farmhouse
Of Mrs. Elmore, q widow. There he had
met his fate In the shape of pretty
Marjorie Elmore, known to the primitive
county of Bucks as Venus, on account of
her many and palpable charms.
With malice prepense he had asked her
TO take q walk with him late in the after
down by the pretty river which ran
By Mrs.. Elmore,s estate Arrived there
he had proposed to her, started to take
her into his arms-and received q blow
from venus's hand full on the face, to-
gether with some most incoherent nom
sense about "the terrible things he had
said the other night"
Bob struck ~viciously at An innocent
clump ofgolden rod with his cane. What
the duece did she mean? Was Venus
only IN arrant little coquette after all?
He would have sworn that she liked him,
they had been such good chums; but
what under the canopy did she mean by
such-had that little sprig of .
been lying to Venus?
Why, Burton proposed to her once and
she had refused him-who was IL who had
told that-he had almost forgotten the
circumstancesf And here he was actually