The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-05-09
Citation with his mother, whose resent
ment, he said, he felt as an intolerable

Citation with his mother, whose resent
ment, he said, he felt as an intolerable
burden.
Hattie read and re-read this letter
hundred times. although the words Of
glowing affection in which he spoke Of
his wife gave violent pang to her heart
every time she saw them. She hid the
lines in the bosom Of her dress and
looked at them whenever she was alone.
Poor child!
How glady would she have softened
her aunt's cold heart But what could
the poor girl do? At the same time, with
the letter addressed to her, Ralph had
sent one to his mother. It had been re-
turned unopened, but Mrs. Warrngham
had told Walter to write Ralph that
there could be nothing in common be-
tween her and him, until his relation to
"that woman" was dissolved.
Thus passed dreary summer. Often
Hattie climbed on one Of the bills that
surrounded the valley in which their
village stood, and sat there alone for
hours with book in her hand. She
hardly knew what the lines said. Her
thoughts were far away across the At
lantic waves, where one lived who cared
only for another woman. When she re-
turned home ut dusk, she looked dis
tressedly into the pale features OF her
aunt, whose expression now was more
that of sadness than Of haughtiness as
of old. Was it bodily or was It q men
tai trouble which had caused this
change? Who could ieIlP Perhaps
there were more causes than one.
A few weeks after the arrival OF the
Warringhams at Fair Glen, Hattie was
not disagreeably surprised to see JACK
Spofford alight from the somewhat prim-
tive vehicle that did service as IN omnl-
bus between the village Of Fair Glen and
the railroad station that was about two
miles away, down picturesque noun
tain road.
! What had brought Jack Spofofd to
this out-of-the-way village? He had
never shown particular inclination to
aslowly trace the forests shady soenan
Or "a"
ITO climb the trackless mountan al un-
In fact, there was some uncertainty
whether Jack had ever read these lines,
or many others by the poetic lord.
But Jack knew why he had come to
Fair Glen. He did not tell anybody,
however. There was in that solitude
certain young lady with golden tresses
and blue eyes, whom whimsical Jack de-
sired to see st least once q day.
With the young gentleman's arrival
life in the liStle colony Of summer resi-
dents, which had up to that time been
rather monotonous and sluggish, began
to assume q different aspect He told
Hattie on his arrival that he was bound
to have immense fun, and he set diligentr
" about to accomplish his purpose. he
proved himself master in arranging all
sorts OF amusements, excursions by car
riage, on horseback or afoot, to neigh
boring points of interest, picnics in the
shades OF the magnificent forest that
covered the hills, dances at the hotel
fireworks, and innumerable other varie-
ties of shaving fun" A clear, If not very
large, brook run through the val
ley, or sgle2" as the natives in
Sisted on calling it. Jack main.
tanned strenuously that there must
be trout in. that little stream, and
the landlord of the hotel eagerly upheld
him in this opinion, which added addi-
tional luster to the splendor of his estab-
lishment. The skepticism of the major
ity was overcome by argument and
rhetoric, and one beautiful morning four
6fths Of the summer population, pro-
vided with fishing tackle Of more Or less
elaborate pattern, began the war against
the speckled denizens Of the brook. It
is true that nobody ever heard OF any
trout being taken, but the fun was i'm.
mense, just the same-at least the ladies
all declared So
Of course it was but short time until
Jack Spofford was by all the ladies de-
clared to be positively @too awful nice for
anything" The men, indeed, did not
quite agree with this judgment. They
never do, horrid creatures But as the
ladies were in the vast majority, Jack
could boast, when he had scarcely been
q week at Fair Glen, that he was the
most popular man in the place.
Of course Mr.. Spofford insisted that
Miss Beckford should participate in ev-
cry amusement that he arranged, and
Hattie's lonely musings on the hill BE-
came in consequence less frequent. 1t
can hardly be said, that Jacks popular.
ity was shared to any extent by his fair
friend. The ladies almost unanimously
pronounced her insipid. On the other
hand, the perversity Of the male minor.
ity led them to differ on this subject like.
wise They said that Hattie was the
most charming girl in town, always ex.
cepted the fair one with whom the gen.
tlemen was, at the time being, discussing
the question. The two parties generally
agreed, however, on the fact that Mr..
Spofford succeeded in monopolizing Hat.
tie to scandalous extent But the con-
clusions drawn from this given premise
were again different, according to the
female or male persuasion Of the reason.
er. The ladies all thought Hattie's con-
duct simply shameful, while in the eyes
of the gentlemen this fact was one Of
the main causes Of Jacks unpopularity.
Strange how people will differ on the
simplest matters.
Hattie, young and full Of animal spir-
its as she was. naturally enjoyed the di-
versions Jack arranged, evidently in the
first place for her own benefit. She had
always regarded her cousins friend with
kindly feeling, and now, during their
closer association, which the soiourn at
Fair Glen facilitated, she liked him more
end more. In her open-hearted, frank
manner, she did not care to conceal her
sentiments from him. What was more
natural than that Jack flattered himself
the prospects Of his suit were growing
brighter every day, and every night when
he went to bed he promised himself that
he would take the first opportunity to de-
clare his sentiments to her. But day
after day passed; and the love-sick swain
had not the courage to take the tremen-
dous cfan