Middletown transcript., 1893-09-23

GlNX fair young fore
TET head, Gerty
$s Deane would
have made pretty subject for an
artists sketch as she stood In her pale
pink muslin dress, and her jetty,
silken hair all blown about In the riot.
GUS autumn breeze.
'sOh, Robert. she cried, her dimpled
face frightened as tall figure strobe
over the slope Of the hill, 81 thought
you would never comel''
Mr.. Clare surveyed his pretty fiance
critically.
'.Don't do that, little one," said he,
as she tried to relieve him OF one Of
his travelling wraps. .How you are
sunburnedl And / think you stoop a
little. ! wish they would look after
you little more"
'sI'm sorry don't suit your said
she, in trembling voice. "You
used to like me before you got that hor-
rid Office In the custom house, and left
Coombe Valley"
"a man is not fossil. child" said
Mr.. Clare, carlessly. I'VE grow mem
tally as well as physically; and no one
can help his tastes changing.
Robert" said Gerty, ''your letters
have puzzled me of late, and your
words and manners now puzzle me
still more. Do you mean that you are
tired of me?''
How you do catechize onei' said
Glare, impatiently. ibid say that /
was tired of you? You are a dear,
sweet-natured little puss, and, of
course, man can't expect to have
everything at once. But the truth is
that have been mixing in rather in
tellectual society Of late, and after a
Taste Of champagne it's hard to come
down to cold water again.
Gerty looked wistfully at him.
| don't venture to call myself INTEL
lectual," +" she SAID; '.but read great
deal, and / try TO keep up with the age,
Robert do, indeed, for your sake"
MY darling. said be, ''you are per-
feet rs you are. A man doesn't expect
canary to ape the liquid notes of the
nightingale. Now.run in out of the
dew, and tell them to bring me cup
of ted" !"
Geriy obeyed, docile. but still un-
convinced. She was almost sorry for
moment-almost. but not quite
that she was engaged to him. And the
more she thought of it, the more she
was determined to free him from bonds
which she instinctiyely felt acre be-
coming burdensome.
And SO that very day, when Robert
Clare vas dreaming over book, with
the blossoming clouds of the apple
tree raining their soft pink shells down
over his head, Gerry came resolutely
out to him with a little turquoise ring
in her hand.
Robert, J" said she. II have been
thinking the matter over, and l have
come to the conclusion that we shall
both be happier if our futures separate
from this point. -
'.Gertyl' he exclaimed, in amaze
ment.
''Here's the engagement ring,
Robert . said she.' ..Please don't
attempt to argue the point, for nothing
win induce me to change my mind.''
He accepted the tiny blue token re-
luctantly.
You will remember, Gerty,n said
he, THAT this is your own doing.''
II shall not forget it," said she.
So ## x**
''seen herl No, OF course I haven't
seen her, /" said Mr.. Clare. I'VE have
corresponded for three years, and I've
never so much as looked at her photo
graphl''
''incognito, eh9" said Philip Wayne,
csrelessly.
''Something of that sort. And you
really know herP"
~ have the pleasure of knowing her
most intimately, y returned Wayne.
''She is beautiful, Of course?n
s.Very.n
.'And her mannerYn
''She is very quiet aud retiring. No
one would ever suspect, either, that
she WAS a successful authoress, or
mos. cultivated woman. .
Clare sprang up from his chair in en-
thusiasm.
$50 much The better,n said he.
..But You haven't told me,n inter
rupted Wayne, ..how you commenced
to correspond with person whom you
never saw
'sOh, that is plain enough. / had
been reading "A Lost Love- and, in
the magnetic spell of the moment, sat
down and wrote 10 the authoress-di-
recting, Of course, to the care Of her