Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1892-03-10
4 4 R ?! # J&tkS.
IT, k 49, [R " 81

some crocheting and began working on
/ it, as though her very life depended upon
what she accomplished.
My dear" said Mr. Willard, breaking
the rather heavy silence, Jack is think
| ing Of leaving US. You must help me to
persuade him to prolong his visit"
Don't you think we should consider
Mr.. Beverly, grandpa? Think how long
he has been bored by us already and
spare him further infection"
Jack bit his lips, and turning from the
window, where his fingers had been
playing an idle tattoo, he addressed
himself to Mr.. Willard:
Il have already imposed too long on
your kind hospitality. My visit has been
50 thoroughly enjoyable that I cut it
short with regret, and if any one has
been bored, Miss Mary has been the suf-
| ferer, | fear"
His glance sought the brown eyes,
bending over the worsted, but Mary's
work was evidently all-absorbing.
1--WE will not discuss your departure
any further Tonight" responded Mr..
Willard, slightly panied at his grand
daughters manner. Tomorrow, hope,
will find you willing to give us at least a
few days more of your company. [ be-
lieve neither Mary nor myself is quite
willing to let you go yet. Mary, why
will you spoil your eyes over that
work? Put it aside, my dear, and give
us some music. Jack has never heard
you sing"
And he never will, grandpa. You
know perfectly we'll that l dom pretend
to sing, and that [ never, under any cir
cumstances, sing for any one but you.
Nonsense, my dear; you have an ex-
| 0nll nnf nofJl will
with me, I am sure, if you will give him
an opportunity to judge. fear he may
think you have no accomplishments.
He knows BETTER" she answered,
with slightly darkening eyes. He knows
[ can swim, and row, and ride"-she
half paused after naming this last ac-
complishment, and, giving Jack de-
cidedly defiant glance, added, calmly
two ways"
The next second she caught her
grandfather's eyes fixed upon her in
perplexed surprise, and with remorse-
full air and a painful blush, she said,
rather penitently:
When you look at me in that way I
feel like savage. [ am a savage, any
way, and plenty of others would be, too,
if they dared. L hate people who won't
do things simply because the world con-
dennis them. They are nothing but
hypocrites. They'd break a command
ment Of God sooner than commit
breach of etiquette. They are bound
by such wall of trusts and mistrust,
that they lose every grain of individual
ity, and become such inSutferable prlgS
that should find it tiresome to look at
them"
Mary concluded this somewhat forci-
L L r,1os
eyes and a gesture of the hand that gave
her words an impassioned emphasis.
Then settling back in her chair she once
more bent over her work. Jack did not
attempt to conceal the admiration her
attitude aroused in him. but her grand
father watched her more gravely.
Don't mind this, Jack" he said at
last: Il understand my little girl thor
oughly."
so do l." responded Jack much to
Mary's chagrin.
When Mr.. Willard left them a half
hour later Jack brought his chair and
placed it close by Mary's.
Let me have that, he said, taking
the work from her hand and putting it on
the mantel. Now please tell we wheth
er I am to stay"
Stay. of course, returned Mary, feel
ing that he had taken some of her spirit
with her work. Il have some idea of po
liteness."
The last part of your sentence rather
spoils the first. Do you find politeness
so hard to practice? You have almost
turned your back upon me. That is
really not good manners. Is it?"
I'm not capable of Judging. I know
nothing of good manners. I pride my
self an having particularly bad ones.
You need not concern yourself in either
event"
He elevated his brows very slightly.
Needn't T." he asked. May I tell
you just why and how far I should like
to concern myself in your regard?"
He asked this last question pointedly,
and with new earnestness upon his
face Her eyes dropped. Something in
his glance warned her, and rather pre-
cipitately she left her chair and walked
to the window Yet even in the dim
light he saw the vivid color that dyed
her face, and made mental note OF the
fact
In the moment that followed he had
time to think. He was not a man given
to impulse. Never before had he been
conscious of a feeling stronger than
simple admiration for any woman. But
for this unconventional, self-willed little
country girl he felt something deeper.
just what he scarcely paused to analyze.
He was content to wait until time should
make him surer.
These reflections passed through his
mind with the rapidity of light, and the
next minute he had joined Mary at the
window.
Let us have light, he said briskly.
This twilight is melancholy. Do you
think 1 can manage those lamps without
blowing up the house?"
Il think you had better not try"
answered Mary turning from her con-
temptation of the landscape outside.
Il will light them, if you will close the