St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-29

Inen, WndI p ndu bSCOIile oI thSIu
Capt. George alone was without curl
osity; he would not have given clank
of his saber for the knowledge.
By-and-by Capt. George proposed to
Miss Berkeley that they should sit OUT
one of the dances, He knew of such
a charming place-a little afcove half
way up stairs-wouldn't she come?
Well, she was a little fatigued and
thought she would-and did. But they
cid not SIT in that little alcove, for
tAere they found MIR. Singleton and
Mrs. Colchester. They all nodded pleas.
antly to one another, and Capt George
and Miss Berkeley sat it OUT some
where else. In consequence of this
Miss Berkley has since consistently
and emphatically maintained that a
bachelor who deliberately flirts with q
widow in the presence of an assembly
of respectable people is a social abom-
ination and should be repressed. This
Introduction of third and fourth parties
into the Singleton-Berlley tournament
wrought a new phase in the relations
of the first and second parties, and
each of the latter now began to mis-
trust the motives of the other. Was
Miss Eerkley really in love with Capt.
Plymptcn? Was MIR. Singleton sincere
in his professed alteration for Mrs. Col
chester? Well, the three months had
nearly eXpiredg all would soon be
known.
Miss Berkley was resolved, however,
that the egotist should not thus lightly
j escape his well-merited punishment if
! she could prevent it. In the circum-
! stance only one thing was to be done,
! and she did It. Capt. George was re-
! tanned as a foil wherewith to parry
! the Widow-thrusts of Mr.. Singleton;
! but the amiability APPARENTLY inspired
| by Capt. George at the ball was also
| extended to the man destined to select
! the bon-bons. Never before had Sin
! gleton found her so gentle, so graceful,
! so sympathetic, so lovable. He was
! enchanted, and his attentions to Mrs.
Colchester began to lose much of their
! ardor and persistency. But when he
! observed that Capt. George was SINH
/ larly rewarded by these manifestations
/ of awakened affection he became at
! once chagrinned and distressed His
! calls on Miss Berkley became less fire.
/ quent, the widow was neglected, his
male friends began to know him better,
/
/ appeared now to become the prevail
! ing motive Of his life.
In this manner the last two weeks
passed away. The morning of the 11th
! Of September dawned clear and bright
! This was the day on which Fate, in
/ vited by Singleton, was to preside at
the interview which should determine
the future relations of Miss Berk-
nd hen, ao-OtiStfco1 yynoa,.
/ Singleton went shooting; Miss Berk-
ley remained at home.
Singleton, in the fields, confessed
that he never before had such execra-
BILE luck with his gun. Miss Berkeley,
in the library, acknowledged that new
er before had the hours seemed so
tardy and so unpromising of better
things. Was Singleton coming, or
wasn't he? Well, he knew what her
answer would be-, so there was really
no necessity for his appearing. Still.
she believed in the man adhering to his
! word, no matter what the conse-
quences. These were her reflections in
the morning. In the afternoon she
wondered just how. much Singleton
cared for that Colchester woman. Per-
haps he was calling on her then. What
was there in Mr.. Singleton that pleased
! Mrs. Colchester? She did not know,
and tried to ascertain by comparing
! Singleton with some other young men
! of her acquaintance. She recalled his
| words, actions, mental and physical
! characteristics, habits, virtues and
! those vices which she had contrived to
unearth. The result was that she
! thought a great deal about Singleton
! that afternoon; but why did the man
not come? She was growing impatient
about something. Was it Singleton S
| delay? Certainly not. She would not
care in the least if she never
saw him again. There she stopped
- to think this over little
more. She wondered how he would
| act and look and feel after it was all
over. About o'clock she began to
! feel unwell-a sort of nervous attack,
she thought. That was the reason she
! had occasional crying spells. The per-
sistency of these attacks made her If
ritable. That was the reason she scold-
! ed the maid who announced Capt.
George Plyrnpton. She was not at
! home to Capt. George today. At
j o'clock the maid tremblingly informed
her that Mr.. Singleton had called.
! Should she tell him Miss Berkley was
, not at home? No, she should not.
So Singleton came in, and had the bad
form to lay his hat, stick and gloves
on the drawing room table.
AS they seated themselves each was
conscious of a sense Of restraint. For
! several moments both were silent. Then
] Miss Berkley made an attempt to open
, conversation by asking her suitor if
he had been shooting, and if shooting
was good this year as it had been last
year. Singleton admitted he had been
shooting and that game was about as
! plentiful as it had been the year be-
fore. They next attempted to discuss
the merits of "Trilby," but this topic
proved as short-lived as the previous
one had been; so after two or three
more Intellectual efforts to appear at
ease they relapsed into an uncomforta-
BILE silence.
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