Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1893-03-26

thing simple and perfectly natural In
her manner as she did so which struck
him. II was almost as il she were
throwing of impulsively part which
she was tired of playing.
He held her hand Tor quarter OF an
instant longer than was actually neces-
sary.
IL hope we may meet again, Miss
Ford" he said, simply but cordially
something In her persistent manner was
infectious-''and continue our talk"
She glanced up at him.
81 hope so, too" she said quickly.
But then her brows contracted again a
little. SAT least-I don't know that 1t
is very probable" she added discon-
nectedly, as she fastened away in the
direction whence came the voices.
"Hasn't many invitations, l dare
say" he said to himself as he
looked after her. "If she had
been still with Gertrude Englewood
l might, perhaps, have got one or two
people to be civil to them. But dare
say IL would have been quite Quixotic,
and It's the sort Of thing l dislike doing
putting ones self under obligation Tor
no real reason"
If he had heard what Maisie Ford was
thinking to herself as she made her way
quickly to her cousin!
What a pity" she thought. what
a real pity that man who must nave
had GOOD material in him should have
so sunk-to what l can't help thinking
vulgarity of feeling, if not of externals
to such contemplate self-conceit and
affectation! can understand, how
ever, that he may have been a nice boy
once, as Gertrude maintains. Poor Ger
trude-how her hero has turned out!
must never let her know how impossible
I find it to resist drawing him Quit
surely is not wrong? Oh, how should
love to see him thoroughly hum6led!
THE worst Of it is that when he be-
comes a reasonable being, as he does
now and then, he can be so nice-inter-
esting even-and 1 forget who L am
talking to. But not for long! No, in
deed-'Mrs. EnglewOod's dowdy pro-
tege,' the 'bread-and-butt miss, for
whom the tenth waltz was too much
condescensiou, hasn't such bad men,
DRY. And when l had looked forward
to my first dance so, and fancied the
world was a good and kind place! Ohl"
and she clenched her hands as the hot
modification, the scathing desillusionne-
ment Of that evening required to her IN
its full force. sob, l hope il is not
wicked and un-Christian, but l should
love to see him humhled! l wonder if !
shall meet him again. hope nOt-and
yet hope l shall.
The "again" came next at dinner
party, to which she accompanied her
cousin. Mrs. Maberly was old-fash-
toned in some of her ideas. Nothing,
for instance, would persuade her that II
was courteous to be more than twenty
minutes later than the dinner hour
named, in consequence Of which she
not infrequently found herself the first
arrival. This in no way annoyed
Maisie, as it might have done less
supplemented maiden; indeed, on the
contrary, it rather added TO her enjoy
ment. She liked TO get into quiet
corner and watch the various guests as
they came in; she felt amused by, and
vet sorry for, the little perturbations
She sometimes dscerned on the part OF
the hostess, especially If the latter hap
pened to be young and at all anxious
minded, This was the case on the
evening in question, when fully half
an hour had been spent by Miss Fforde
In her corner before dinner was an
nounced.
cit is too bad" Maisie overheard the
young chatelaine whisper TO friend;
"such affectation really amounts to
rudeness. But yet it is so awkward to
60 down" then followed some words
too low for her to understand, succeed
ed by joyful exclamation-"Ah, there
he is at last" as again the door opened
and ''Mr. Norreys" was announced.
And Maisie's ears must surely have
been preternaturally sharp, for through
the buzz OF voices, through the hostess
amiably expressed reproaches, they
caught the sound of her own name, and
the fatal words, that girl in black"
lyon must think me sort OF Frank
ensiein's nightmare, she could not
help saying with smile as Despard ap-
preached to take her down TO dinner
But she was scarcely prepared for the
rejoinder.
81 won't contradict you, Miss Fforde,
If you like to call yourself names. No,
l should have been both surprised and
disappointed had you not been here. l
have felt sure all day l was going to
meet YOU"
Masie felt herself blush, felt, too, that
his eyes were uDon her, and bluShed
more in fury at herself.
Fool that am," she thought. "He
is going to play now at making me fall
in love with him, is he? How con-
temptible, how absurd. Does he really
imagine he can take me in?"
She raised her head proudly and
looked at him, TO show that she was not
afraid to do so. But the expression on
his face surprised her again. 1t was
serious, gentle, and almost deprecatlng,
yet with an honest light in the eyes
such as she had never seen there be-
fore.
"What an actor no would make" she
thought But a little culver of some
curious inexplicable sympathy which
had shot through her as she caught
those eyes belied the spoken words.
81 am giving far more thought TO the
man and his moods than he is worth"
was the decision she mad arrived at by
the time they reached the dining room
door. After all, the wisest philosophy
is to take the goods the gods send us aud
enjoy them. / shall forget it all FOR the
present, and speak to him as to any
other pleasant man happen to meet
And for that evening, and whenever
they met, which was not infrequently