The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-02-18
..sss only " . .lia,ns door, waasA ma

o. that time mueh In vogue among young
men, . jaunty cane Of the most dsndifea
description, two pairs Of gloves, one tiny,
plainly Notifies own.
Beside these lay white card. darted
forth to seize H. Frank held my arm.
'All's fair, said /, In love and war, -
and turned II over In my hand.
on one side read, Frank Lawrence"
on tho other;
DEAREST NETTIz-whet am to believer
Can It be that you think MORE Of sQps one
else than Yo9 do OF mei Surely yon Will come
with me today. II can break my cunning
LITTLE LOUIS heart, ysu can certainly consent to
give II. w. the slip.
A low murmur of voices came from the
conservatory.
"They are in there, Fred'' cried in
great excitement. Let us wait here and
confront them"
HEonsensei" said Fred. I've done with
her forever" And he turned on his heel
and stalked out Of the house, and after
him, never waiting for the servant who
had taken in our namee.
Then what time had with Fred! He
shut himself in his own room day after
day on the prctext Of study, and the even
ings, which he had used to spend with
Nettie Lee, were passed in the same seolu-
sion.
Over his meals he was silent as q mute.
Our parents knew nothing of what had
happened, for Fred had forbidden me to
speak Of 1t on pain Of his displeasure, and
Nettie must have kept all quiet by some
excuse AT all events week passed by
without any communication between the
families, and / wondered and wondered
when tho dcnouement would come, and
what every one would say, and whether
that deceitful Hettio would really elOre,
and whether Fred would do of broken
heart This last though troubled me most
Of all, for tho poor fellow was growing
thinner and paler and moro woebegone
day after day.
At last, ono bright, sunny afternoon, l
cooked him to walk out with me
'You do love me little, sis'" said
Fred in such pitiful voice that cried
on his shoulder.
checred up a little for the first tiplo
that week when I had got him out Of
doors and was just thinking that perhaps
could save his life by all sorts Of sisteriy
kindnesses, md thnt would live and die
spinster for his sake, when, as fate would
have It, who should we meet face to face
but Nettie Leci
Hateful littlc hypocrite said to my
self, but the thought had hardly crossed
my mind before noticed that she was as
palo and thin as Fred, and then, right
out in Broadway, regardless Of passersby,
utterly forgetting everything else in my
surprise, screamed out. lis that Frank"
For crowned with the sailor hat which
had caused us such annoyance and jauniy
cane in hand, walked a fair damscl side by
sidc with the misiudged and slandered
Ncttie This individual was plump and
jolly, some inches taller than brother Fred,
Ia, t 1yE.artl Il, an
burn hair In n bush all around her head
and shoulders and was dressed in tho ox-
tremcst oxtJm of everything.
Fred stared Mt me as II he thought me
mad, but i'll n moment more / saw TINT he
had taken in the situation at glance.
Surprises were not over yet, however
A gentleman, who had been walking close
behind the two girls, here presented him
self to the assembled group.
'Lou.' screamed the auburn haired
damscl and broke into a hysterical giqglc.
The strange gentleman and he alone,
seemed quite equal to the emergencies of
the occasion He waved his hand toward
u confectionery close by, where, around u
marble table covered with refreshments,
all parties succeeded in coming to mu-
tual understanding.
| Fred and -Npttte retired TO a window.
Frank proceeded 10 make away with un-
| limited pastry and cream Mt an Gstonish-
ing rate, talking and laughing vociferous-
| ly between the muuthfuls, now to me,
now to the gentlemanly stranger
| ] could scarcely reprcss smile us
| looked Mt the six feet Of masculine perfec-
ton smiling indulgently down upon tho
fe!T and frivolous gournand and thought
of cunning little Lou" whom / had sup
posed to I've some fsirylike little creature
sinking into u slow decline.
" am glad 1 happened to meet you,
Miss Frank. - said he, stroking his silky
mustache TO conceal lurking smile. Il
really believed my rival to DO u gentleman.
Let me help you to another ice"
When Fred and Nettio returned from
their retirement, it was quito evident that
they had effected reconciliation and
were equally reioiccd thereby. 1t suisse
quently TRANSFERRED that Frank was scnti
mentally inclined and had vowed eternal
friendship for Ncttic; that the two had tx
changed oath. during school days To the
effect that no masculine creature should
ever Interfere with their tender attach
mcnt.
am fully persuaded that Nettie wa:
rather happy OH the whole 10 be relieved
Of her feminine Hdprcr pertoroe, and l no
tieed that the intimacy fell of when til,
two girls were married, which hsppenel
shortly aitrrward New York News.