Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1894-11-13

wouid have deemed ,hsoemly she trip.
pod away.
Poor thing" he soliloquizod. poor
child So young, 50 fairl sho has gone
crazy, and evidently / alone am aware
Of IT, Now, what Is my dutyi Hodqca.
tho proprietor, who has the girl. in 500
cinl care, is away for q week. But here
comes Abigail How composed, how
sensible her bcaringl I must break the
sad intelligence 90 her. Luckily her
strong mind will temper grief with
/ good Judgment
And yot even AZ Paul resolved, there
was a certain unwontod sprightliness
becoming apparent in Miss Abigail's
approach which caused vague approhon-
sion.
my dear young lady" no began,
and his nervousness lent ardor to his
words, Il am inexprossibly thankful to
SEQ you. There Is a subject, delicate.
closely intimate, on which / must
speak"
yes" whispered Abigail, with
downcast eyes II think I under
] NN0NNNA -
"Your sister'-
you fear she may suspeot7 Yes,
there is danger. We must DO cautious
We must dissemble We must meet as
strango-s"-
GOOD Lordr' groaned Paul
There, darling, don't be impatient
I know IT'S hard, but perfect trust is
such courage. Remember our motto in
the dear old days, 'Semper Fidelis. ,
SEQ, Twill set an example Of prudence. -
And, ooyly touching her ~forefnger to
her lips, Abigail likewise tripped away.
II see how it is /" concluded Paul
gloomily after a moments pondering.
Il I'M going daft mysolf-overwork and
worry, I suppose. Perhaps, though, tho
dread malady may be checked in its in
oeption. ! will go to my room aud take
every sort of pellet in q medicine box.
/ shall surely thus get the right one. !"
But despite this diagnosis he walked to
the open window Of tho Hmoling room
and looked in, in fear lest some one
might have heard these conversations,
II perohance they had really occurred.
As he failed TO look behind the door,
however, he saw no one, and, so went
away satisfied in his most unsatisfac-
tory secrecy. Had he looked behind the
door he would have seen Mason Welles,
and from the expression Of his face not
only have been treasured as to the gen.
~uineness Of these conversations, but
warned as to the use that interruptions
young man would make Of hts knowl-
edge.
Mason Welles had indeed been q wit
ness, and an expert one, too, for he had
known the Mantell girls from their
childhood, and now, as he reviewed the
singularity Of their single conduct, he
was able TO trace its course. He remem-
bered long ago hearing his father, DR..
Welles, shrewd old physician that he
was, discuss the idiosyncrasy of the
Mantell twins. Those children are not
simpletons, " his parent had said. ITO
gether they possess all the faculties.
The trouble is that certain ones, due to
the mysterious intimacy Of their birth,
they hold in common. Separately each
one is apt to grin and caper like an idiot.
/ do not believe that any education,
however thorough, can eradicate this
Stiffness. But when they are kept in
company, rs they should be, this per-
version not only disappears, but they
are utterly oblivious that 1t ever exist
ed. In fact, one is the complement Of
the other. Together they form the per-
feet circle Of common sense. The rem
edy is, and l have impressed It on their
parents, TO make them to all intents
and purposes Siamese twins.
Years had passed since childish
pranks had provoked his fathers speech,
and since then Mason had o the girls
develop into the fullness Of cultured
young womanhood, and he had forgotten
that there had been q time when their
sanity had been a topic for sympathiz-
ing friends Now, for a truth, he re-
membered Il all, as he also remembered
that until this hour he had not seen
them apart Now, through deduction,
he comprehended that together the sis
ters had entertained a highly proper and
respectful admiration for Paul Dupont,
which had affected each of them when
separated thus disastrously. IF that
little witch of an Alice could witness
their fond attentions, +" Mason comment
ed, perhaps she would abandon her
abominable pretense Of prudery." And
up& this hypothesis he began to scheme
a demonstration.
To Paul in his course Of treatment
came no such clarity Of vision. But
since his head remained unaffected,
however much his stomach did suffer,
he gained a slight approximation to the
situation. Evidently what had happened
had happened, incredible though II ap-
peared. The solution rested solely with
old Hodges. Until his return he was
helpless Unless-why, Of course, un-
less he could play one sister against the
other. Each had asserted the necessity
Of assembling. Undoubtedly, then, II
he could associate with them Jointly the
old formality would continue, and bet
ter still, he would DO relieved from the
dreadful apprehension Of q separate en-
counter. Perhaps, too, that object which
had provoked his approach TO Sophronia
might also be achieved. For tho next
few days fishing was neglected, and
Paul combined the outdoor study Of bot
any and geology.
So marked a change In her husbands
avooation did not escape Alice's sharp
bright eyes When she commented on
his taste for curios, t" as she termed IT,
Paul's abstraoted "Ehi Ali / presume
So seemed more a disguise than q
slight In q word, she grew suspicious.
jealous. unhappy, lamenting as lost
what she had not cared TO hold and
burning to prove beyond a oavil that
which she would give worlds 70 disbe-
lieve That right jolly party became a
compound Of inanity and Mason Welles
easily It's quintesBenoa However, when