The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-06-13

W JUN IN tne merry, desultory chat-
ter which was, indeed, skilfully di-
rected by Pris to tho end OF exclud-
ing her. What had begun in mere
spirit OF frolic and passing resent
ment developed, as the days went on,
into scarcely concealed dislike, the
reason for which none could have told.
There was certainly no apparent
reason, for Miss Benton was well.bred
and attractive in appearance.
Even gentle Mrs. Forsythe, who
had hitherto welcomed SO kindly any
solitary stranger, was swept along by
the current, and save for stately in
clination Of her head and formal
greeting ignored Miss Benton. She
was very fond of her niece, Lou SAKE,
and "a summer hotel was not hos
pital," she said.
So in the picnic at the Rapids, dur
ing the long, bright day spent at the
Shaker settlement, and at the climb
up Saddleback, Miss Benton was
ignored. She was not invited to join
in the evening games. in which even
the elders participated, nor did any
one suggest that she was included in
the bidding to the hop at n neighbor-
ing hotel, or to the concert given in
the village by the summer residents.
The next festivity was a "lawn
party" given by an enterprising
youth in the near neighborhood, who,
in the hope of remuneration, had
showered his rustic attentions upon
the city visitors. The sawmill OF
which he was the owner stood on the
brink OF great dark pool, that had
been named by the girls the Styx.
Mark Mudgett was his name; and
''Mark" was an abb-eviation of "Mar-
quis de Lafayette, given name orig
inally bestowed, under the impression
that the French patriots name was
Christian name. The girls politely
called him "the Marquis"
Ice cream was to be sold at his lawn
party, and boats we're to be let on the
Styx. The girls had enlisted the in
terest of the other hotels and tho Mar
quis's fete was a great success.
The girls all enjoyed it much; but
the crowning festivity, the last frolic
of the season, had been reserved for
the following day. There was to be
a twenty-mile drive TO the lake, snil
around it and moonlight drive home.
Early on the morning following
the Marquis's lawn party, Lou en-
tered Priss room to find her friend,
with a ghastly face, seated upon the
side of the bed.
at was the ice cream!" Pris
gasped. ooh, dear? Is this the way
1t feels to be sick?"
Poor Pris clasped the bedpost with
both hands, as though she could there
by stop the dizzy whirl IN her aching
head. The other girls came in and
suggested various unsuitable remedies.
leave me / don't care if die
I'd rather die than feel like this. l
heard the clock strike every hour till
'our--think Of 1t. gi Aud then,
ust as l began asel sleepy, the
COWS CONNIE need TO low, and Mr.. Tut.
tie began his usual conference through
the kitchen window"
Mrs. Forsythe was called. The
remedy for sick headache, she de.
clared, was to lie abed all day in a
darkened room; and to that treat.
ment Pris was condemned.
''Please CO." she said, when Mrs.
Forsythe wished to give up the pro-
posed expedition. "You can do moth
ing by remaining, and 1 do not want
to feel that l have robbed you of
days pleasure.
'Iou will be quite alone. Every
one is going but Mrs. Tuttle and that
Miss Benton" urged Mrs. Forsythe.
81 don't want to talk. am going
to sleep all day" The other girls,
with noisy sympathy, yielded com
miseratingly to Pris's command that
the expedition should not be given
up.
Presently she heard the groaning
wheels of the mountain wagon roll up
to the door. One horse was restive;
would he neigh again? The girl put
her hands to her ears in an agony of
apprehension. What a shrill voice
Lou SAKE had. and how long they were
getting ready!
They were gone at last, and the
girl turned her pillow TO see if there
were not cool spot upon it; but no
sleep came. The day was intensely
hot. She had closed the window to
shat ont the sound of Mrs. Tuttle, the
hostess, beating eggs in the kitchen.
Her sense of hearing was torture to
her.
Ry and by Mrs. Tuttle came to the
room, seated herself IN the rocking
chair-the one that had been utilized in
Mrs. Benton's treatment and enter
tanned the invalid with a graphic ac-
count of all the funerals. accidents
and illnesses that had come under her
observation.
"Seams though you'd ought to have
something for dinner" she urged.
Couldn't you eat bit o. cheese?"
'No, thank you," answered Pris,
struggling to speak gently.