The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-12

a
parted from Nanny, who brought me up.
| At first 1 had wild idea that perhaps I
| could earn enough by painting to keep us
! going, but / soon found that would not
answer, and began to be afraid we should
! have to give in. Then some of my friends
| suggested that l should advertise for 4
lady boarder to share eXpenses-muslcal
and domesticated.' of course. Imagine it,
/ couldn't have survived dt a week; SO at
Ilast Nanny and | put our heads together
and decided we would let lodgings.
/ was to be sleeping partner, at least my
! share Of the work was to be only the ac-
counts and the correspondence. l was to
! be kept entirely in the background; but,
as fH-luck would have il, the very day
before you came she was telegrapAed for
TO nurse a sister. and / was left to do the
! best L could. l thought L could manage,
and | intended to transact everything
/ through Mary Anne, but she is such 4
II am afraid it was I who was the
! duffer; might have known il was lldy's
house And did the uncles consent to
/ your scheme?''
II did not ask their consent. I simply
/ told them what / was going to do and
asked them to recommed me. I am old
( enough to manage my own affairs; have
no guardian. Of course, they were all
desperately angry, and now they will
! crow. 1 meant to confront them at the
end OF the year with such a success, and
falsify their predictions, and l shall be so
disappointed if it breaks down at the very
outset. 1t certainly is peculiarly unlucky
that my first dodgers should turn out
she broke off with comical look-'I did
not mean to say anything rude. 1t is GER
tainly not your fault"
He smiled. too. The situation was not
without its embarrassing sides, but
Tabitha had a way Of rushing her fences
that turned them into pure comedy. Then
he was really touched by her quiet little
narrative.
Il see" he said, st came under false
! pretenses as a family and as Carry has
! deserted. too. L have turned into that OBJ
Z jectionable parsonage, "a single gentle
man. upon your hands. Well, | can only
say put myself entirely at your disposal
If 1t is the least awkward for you to have
me here / will walk off to the hotel as
soon as you please; but it appears to me
the simplest plan will be for me to remain.
Mrs Romer, / may remind you, is
nominally here; you can send her name
to the visitors list, and 1 am under no OBJ
legations that l know of to describe the
age and social status of my landlady in
my letters home. Besides" he added,
with laugh, "our natural protectors
may be back at any moment. Now. what
would you like me to do?'
stay. AS you say, it will be by far the
simplest plan. And thank you for being so
kind and considerate about it. Do you
know. / mad such a funny letter from your
L
rections about what you were to eat. She
writes as if 1 We're a sort Of old grand
mother, charging me to take the most espe-
cial care Of YOU"
He threw back his head and laughed
loud.
II don't know how it was, but Carry made
a complete mental picture of you, in which
: she firmly believed and with which 1 my
self was infected. Spectacles and a black
silk apron / know were part Of it."
h. n
Tabtha, with some irritation, and then
added in a more gentle tone, Il shall try
and carry out all her instructions. 1 am SO
sorry you have been so i'll. If there is any
thing you want to make you more conforta-
BILE you must be sure and tell me, won't
Thanks. But don't you worry about me-
shall do very WE'LL l am really all right
now. But. look here. l wish you would an
swer her letter in character; it would be
such a joke to keep up the farce
she nodded-she was child enough to love
jOle-and rose to go, but as she reached
I the door she turned round. "Oh ut you
| quite forgot to tell me what it WIS you
sent to me about" she said.
"Oh, that was nothing; only to ask an
imaginary old lady to order my dinners
for me l could not think of troubling you;
Mary Anne and l will manage all that"
rs that all? I will settle dinner every
day if you prefer 1t, and l will try and
not give you any more raw meat"
And he reflected as she shut the door
that rather than annoy her in any way he
would live unc0mplainingly on raw meat
for the rest of his stay.
Fortunately for the success Of Tabithl's
experiment, Eustace fairfield was the last
man in the world to cause her embarraSs-
ment or take advantage Of the position in
which he found himself. Unobtrusive and
shy with women, he was the sort Of man
who might have been intrusted in a ladies'
school. If she had not been instinctively
I aware that she might have confidence in
him she would have packed him off re-
mOrselassly TO the hotel, but she had a
woman's quickness in reading character
and knew she need not be the least afraid
Of him. Indeed, he respected her wish to
keep In the background to that degree
that for a week she hardly saw him. Then
az last one evening they encountered each
other on the miniature stone Jetty that ran
out dntO the sea In front of the windows
and was just barely wide enough for two
people to walk on abreast. He had felt
himself bound in honor to avoid her in
doors. but she had been pretty constantly
in his thoughts, and this was neutral
ground.
OF course. to begin with they exchanged
the usual banal remarks about the wealth
er, which, like the inevitable Dear so and
So at the beginning of n letter, stand
at the threshold of all intercourse. But
it was a lovely evening-sufficiently so to
was hardly holding her own against the
rosy glow Of fading sunset, and the sea
had that lambent clearness that makes one
long to plunge downtown into the green
depths.
What a night for row." cried Tabtha.
''I wish, oh, how l wish had my boat"
"YOu used to have a boat of your own %
Eyes; such dear little light cookie
shell; but 1 had to sell her. On such even
ings as this l used to row about the bay
, for hours alone or with father"
"Will you come for a row with me?
could run round to the harbor and get a
boat in one minute"
She hesitated.
ut would be too delicious. Yes, viii
come"
Five minutes later a little white boat
came softly in under the jetty, and
Tabitha, who had gone back to the house,
I came running down. her arms full of
rugs and cushions
"Well, you are luxurious" he said, as
she threw them down to him one after
another, and then took his hand to jump
in.
l. ooh, these are for you. l am going to
take the oars and you are TO sit in the
stern and make yourself snug. l don't
forget that you have been i'll and are in
my charge 1 am the captain of this yes
sci, and l do not allow any one to dis
pute my authority"
He yielded, laughing, to her imperious
mandate. and she threw off the little Eton
Jacket she wore over her white blouse and
went to work in a most seamanlike style.
1t was peasant to .ean back against her
soft cushions and watch the way she han