The Madisonian. (Virginia City, Mont.) 1873-1915, 1895-03-16
A. HITCH.

Iva sOlt bluo eyes anu DIlSnt llttlt
ways wrought dire destruction in thu
ranks of the stronger sex, but she ap
peared quite unconscious of her power
or indifferent to it. To all intents anC
purposes she had promised to marry
Charlie Nelthorpo. His will = he7
law and to please him the chief objec'
OF her life. In short, his programme
seemed in a fair way to be carried out.
Her total submission delighted him,
and he 0 every advantage of it. Il
was not in him to show generosity to
woman or indeed to anything he
thought weaker than himself. He was
the sort of man who is brutal to his
dogs and horses and Overbearing to hi.
servants - who, in short, tyrannizes
whenever he a do SO without fear ot
retaliation. His nature asserted itself
IN his dealings with the Oma he
loved, and he took the keenest possible
pleasure i'll trading OH her forbearance,
taxing her endurance to tho utmost and
showing Off her plant will and obedient
temper to the world at large. 1t was all
a part OF the 2,7stem that could not fail.
Charlie went Oh giving his petty ar
ro9ance full play until, as was only to
be expected, things came to a crisis.
The wonder Was they had not done SO
long before.
On the occasion of Lady Brown-Jones'
ball he went the length of forbidding
his tiancee to dance round dances with
any one but himself, and though she re-
ceived his commands without a muir
muir her SOIL rose in passionate revolt
against his tyranny. This last test that
he had devised seemed to her the worst
OF all. AS matter of fact. she had sub
mltted patiently to far harder ones, but
we all know the female capacity for
swallowing a camel and straining at a
gnat, and Eva was no less inconsistent
than the rest of her sex. The gnat stuck
In her throat and o~bstinately refused to
be dislodged. There always must be a
last straw, and this was it.
When the ball was half over, Lord
Dolly put in all appearance, and at that
moment Eva happened to be- sitting
quito alone. Charlie had left her for a
minute or two to speak to a friend, and
she was looking w~istfully at the maze
Of couples that revolved before her. Lord
Dolly made straight for her.
Mot dancing, Miss Carringtonl Luck
for me, by Jovel Ripping waltz, this.
Have Il turn?'
He stuck out his elbow invitingly,
but Eva turned away, biting her lip.
mo, thank YOU she answered in a
low tone. Il can't dance with you,
Lord Dolly"
Can't" echoed his lordship. Flows
that? What's up? Not i'll, are you?
Not cross with me, eh?"
Eva shook her head.
mo, I am not i'll or cross, but-but
l have promised Charlie to waltz only
with him. He doesn't like to see me
waltzing with other men,"
Lord Dolly chOked down the forcible
but inelegant remark, cleared his throat
violently and ran his fingers through his
hair. The two latter proceedings were
signs of severe mental disturbance.
There was a slight pause.
"And he dances SO awfully badly"
Eva went on, with a queer little catch
in her breath. "He can't waltz a bit
not a little wee bit. He-holds you all
wrong"
Her voice quivered and broke on the
last word, and she looked up at the man
at her side with great fearful eyes, like
forgetmenots drowned in dew.
That look finished it. Lord Dolly was
only a man.
"Beastly shame!'i he said hurriedly.
Come with me. Nice and quiet out on
the veranda. A fellow can talk there.
don't you know. Come along"
And Eva went.
Charlie Eelthorpe was bristling with
outraged plide and wounded self esteem
when he went to pay his customary visit
to Eva on the day following Lady
Brown-Jones' ball. The fact that Eva
could forget herself and the respect that
was due to him 81 far as to sit on the
veranda with Lord Dolly for half an
hour had been a v blow to him, and
he had not yet recovered from the
shock.
She was reading when he went into
the room, but she laid her book aside at
once.
"Oh, Charlie, is that your"
Charlie frowned.
How often have I told you, my dear
Eva, that a self evident fact requires nc