The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1895-01-12
WHICH OF THE TWO9

~ aNLait tndt you nave any AASAVkVAJ
in that quarter, as yet at least"
that's just like you, Grant, put
ting your a in where you're ne
wanted"
"And how do you know that I'm not
wanted? Not wanted by you, ! admit
but it seems to me that Miss Morland
herself has some right to be consulted
in this matter. l shall ask her"
you will do nothing so silly"
"Where's your right my friend tc
dictate?"
81 shall not discuss the matter with
you, Grant. Everything points to my
being accepted. and l intend asking
Miss Morland before we leave for Eng
land
"Tllew, that's quick work. Do you
bear in mind that we stsrt fer home
the day after tomorrow"
"Perfectly." and bereuIon Lawrence
began to walk somewhat tester than
they had been doing
Tie other was. however, not to be
denied, and strobe after him.
Look here, old maj there is no use
quarrelins over 1t. Suppose we both
try our luck. l, too, have made up my
mind TO ask Miss MorlaId to be my
wife, and shall do SO before l leave,
that is, unless l hta; of your having
been accepted. lie. US toss up to de-
eide who is 10 be first to ask her. 1t
strikes me we are both somewhat too
previous"
Nonsense: l know better"
1t was Il clouduess day in the high
Alps in early September. Two ladies
were seated under the veranda Of 8
hotel that from a height looked down
upon the long, narrow valley in front,
girdled, as it was, by srow.clad noun.
tainsand intersected by a rapid gla'
cier-clad stream. The Summer were
daily taking flight, for the evenings
were already frosty and cold, and
some ominous fakes Of snCw had fall
en-. On the farther side Of the valley
two pedestrians might be deserted
skirting the lower edge of the sombre
pine-wood from which they had just
emerged.
"There's Apollo ard MI. Grant,
said the younger Of the ladies, q girl
Of some eighteen summers.
Ada. l do wish you would give up
that hOrrid habit of nickraming PEG.
pie"
"Why, mamma, it is very appropri
ate, you will 8dmi;, in this case; he is
so handsome. Apollo Belvedere we
christened him. He lives 1T the Bel,
vedere hotel, you knew" said the girl,
ignoring the general rebrke and skill
fully substituting what a only a
specific plea of defence.
But even if al propriate, it is not
we'll for a young girl to speak Of peo'
pie in that way; at any rate, to make
a practice Of it a. you do"
There now, what fault finders we
are. But l shall really try to break of
the habit. The two gentlemen, then,
let us say, are evide ntly coming this
way. l suppose it Is because the Bel
vedere is like our own hotel, pretty
well deserted"
"You e to take great interest in
the gentleman"
I'm which one, mamma? Pray tell
me, for they are both interesting, are
they not? From what l have seen of
them l like them both, l am free to
admit"
Somewhat too f rec my dear, if it
were not that you made the admission
to your mamma alone. l meant Mr..
Lawrence"
"oh, Ap--, there, I beg pardon, it
almost escaped me again."
Nov do give up that levity for a
moment, Ada. l want to ask you in
all seriousness which of them it is to
be. Your papa and l have been dis
cussing matters, and we both want to
know"
And 1 must confess at once"
Eyes"
"Well, then, neither-for three years
at least. l am not going to be like a
certain lady you and l know better
than anybody else, who married at
eighteen and is o taken for my sis.
ter. Poor me, but how very satisfac.
tory to her, Gear mamma. But as the
gentlemen themselves an approach.
ing, hadn't we better chan che sub.
ject!"
presently, my dear; and If those
three years were gone-or abbreviated
shall we say?-1 suppose it would be
Mr.. Lawrence?"
"You may suppose so-of COURSE
almost think that l suppose 50 too
BY this, time the two friends had
come up. They were, as we have seen
leaving for England on the next day
but one, and had arranged for a fare.
well excursion on the morrow, across
the glacier whose white mass cOald be
seen, placid and .old, over the tops OF
the pine-trees. For two months they
had been together in Switzerland
and they had been bosom friends from
bOyhOod-up to within the last -four
weeks. But the advent of MIR. anG
Mrs. Morland with their beautiful auG
vivaciOuc daughter had gradually anl
imperceptibly wrought Il change in
their relations. Boil. had been at
tracted to Miss Morland; the artist
Lawrence-by her beauty most Of all
while the other had sought and found
solace from the distractions OF Il Lon.
don literary life in her raive charm OF
manner and intellectual culture. Nei
ther UP to that morning had ever hint
ed to the other his aspirations or his
hopes. but many stir atiors are devcl
oped without words, and each came to
regard the other as his sole rival
Grant regretfully; Lawrrce with the
arrogance and secret dislike cf an i'll.
balanced mild.
us it true that you are going te
leave us so soony" asked Mrs. Nor
land. after the first salutations were
over.