The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-10-25

But now you nave suggested It," 1
went on, considering, tits not at all q
bad idea-n Miss Hewitt moved to the
further end Of the stall, and sold
another pair Of stockings. Its quite
worth thinking Of" I said, when she
was within hearing again, Pm glad
you mentioned it. /" II never mentioned
anything" she retorted holly. mo,
of course, you didn't mention it," T,
agreed, "butIdon't see why you should
be angry because we are discussing
calmly -" ssPm not discussing any
thing" she observed tartly. tNo,"
said I, but if the duchess of Devon
shire thought it a good deed to pur-
chase what she considered the welfare
of her country by allowing voters to
kiss her, / don't think you should be
offended if for the sake of an excellent
charity" II am not the duchess Of
Devonshire," said Miss Hewitt, shortly.
Il don't suppose l said, 'that it was
much of a kiss" Miss Hewitt's nostrils
curled in scorn. Good people are al
ways so particularly said, philosophic-
broke forth. "Do you suppose, Mr..
Randall" said she sarcastically, that
n would allow anyone that wished
to" ooh, | never said anyone I
interrupted, hastily. mo, certainly
not anyone" She looked at me with
undisguised hauteur. l glanced about
the stall. II should like to have a lot
Of those things" l said. 81 could send
them 10 a children's hospital, you
know" Miss Hewitt's face relaxed
slightly. "They would b. very use
full" she said. ut would be fifty
pounds, wouldn't it?' l asked, as if
entering on a calculation. Yes
said Miss Hewitt with a little show of
excitement, 'Gforty-fve if anyone took
the lot" I fingered in my pocket and
hesitated. tim afraid" said 1.
You see / forgot had promised to
buy a quantity of flowers for the in
f~rmary,"I remarked, glancing at Miss
Chudleigh's stall. Miss Hewitt's face
fell, but she said nothing. 1 took out
my pocketbook and extracted some
notes, dividing my looks between the
two stalls in a hesitating way. Il
think the children in the hospital
would like the toys very much" said
Miss Hewitt, ~nervously. Yes, they
could play with the stockings nicely.
couldn't they?' said l. She paid no
heed to this remark.
II wonder if Miss Chudleigh would
do what the duchess dido | observed,
presently. Perhaps you had better
ask her." said Miss Hewitt, sarcastic
ally. "Oh. no." l said hurriedly, Il
was only wondering. For the sake of
the poor people do make sacrifices, l
suppose" Il don't believe she did let
them-let them kiss her. remarked
Miss Hewitt, after a pause, and con-
templating a wooden horse. Don't
you?" ] asked, looking up. "What did
they do, do you think?" Miss Hewitt
examined the toy carefully. "Oh,'' she
said, indifferently, Il should think she
merely pretended" "Pretended:" 1
echoed. Eyes, they only kissed-just
not QUITE mean they really didn't
touch her." she explained, with more
interest in the horse. l considered
this. "But some of them" Iobjected,
would not have been content to be
put off that way. They must nave
really" ''Oh, if anyone liked to be
rude and take advantage like that"
she said, d~isdainfully; ''she couldn't
help it, poor thing No." 1 assented.
Il suppose she couldn't, and she must
have hated it all the time. "Of course
she did" said Miss Hewitt, now in
specting a doll. "But she did it out of
sense of duty-to benefit her coun-
try" l concluded. "a man would
have been so unselish,'' said
Miss Hewitt. Never l said, en-
phatically. But do you think that.
women are capable OF such an act of
self-sacrifce in these days?" l asked.
"Of course" said Miss Hewitt, watch
ing some people go by with great
interest, cliff they only = only
pretended to-" "But if there was
an accident?" I ventured. Miss
Hewitt apparently did not hear this.
"Do you really think" l persisted,
"that a woman-a girl, would do a
thing like that?" "She wouldn't-she
couldn't-of course the duchess did not
let it pretend to be done-in-before
anyone else" mot, for example, in a
room like this" I said, looking round
the bazaar. "How them" ssAfter-
wards" murmured Miss Hewitt, bend
ing down to pick up a pin, l suppose.
"Oh" l said, ''she would only promise,
then?" Miss Hewitt said nothing. I
rose. WELL, Pun afraid 1 must be
really going" l said, holding out my
LAND. II think if she were really
honest she would have to keep her
PROMISE" said Miss Hewitt in a low
voice.
looked at her, but she was not look