The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-01-21

phere, with boxing gloves ana Durr1ngBl
"The affair promised to be interesting,
and | was bent upon being a witness
possibly myself not wholly unnoticed
II was therefore with very. bad grace
/ that / read in letter from my mother
| that Margaret Burton was in Boston
and asking me TO see that she was suit
ably initiated into the preciousness Of
things Harvardian And yet / was
/ piqued enOugh when in answer to nv
formal note-l had dispensed with the
needful call received a closely wordcd
little note saying that she had already
accepted for spreads at Weeds and
Halworthy. had Of COURSE supposed
/. that she knew nobody, and had been by
no means averse to act the modern
mentor to a fair Telemacha. OF course
you've guessed the end Even an expert
detective would have a clew by this.
But / was as unsuspicious as only a
foregone conclusion can make one, and
when sauutered into Whites rooms at
Halworthy and saw Margaret sur
rounded by the superlatives,' as we
call them, smiling, gracious, witty and
wholly at ease, / was dumfounded,
overcome. ecrase. Whether it was that
my nativity spoke for me, or as l think
now, from pure womanly kindness, Mar
garet neither scorned me. as | deserved, Z,
nor froze mes as she well knew how.
She gave me her hand in its long yellow
glove, made place beside her, and then
seemed to quite forget me.
I've made a lengthy preamble. but
the denouemenf is at hand. Suffice it
that the next year | was her slavish
shadow. | climbed awkwardly down
ont Of the rarefied air of my superiority,
content to be in the same world with
her She perhaps suspected the truth
of one Of my own epigrsms-that it is
only an unrequited love that makes
man good and keeps him humble. She
was sweet aud frank and charming, but
she had no bushes 10 hide from me.
There were no quarrels to make up, and
while got as many smiles ~ the rest
and the rest We're many and ardent-I
was never given confidence nor made
| trembling witness of tear.
Wherever Margaret went followed,
usually on later train as was always
forbidden if | stated my intentions.
Now comes the crisis, modestly dra-
matte! Margaret had gone to Narra-
gansett for week After two days l
found the town insupportably hot, and
getting of late arrived at the hotel
about II o'clock. There was dancing
in the ballroom, and as | registered at
the desk through the wide doors | could
see the lights and the moving figures.
AS | hesitated there, making up my
mind, rs there was no chance Of dance
with her, 10 grumble Grossly off to bed
and lovers dreams, a child, almost u
baby, dashed suddenly out of the side
corridor and ran, screaming shrilly,
through the doors and down the aisle
made by the dancers, who were begin.
ming the lancers.
Behind the child came an enormous
mastiff, his eyes blazing, length of red
tongue showing between his dripping
jaws. / do not know to this day how !
got there, but an Instant later stood in
the middle Of the ballroom holding the
child high in the air Then the child
began to pound my head and face,
kicking violently. The dog stood by
my side wagging his tail. A roar from
the men and heartess giggle from the
women began to enlighten ME. When
the child's mother took him from me
and began resentfully to smooth down
his tmnhled lucos quite understood.
"The dog was the pet and victim of
this enfant terrible, and the hero of
comedy, Cruelty mortified and deep
ly disgusted, turned to 20. Somebody
stepped ont of the group nearest me. 1t
was Margaret. She held ont her hand
to me, and in her eyes read something
sweeter than pity. / bought the dog,
who was of course Afnado.'
At the sound Of his name the mastiff
opened one eye sleepily aud heat with
his great tail m The floor. --Dorothea
Lummis in Chicago Inter Ocean