St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-09-07

On the contrary" / returned, NOR
eagerly still, Its the greater rcaso
wyh ! shouldn't desert you, espec;all
as your predicamcnt is entirely due I
my carelessness. You don't know ho,
annoyed am at having rendered you
machine useless, and. under the eli
cumstances, / feel in honor bound I
repair the mischief: and il you will a
ford me the happiness Of seeing yo
made comfortable. l can, no doub,
very soon get your mount put right"
Miss Gwynne hesitated, and fat
tered myself that she seemed in no wa
averse to my company. Certainly
was making q very favorable impres
sion upon her
''Oh, but il l allow you to spend any
thing upon me it must only be rs
loan. No, please don't interrupt-tha
must be distinctly understood NJ,
brother must, and will be only to,
happy to settle with you. Besides,
the girl continued, with smile
whatever would he say to me if al
lowed a perfect stranger to spens
money upon me-?
He'd say it served me right for m,
carelessness- but you will allow me
then, to see You made comfortable
somewhere while try to repair dam
ages?"
Really, don't see what else car
do, under the circumstances" was the
answer. with . little sigh, as of regret.
Then, with a light laugh and in q
| mock-menacing tone, she added: ''Oh
| but won't make it warm for Brother
Dick when we meet. A deal he cares
about me. You see, he hasn't even
troubled to run back to 6nd out
whether I've broken my neck or not
and, between you and me, he hates the
idea of lost ground. But let us be
moving, Mr.-Mr.-"
A little hesitation, some apparent
embarrassment. one half-shy glance at
me. and my heart was no longer my
own. l knew l was, even already,
madly in love with pretty Miss
Gwynnc.
Fred Brandon-quits st your
service"
"Well, Mr.. Brandon, there's . turn
ing half . mile down the road which
will take us to just the place we want.
Then you will be able to run on to St.
Albans, to get what you need for my
machine. There's no place nearer, and
I'm afraid you will be very glad when
you have done with such , very
troublesome companion rs am prov
ing"
"On the contrary. quite : pleasant
interruption to my journey" IRallant-
ly ventured, and really thought that
Miss Gwynne was the most charming
and unconventional girl had ever met.
In fact, we presently reached the inn
she had spoken Of all too soon to suit
my newly awakened emotions.
found. on inquiry, that I could
reach st. Albans quicker by taking
some short cuts across the fields than
by riding round the road, and so de-
termined to leave my machine at the
inn. As for poor Harry, was by this
time utterly oblivious Of his existence.
Looking in upon Miss Gwynne be-
fore leaving the house, found her al
ready enjoying an appetizing repast-
a sight which momentarily gave me
some qualms of conscience concerning
the dinner had promised my chum
should be ready for him by the time he
reached the George
Pardon me, Miss Gwynne," said /,
Il haven't had q chance to settle with
the landlord yet. and he may look for
payment before l can return. Except
for few coppers, this note, as it hap
pens. is the smallest amount l have
about me; SO pray accept it as the loan
which you say you will insist upon
your brother, Maj. Gwynne, return
ing"
delicately placed = fve-pound
note upon the table, and then,
blushing furiously at the rather curl
Gus look accorded me-which recalled
soon afterward-I FASTENED from the
room.
Having procured what I wanted in
St. Albans, was back well under the
two hours OF Miss Gwynne, however,
could see no trace.
''Oh. the lady went soon after you
left, sir" said the landlord, In answer
to my interrogations .'She said you'd
know which way she'd gone, and she
would take her brothers bicycle, rs
you'd arranged to come back for hers
and to settle up with me-"
''What.' / fairly gasped, gone OF
On my machine-said was her brother?
And left me to settle up? Why, what
IN earth are You raving about. man."
"Ain't raving At ALL" snapped the
eying me suspiciously.
But butt hope it's all right. She
Hope it's all right" I interrupted,
Its all wrong. If she
aid was her brother-and gone OF
With my almost new twenty-guineA
mount, and my 6ve-pound note, too!
)h, yes, it is all right for her. no dou bt,
ind . very clever swindler that girl
must be. That machine she's left be-
lind isn't worth the price of old iron.
Ind you let her slip away under your |
'ery nose!"
could hardly repress q groan as
aw how neatly / had been deceived,
or felt very hard hit both in pocket |
md vanity-especially the latter. NY
moreover, was no doubt |
with the knowledge Of
rhat thorough fool should appear
o everybody.
'Well, it's your own fault. sir" tho
andlord retorted, gruffly. If you let
he girl soft-soap you down. like she
GEMS to have done, you've got no one
'ut yourself to blame. And it's my
'elief that she amt no girl 1t all, but
chap dressed up IS such. so as to
windle gents easier. had my doubts
rhen she left. but now I'm sure.
Ten to one you've been done by .
oung fellow called Dan Ford, . clever
BICYCLE thief. much wanted by the po-
ice in these parts. He's better known
$ Dolly Ford. because he makes such
good-looking girl when he dresses
p. You amt the first gent rs he's
windled in just this same way. dare
ay he'd no sooner got out Of sight Of
his place than he assumed his true
haracter, and by this time your BIZ
ycle has put him miles out Of reach,