The herald., 1894-09-16
DIGGING A PIT.

1llllL5 ituA lAOl4A Htstts AOtSO etilNi
fashion--those three essentials to a pop
nlar summer resort-than Ashland
Among g-the- Hills Its climate well
merits the encomium of "salubrious, "
which the hotel prospectus originally
conferred upon it. And yot whan young
Mrs. Dupont told Mason Welles OF her
Impending departure thither she de-
bounced the place as ''polzy' and its
ddwellers as ''frights - Men arc SO
eelfish, Alice continued i'll half serious
complaint, ''just because Paul delights
to burn the bridge of his nose into q
peel on that ridiculous lake trying to
catch fish, not there, in the first place,
and too wise to bite, in the second,
must endure the CHESTER of mothers
about their babies and the gasps of in
valids over the ozone. It's too provok-
ingl There are heirs and airs, but their
incessant discussion is not my ideal of
enjoyment. "
''Supposing friend should attempt
the diversion of new subject by ven
turing into this wilderness, suggested
the gallant Mason.
luGu b IIItuu MOttlO DC WCiCOlAAOQ
as friend indeed, " replied Alice, with
smile more coquettish than the mean
ing of her impulsie little heart.
For young Mrs. Dupont was not ac-
customed to weigh her words-on the
principle, likely, that such scant weight
would be an abomfnation. 1t was SO
much easier to utter them just as they
flashed over her MIND. What becomes
of bubble when itbursts? Thank good
ness, sounds had net a writings power
of manifolding and repetition. In GER
tain silent wakeful hours however,
when she couldn't keep from medita-
tion, Alice would be ashamed of some
such idle speech and relieved that its
echoes had surely died away. She did
not realize that the memory of vain
man is photograph eversin readiness
and ever retentive.
Alice truly felt that shp had a griev-
ance against her husband, not that Paul
wasn't faithful and kind and generous
and all the rest Of the orthodox virtues.
Sometimes she hated his nniable quail
ties, not only for being virtuous, but
also for their orthodoxy. But there was
too much assumption about his regard.
One did not quite like to be treated as
q collectors specimen, to be eagerly
sought after, but when gained labeled
and placed on shelf Courtsfaip had
been too pleasant to Alice to be dismiss
ed as an episode. From her view it
should remain as precedent.
The very charm of Paul the lover
Then he had been jealous ardent, in
tent only on her happiness; now he was
grave, distracted, absorbed with the
editing Of his Scientific Review, acced-
ing to her wishes with "Yes, my
DEAR" and Certainly, my love-" but
regarding them and her, too, as interrup-
tions. Would not brute with club
be preferable? There surely was an ad-
vantage III being noticed.
II suppose those everlasting Mantell
twins will be there, - remarked Alice on
the train when she was wearied of
eliminating telegraph poles from the
scenery.
"Eh? Ahl What's that, my dear?''
queried Paul, not missing line in a
frumpery contemporary critique. ooh,
yes, I presume so. !"
II believe" cried Alice, swinging
around her chair Indignantly, eff I said
Beelzebub would be there in full caudal
regalia you would say: 'Eh? Ahl I pre-
sume so.
IT presume so, my DEAR" replied
Paul automatically.
Now, the everlasting Mantell twins,
Sophronia and Abigail, found the
mountains and woodlands roundabout
Ashlsrd commensurate preserves for
their intellectual propensities. Had they
been as intent on suitors as they were
after wisdom they might have been
deemed quite pretty, but devotion to
geology and botany had Invested them
Of all adjoining superfuities, and, be-
Tond common expression of surprise
resultant from pinching eyeglasses and
ksutly drawn hair, they lacked individu.
Ality. A hammer or a forked wand can
never becons substitute for the girdle
Of Venus Now, II these girls had ever
bhared a Thought more coDgruous with
the latter than with either of the for
mer 10 was .one Of most respectful ad.
miration toward Panl Dupont.
A real efitor, a Minos and Rhada-
snanthus combined, with the soul OF
Draoo stirred in, who passed unaltera-
bic Judgments en- trembling authors,
was avery Cove to them. Why, perhaps
some day their aspirations, concentrated
through pen and ink and paper, might
be brought before him Thus far this
Jove had retained the panoply Of his
glories for them, and they had worshiped
from afar, yet this humility had not
prevented them from exchanging many
shrewd coincidence over the incompati.
bility and grossness of his Juno, which
Juno, with that unarring intuition that
snakes many giddy young woman dis
dainful Of reason, had not failed tc per
oeive
One glance over the dining room or
their arrival assured Alice that all the
'sfrights'' were present. The Mantel
Msterg were at the same little table il
the corner, with hair and eyeglasse,
straining out surprise, as if they were
Just finishing the chicken begun tn,
sumner before. Nor would that indu
rated fowl suffer any wrong from such {
hypothesis.
''There are your favorites, remarked