Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-05-10

little with the other summer rcSldchts OF
the place.
To Ralph and his wife she mover al
luded A few times Hattie touched the
subject, but mot with such vigorous
rebuff that she perceived soon that her
aunt was determined not to hear the
name of the prodigal son mentioned oe-
fore her ears.
Hattie had received letter from
Ralph, written Immediately after his ar
rival in Eng and. lie explained at
length the course he had pursued, hoped
she was not angry with him, and re-
ouested her good offices to effect recon
Citation with his mother, whose resent
ment, he said, he felt as an intolcraoie
burden.
Hattie read and re-read this letter
hundred times, although the words OF
glowing affection in which he spoke OF
his wife gave violent pang to her heart
every time she saw them: She ma the
lines in the bosom of her dress ana
looked at them whenever she was alone
Poor child!
How glady would she have softened
her aunts cold heart But what could
the poor girl do? At the same tame, with
the letter addressed to her, Ralph had
sent one to his mother. 1t had been re-
turned unopened, but Mrs Warringham
had told Walter to write Ralph that
there cou'd be nothing in common be
tween her and him, until his relation to
"that woman" was dissolved.
Thus pa sed drcary summer OFTEN
Hattie climbed on one of the hills that
surrounded the valley in which their
village stood, and sat there alone Tor
hours with a book in her hand. she
hardly knew what the lines said. Her
thoughts were far away across the AT,
lantic waves, where one lived who cared
only for another woman. When she re-
turned home at dusk, she looked dis
trrsscdIy into the pale features of her
aunt, whose expression now was more
that of sadness than Of haught ness as
of old Was it bodily or was 1t men
tai trouble viii h had caused this
change? Who could tell? Perhaps
there were more caIses than one.
A few weeks after the arrival OF the
Warringhams at Fair Glen, Hattie was
not disagreeably surprised to see Jack
SpoTord alght from the soTewhat prim-
tive vehicle that did service as an omni'
bus between the village of Fair Glen and
the railroad station that was about two
miles away, down picture 'Quc noun
tain road.
What had brought Jack Sroford to
this out-of the way village? lie had
never shown particular inclination to
3Slowly trace the forests shady scene,"
Or
aTo climb the tracklcss mountain all un-
seem"
In fact, tbcro was some uncertainty
whether Jack had over read these lines,
or many others by the poetic lord
But Jack knew why he had come tc
Fair Glen. He did not tell anybody,
however. There was in that solitude a
certain young lady with golden tres.o'
and blue eyes, whom whimsical Jack de-
red to see at least once day.
With the young gent eman's arrival
life in the little colony of summer resi-
dents, which had up to that time been
rather monotonous and sluggish, began
to assume q di iferent aspect. He to-
Hattie on his arrival thai he was bound
to have immense fun, and he set di lg g1nt'
ly about to accomplish his PURPOSE lie
proved hm3clf q master in arranging al
sorts of amusements, excursions ly car
riage, on no setback or afoot, to neigh
boring points of interest, picnics in the
shades of the magnificent forest that
covered the hi Is, dances at the hotel,
fireworks, and innumerable other ware
ties of shaving fun" A clear, if not very
large, brook run through the val
lev, or "glen" as the natives in
sisted on calling it, jack main
tainc1 strenuously that there must
be trout in that little stream, ana
tie landlord of the hotel eagerly upheld
him in this opinion, which added adGi'
tiona IuSter to the splendor of his eSta0'
lishment. The skeI ticism Of the major.
itv was overcome by argument and
rhetoric, and one beautiful morning four
ffths of the summer population, pro
videl with fishing tackle of more or less
elaborate pattern, began the war against
The speckled deni2ens of tn brook. II
is true that nobody ever heard OF any
trout Bong taken, but the fun was i'm
mense, just the same-at least the ladIe;
all declared so
OF course it was but g short time until
Jack Spofford was by all the ladies de-
cared to be positively "too awful nice fol
anything The men, ind ed, did moi
gu te agree with this judgment. They
never do, horrid creatures But as the
ladies were in tho vast majority, ia tx
could boa {, when he had scarcely been
q week at Fair Glen, that he was the
most popular man in the pace.
OF course Mr.. Spoiford insisted that
Mi Beckford should participate in ev.
cry amusement that he arranged, and
Hattie's lonely musings on the hill b.
came in consequence less frequent II
cal hardly be said, that Jacks popular
ity was shared to any extent by his fair
frienl. The ladies almost unanimously
pronounced her in Sipid On the other
hand, the perversity of the male minor.
ity led them to differ on this sub ect Ike
wise They said thai Hattie was the
most charming girl in town, always eX'
cepted the fair one with whom the gen.
tlcmen was, at the time being, d scuss ng
the question. The two pa ei generally
aIrecd, however, on the fact that MI
Spofford succeeded in mOnopol zing Ha.'
tie to a sca1dalous extent But the con-
clusions drawn from this giAen premise
wore again d fferent, ac orI ng 10 tne
female or male persuasion OF the reason
or The ladi,s all thought llattic'S con-
duct simply shameful, while i'll the eyes
of the gentle ren this fact was one OF
the main causes o. Jacks unpopularlty
Stran &c how people will differ cn the
simple't 1t matters
its rs she was. naturally en- Dyed the d.
versions Jack arranged, evidently in tho
first place for her own benefit She ha ]
Always regarded her Cousins friend with