Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-05-26

Grace put on her shaker bonnet sfte
breakfast. and set ont for q ramble.
''lt is all safe and cure round here.
said Mrs. Hunter coming TO the fror
OF the big shed whore she was sunerin
tending the cooking 'If you don
get lack by lunch time, we'll blow
horn
Grace heard the lowing o; a GOV
and the cackling of hens somewhere i,
the back ground, as she struck int.
the roads to the left. How grand an.
restful the woods we're! How pur,
and strong and odorous the air Sh
stood still every few minutes wit.
shoulders thrown back, to lnhale il
ellxer. The birds were having a jub.
lee. The red aqnirrels eyed her crit
cally from overhead.
She had been skirting the lax.
thinking she would try the mountaiI
tomorrow.
She came upon patriarchal tree.
which looked inviting. The groun
around it was trodden, and som
natural steps in the gnarled trunk, le,
mp to seat, several yards from th.
ground. framed by branches crooked
into the shape Of settee She wa
not long in taking possession of it
The lakes surface, broken into shinn,
ripples, cleaned through the foliage
She heard the dip OF oars A maj
in boating costume was rowing directl,
towards her perch. She could see hin
moor the boat. He was coming through
racking underbrush. Perhaps b,
vas seeking her settee, with a prio
aim. But no. be came in sight, ant
threw himself full length on the ground
where she had full view Of him as be
puffed his cigar, herself unobserved.
Where had she seen him before? :?
Surely his face was familiar. Memory
went ransacking hooks and corners,
for the missing links in the chain Of
ASSOCIATION. All, now she had it, the
picture his presence recalled. A morn
ing in early May, herself behind the
glove-counter of Duck and Sunning's
the last day Of her stay there. 4 big.
clear-eyed young man with a Western
flavor. she had thought vaguely, WAS
buying dozen pairs of ladies' gloves,
and with bashful, conscious air, ap-
pealins to her taste in his selection of
pale pink, cream, and corn color. He
had worn n big soft hat and diamond
which to Grace's not inexperienced
eyes her father had been a jeweller
was Of the first water.
"He is genuine as his diamond and
he's in love- had been her mental
summing up.
He was destined to remain in her
memory, it seemed. After he had left
with his purchase, she found among
the gloves strcwn on the counter, q
charm, fragrant and amber-colored.
On one side was star and crescent
and the mystical word ''Kismet,
while the other side was covered with
cabolistic symbols.
Grace gave guilty little start when
this point w~< reached. She had been
wearing "Klsmet" for good luck ever
since, had it suspended from her neck
by = ribbon at that moment, and there,
r few rods below, was its owner. Had
things gone wrong with him since its
loss? He didn't look quite as happy
as the day he had pulled it out of his
pocket with some rumpled bills, at
Duck and Sunning's AS for her, things
had gone swimmingly. She had Sc
| cured a better position the very next
day. and besides had recovered lost
| ring and her purse which she hal
dropped on the street.
Grace might have sat there til
doomsdav. without being discovered.
| had not the wreaths Of smoke from his
cigar wandered up TO her perch ant
| tlckled her throat into cough Hel
face flushed fnriouslv. Why mus
! cigars always serve her this trick. e.
would think she had coughed purposel,
TO attract attention With that though,
came another cough which hrough,
Jack Hardy to his feet IN al instant
| He craned his neck for view Of IL.
face above, but it was mercifullv h!dde.
| by & e skater snnbonnet
! Il aid not know ! had g neignbor, ;
Jack said Sure enough the couci
had emboldened him
"You would not have known now j