The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-12-15
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THE DIGGING OF A PIT.

1t would be difficult TO find a more
charming retreat from heat, noise, and
fashion-those three essentials to popu-
lar summer resort-than Ashland among
the Hills. Its climate well merited the
encomium of ''salubrious, which the
hotel prospectus originally conferred upon
it, And yet, when young Mrs. Dupont
told Mason Welles of her impending de-
parture thither, she denounced the place
as s.poky, and its in jewellers as 'frights.
MEN are so selfish, Alice continued in
half-seriou complaint, ''just because Paul
delights to burn the bridge of his nose into
peel on that ridiculous lake trying to
catch fish, not there in the first place, and
too wise to bite in the second, | must en-
dure the chatter of mothers about their
babies and the gasps of invalids over the
ozone It's too provoking There are
heirs and airs, but their incessant discus
sion is not my ideal of enjoyment.
Surprising friend should attempt the
diversion of new subject by yenturing
into this wilderness, suggested the gal
liant Mason.
.'Then friend would be welcomed as a
friend indeed, replied Alice, with a
smile more coquettish than the meaning of
bar ;mnulsive little heart
For young Mrs. Dupont was not accus
toned to weigh her worts-on the prinei
pie. likely, that such scant weight would |
be an abomination. 1t was 50 much easier
to utter them just as they flashed over her
mind. What becomes of bubble when
it bursts Thank goodness, sounds had
not writing power of manifolding and
repetition. In certain silent wakeful
hours, however, when she couldn't keep
from meditation, 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 ola vain man
> Is Il pHOhoSrdpH ever III iestuiheoS anu eNci
retentive.
Alice truly felt that she had grievance
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 amiable qualities, not only for
being virtuous, but also for their orthodoxy.
But there was too much assumption about
his regard One did not like to be treated
as collector specimen, to be eagerly
sought after, but when gained labeled and
placed on shelf Courtship had been
too pleasant to Alice to be dismissed as an
episode; from her view it should remain as
precedent
The very charm of Paul the lover mill
tated against Paul the husband. Then
he had been Jealous, ardent, intent only on
her happiness; now he was grave, abstract
ed, absorbed with the editing of his Scien-
tifc Review, acceding to her wishes with
Eyes, my dear and Certainly, my
love" but regarding them and her too as
interruptions. Would not brute with a
club be preferable? There surely was an
advantage in being noticed.
Il suppose those everlasting Mantell
twins will be there, remarked Alice on
the train, when she was wearied of elimi-
mating telegraph poles from the scenery.
''Eh? All What's that, my dear p
queried Paul, not missing line in trump
cry contemporary critique oh, yes; l
presume so.
II believe cried Alice, swinging
around her chair, Indignantly, IF said
Beelzebuh would be there in full caudal
regalia, you would say, Eli? All l pre-
sumo so. :"
II presume so, my dear, replied Paul,
automatically. .
Now, the everlasting Mantell twins,
Sophronia and Abigail, found the noun
tains and woodlands round about Ashland
commensurate preserves for their intel
lectual propensities. Had they been as
intent on suitors as they were after wisdom,
they might have heen deemed quite pretty,
but devotion to geology and botany had
Invested them of all adjoining superfuities,
and, beyond common expression of sur
prise resultant from pinching eyeglasses and
faulty drawn hair, they lacked individual
ity. A hammer or forked wand can
never become substitute for the girdle of
Venus Now, if these girls had ever
shared a thought more congruous with the
latter than with either of the former, it
was one of most respectful admirasion
toward Paul Dupont.
A real editor Minos and Rhadaman-
thus combined, with the soul of Draco
stirred in, who passed unalterable judy
ments on trembling authors, was very
Jove to them. Why perhaps some day
their aspirations, concentrated through pen
and ink aud paper, might be brought be-
fore him. Thus far, this Jove had re-
tanned the panoply of his glories for them,
and they had worshipped from afar; yet
this humility had not prevented them from
exchanging many shrewd coincidence over
the incOmpatibility and grossness Of his
Juno, which Juno, with that unerring
intuition that makes many giddy young
woman disdainful of reason, had not failed
to perceive
One glance over the dining room on their
arrival assured Alice that all the .frights'
were present The Mantell sisters were at
the same little table in the corner, with