The Forrest City times., 1895-02-08
FORREST CITY ARK FRIDAY AFTERNOON FEBRU ARY 1s95

niable, and she let her head rest against my shoulder with little sigh of satis- faction.
 How absurd to think that we ever ! quarreled," l observed, presently. l 'Oh, don't talk of that horrid time any more. have nearly cried my eyes out over it. Let's just remember that we have loved each other all the while" | For moment there was silence.
 "Alice!" l said, severely, as sudden thought came to me; ''what were you intending to answer"
 That" replied Mistress Alice, se- renely, you will never know"
 There, that dance is finished, said; the rabble will be out here in mo- mert."
 ''There is no hurry" she answered, with the delightful sang .troid of wom- an-kind under circumstances that are trying to masculine nerves. I've can see anyone who passes the turn of the 1 staircase"
 An. now it is time," she said, laugh ingly; ''and I will see if can fix n.y. self up little. You have put my hair in shocking state of disorder. Ugh! Whats that?"
 sprang to my feet, aghast. On her delicate pink corsag4 was a large and gruesome stain of black, that was slowly but surely spreading over the entire front.
 'l-I-rm afraid it's inlx!' I said in quavering accents of despair.
 Ink, Where in the world should i ink come from?" Her voice had a hard. sharp quality, that I had heard once in awhile before. Evidently her ladyships mood was fast losing it's amiability, and I felt some tremors of fear.
 knew altogether too we'll where the ink came from. With an awful cer- tainty looked at my once immaculate white walstcoat; it was now a grue- 1 some soppy mass of Smiths blue black commercial writing fluid. The emer- gency was frightful. Was there an outside exit? And then the dress horrible. 1 had known affection to outlast the crash of fortunes, and to vanish like frost-worl1 at a dish of i gravy spilled over new gown. Since that day have utterly refused to be- lieve all stories of hair growing gray from fright and anguish. It is abso- lutely impossible that anyone should be scared as I was
 Alice looked up from her own ruined finery and caught the woe-begone ex- pression on my face, and, overcome with the ludicrousness of the situa- tion, she burst into little ripple of laughter, in which I was obliged to join.
 "Oh, here she is.' said a familiar voice, and Mir. Sturdevant- Hamilton, accompanied by the handsome Dick, turned in front the long staircase. saw the young gentleman's jaw drop suddenly, and the sight comforted me amazingly, and gave me courage to meet stormy weather
 Why, Alice.' cried the aunt, and her stern glances wandered from Alice's luckless gown to my lament able waiscoat in manner that showed that two was rapidly being added to two with the customary result. What in the world, Alice, have you been doing?"
 idbhCl llillh, aunt, Sne TllS- chievously replied-''I rather think that we have been getting engaged"
 Dicks face still wore a gloomy and sardonic expression, but he managed to pluck up enough spirit to make one of his abominable puns.
 Tt strikes me" he said, sadly, that that is melancholy waist of ink"
 It was probably about five years be- fore people got through teasing us about our unlucky adventure. I do not expect ever to hear the last of it, exactly, but we never hear it men, toned now except incidentally, and neither my wife nor I seem to care at all any more. But I can still remember the horrid sensation of that dreadful moment. As I said before, it seems as though it had all happened yesterday. l never desired another fountain pen Home and Country.
 stub Ends of Thought.