The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-02-24

they would recognize him? OF course.
. just al the first they must one and all. be
Z fully occupied-he would not be- impatient;
. he would wait where DE was. il was q
7 good place-then all at once he found he
was not 10 be allowed 10 wait where he
. was arrivals were pouring in. and "a
gentle but persistant pressure urged him
forward through the archway into the
ball room, into which a considerable num-
Der had now overlooked.
Here he again scanned his card as
though it were new possession. and he
Z a new conner. This helped another five
I minutes TO pass. a few notes Of music
7 struck up. and there was increased bus
/ tie in the groups around.
Doddy strolled a step or two forward,
] and surveyed with interest the floral dec
Orauons; then observing the large chin
ney piece converted Tor the nonce into q
] bower OF dollhouse plants. he stepped
Z across the floor with an air Of alacrity.
I ana bent over to inhale the fragrance
/ from the luscious blossoms A lady spoke
10 him. With start of relief Doddy spun
I around. "Oh, 1 beg your pardon" apollo
/ gized she, II mistook you for someone
1 else" Doddy turned again to his flowers.
Then the band struck up in earnest
/ light joyous waltz tune, and several cou-
I piles at once bounded off on the glossy
floor. That's all right" quoth Doddy, in
Z ternaly, IF we can only thin out bit, /
/ shall have chance of seeing who's here.
and whether / know anybody or not. At
} any rate ] shall be seen, and the Macau-
/ ley girls viii ind out that ] am not dane
/ ing. m not very keen but 1t looks rather
| queer to be standing out at the beginning
I of the evening"
/ The dancers increased in numbers. and
/ DOddy. a leisure to be observant, per
ceived others as well as himself standing
/ about, TO one of whom he addressed him
self with a casual remark. "Eh! Oh yes:
al Fr1ur
/ Oh, I'm going TO dance. Of course; I'm
/ Just looking about; excuse me, there's
/ someone I know and then just bod
/ dy was about to dilate on the rooms, and
/ TO feel that he was all right TO be standing
by and looking about" also, the speak
/ er sided away towards a bevy of new
corners, and was TO be seen the next mo-
ment jotting down names by the dozen
on his BAH card. Doddy watched with
pang Of envy.
! Presently he was aware Of the vicinity
/ of young lady who he was almost Ger
tain was one of Mr.. Macaulay's daugh-
tiers; she was coming toward him. He
4 looked at her, looked at her more eagerly
I than he was himself aware, and made
step forward; but Miss Annie Macaulay,
/ for It was she, had her own business to
attend to, and that business was not Mr.
/ Doddy Dunlop's enjoyment but her own.
/ She saw the young man, and saw that he
] Was speaking 10 nODOQNs ana LNg lued Qll
/ just cross her mind that this might be be-
/ cause ne had nobody to speak to-she
| paused; should she select him a partner?
| But 1t would take some minutes to disln-
/ ter Doddy from his retreat pilot him up to
a suitable fair one, and perform the GER
emony of Introduction All of this meant
! losing some portion Of her first waltz
and to lose anything on which her heart
l was set was not a part of our young
/ lady's creed. When the dance was over
I 1t would be soon enough TO look after
/ Doddy.
But when the dance was over Doddy
/ was nowhere to be seen. He had moved
/ little further off and was staring at a
picture on the wall. He found this pic
/ ture so interesting that it occupied all
| his attention until another waltz began
and then he turned and with a frown of
/ criticism faced the performers. The dance
/ over there was a general hubbub; num-
/ bers passed out into the front room, ana
| through another door, which was now
opened. and through which Doddy could
behold the landing and staircase. He was
terribly afraid that every one was going
4 and that unless he went also he might
| be left stranded where he was, but hap
I PLY q few couples elected to remain be-
hind, and he could again affect to be a
picture fancier The interval. though in
/ reality short seemed to him intermina-
BILE, and he heard the next merry strain
/ strike up with sigh Of partial relief The
couples came pouring back. and without
/ being observed he was able to
again shift quarters and take
a peep into the smaller apart
meut where the chapercns were sit
ting II he could catch a glimpse of his
! hostess, or better still OF his host he
thought he would summon up his pluck
and beg for an introduction, but Mrs Ma
caulay was still at her post on the stair
case, and her husband had his hands
full in attending to the elderly people who
sat about on touches and cttomans near
the entrance, there was nothing for it but
patience.
1t may be thought that the person who
had stipulated for Doddy's presence
would hardy have neglected him so en-
/ tircly, or that the daughters in order to
crafty their parent would have paid
some attention toward the stranger lad
but by this time Doddy had become moth
/ ing in the eyes of anybody. He had OBJ
/ tanned q fictitious value at the moment
| when the success Of the bah hung in
| allegiance, but that assured all interest
in Col. DUnlops son died out He might
/ have left the house and never been missed.
Strange to say, however, nothing was
less in the hapless Doddy's thoughts than
| to leave the house. He was very uncom-
/ Portable, he was wretchedly i'll at ease, but
his youthful blood had caught fire, the
!
| feet twitched to join the whirling throngs.
( All at once he left what a long time II
was since he had danced, and remembered
that he had been accounted a good dan
Ger once. There were some good dancers
among the girls before him. He would
have liked to watch them if he had not
coveted SO intensely taking part in the
/ scene. As it was, he moved his stand
point for the fourth time.
All, well, it would take too long to de-
tail all the record OF those long, weary,
/ eYentless hours, whose only alterations
Tor the poor. neglected boy were the shift
ing emotions of his own breast. He did
his best to conceal them beneath a calm
and slightly scornful mask. Occasionally
he strove 10 appear family amused by
what went on. Now and then he hummed
beneath his breath an accompaniment to
the music,
He strolled hither and thither, reckless
at last whether he were under observation
or not; indeed. rather hoping he was, and
that people were saying he gave himself
airs in not choosing to take a partner.
1 Perhaps it would be as well to adopt that
role he considered, should anyone of his
I hostesses be compassionate at the
I eleventh hour. He could thank her and
. say he did not care to dance. could on "