The evening times., 1895-08-22
| One Cent asa, a,ssa
No advertise neus less than i0s.
The Narrow World.
By Charles Dwight Willard.


Something had happened
There was such q rosy flush on her cheek,
so bright CLEAN in her eye, and on his face
such an utter abandon of Joy, that any one,
even a man, could have guessed the truth.
Fortunately they had chosen the hill
road, the least Travelled of all the ways that
lead down from the Montecito Valley
into Santa Barbara, and from the first
baif hour after the event they met no one
1t was what the inhabitants OF the Chan
mel City call a genuine Santa Barbara
day" The sun shone warm and bright.
and soft perfumed breeze came out OF the
west. There was June In the air, al
though the calendar was set for midw inter-
The birds sang in the trees above them, the
squirrels chirped from the hillside, and the cir
horses, wandering at times from the road.
sank to the knee in a waving sea Of flow
ers.
First Of ALL" she said, breaking the
silence Of whole minute, ..you must
tell my father"
Certainly" said the young man.
Who's afraid?"
You have never seen papa do the role of
ene cruei parent" said the girl. He
can he quite a dragon. As you are kins-
man, however,"
"A fifth cousin" cried the young man,
with laugh.
Well, fifth cou sins are better than
nothing; aren't they?"
'sTruIy How el.a shnuId he
day." Then the young man added with
peculiar and significant emphasis: Il am
inclined TO pride myself on that little
scheme"
The girl brought her horse to a sudden
stop and turned her clear brown eyes, half
opened under their long lashes, upon her
companion.
That little scheme" she repeated slowly,
Il don't understand"
The young man laughed uneasily why,
Catherine" said he, you don't mean
that you have believed in the entertaining
fiction about our great ssfeat-et-cete era
grandfather
''Old Ebenezer Strong!'' exclaimed the
girl How dare you call him fictitious,
|hen / saw his portrait at my own grand
father's?"
''As your ancestor my dear one, he is an
Gndoub;ed reality-but as mine, regret to
say, he is merely ngment of your worthy
fathers Imagination. In short, / would
fain break it to you as gently as possible,
we are not fifth cousins at all but just plain,
ordinary" ...'. t~.T
Not fifth cousinsl''
mo, darling. And If you are going to
faint, please fan ON this side, with your
head right here on MY shoulder"
Il won'ti Wretched boy how could you
deceive poor papa so?'' - ''' "- -+
Il didn't deceive him. He deceived him
self. From The very beginning of our
4 acquaintance he seemed determined to
locate NE somewhere on the Weston family
tree, and you aided and Gbetted him in the
attempt" "
Richard Strong, how can youl-
Il have sweet and gentle disposition,
and when he asked ME If 1 was not de-
sceided from Ebenezer Strong, of West
Brighton Center, and you locked at ME so
appealingly--"
Il didn't any such thing!''
Why shouldn't 1 assent? I have doubt
less had several hundred ancestors named
Strong, and 1 took the chances that some
neZer It is just the sort of a name that
my foTbears were given to putting upon
themselves. as an effective and continuous
modification of the flesh. honsehair
shirt, now, would be nothing to it"
You may laugh, II it pleases your said
the girl, severely, but if papa had known
you were not a relative we should not be
riding alone together. He generally disap-
mr. of
winter at the hotel"
IF you really feel that have been guilty
of false pretenses," said the young man,
drawing his horse little nearer. suppose
we begin all over again."N
Keep your distance, sir,' exclaimed the
girl, steering to the opposite side of the road
IF We are to start afresh let it be from the
very beginning, three weeks ago.
Now, as to your father" resumed the
young man. Il think l understand him
pretty well, because my one doniy parent
the governor himself, is constructed On much
the same plan. Wherever he goes he Is con-
tinuahy in search of the lost tribes of the
Strong genealogy. The last letter 1 had
from him in Colorado, where he is passing
the winter, contained the announcement
that he had unearthcd four or five new
cousins-choice specimens l Goubt not,
that he will expect me to meet and en-
brace on my way home.
Continued in tomorrow Mornings Times
Perhaps ii was wrong" he continued.
after moment of reflection, to play upon
that little popularity of your father, to
get into his good graces, but you must con-
slider the extraordinary provocation, dear
II seemed like my only chance-arc you sorry
l took it?''
She looked her answer, but did not speak
II, and then, avoiding the hand extended
10 seize her own, she struck her horse light
blow and dashed down the road ahead
A long, even canter in Silence followed,
ard they were well into town before the
conversation began again. Then, fearful
orobservation, they spoke in commonplaces.
They turned into State street, stopped at
the postoffice, the mornings mail having
constituted the chief cause for the trip to
town. Richard Strong dismounted and
presently appeared with a letter i'll his hand
None for you," he said This is for me,
from the governor. III wager 1t has some
thing in 1t about cousins"
LET me see." said the girl. holding out
her hand. He tore the letter open and gave
a. Thap ha