St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-04


! out at the next station, else L should
certainly have awaited myself of your
kindness
Then If you are really not going
to use it yourself, perhaps you can spare
me my pipe now" suggested the
stranger, smiling.
"Oh, it is yours, is it? Here you are,''
she said, handing it to him.
Thank you very much. 1 ought to
explain. My intrusion must otherwise
seem rather unaccountable. 1 got out
at the last station for a paper and
jumped back into the wrong compart-
ment. Recollecting that 1 had left my
p1pe-an old and valued friend-upon
! the seat, l stood up to look for it over
the partition. l was rejoiced to find
that it had fallen into such appreci-
ative hands,
"Oh, L know a lot about pipes,''
laughed Minnie. Then, as the train
pulled up, she turned to her cousin, eX-
claiming:
'Hilloa! here we are; Gloucester
| road. Out with you, Maud"
| The stranger raised his hat by way
| Of a farewell.
II shall never forget he said de-
murely, that so great a connoisseur
in pipes as yourself has pronounced
| mine to be a regular clinkerr'
| When they had alighted from the
train, Maud who had been frowning
at her cousin all through the above
conversation at once took that young
lady to task for encouraging the
strangers familiarity. But Minnie
treated these remonstrances very light
ly.
"All right. dear old propriety. No
! harm done. Only bit of a. joke. What
do you think Aunt Agatha will say
when she hears about it?'
| Surely you won't tell mammal" ex-
| claimed Maud; shell be terribly an
cry if you do
"Oh, 1 shall tell her, certainly" an
swered Minnie, IF only for the sake
| of watching her face during my re-
cital. 1t will be better than a play"
And Minnie did tell her. And Aunt
Agatha's face-a.s a genuine study of
emotions-was decidedly better than
| play. No actress could quite have
| produced that horror-struck express
| sion.
Margaret she said, scathingly, 81
| do not know which to condemn the
| more, your outrageous conduct with
| that impairment stranger or your flip
| pant manenr in relating it. 1t is hard
for me to believe that you are my own
sisters child
Minnie affected to look very much
crushed. She bent her eyes over the
| tablecloth. Aunt Agatha could not see
! their roguish twinkle, or she might
| have found it harder still to believe
| that the girl was her own sister
child. In truth, few things daunted
this harum-scarum young lady, and no
reproofs weighed heavily upon her
soul.
A few mornings later the two girls
! were sitting in their little upstairs
room, where they painted and messed
and practiced untidiney5s to their hearts
content. They were talking now;
though to be sure, Maud did hold a.
| palette in one hand and a brush in
the other, and made occasional reck-
| less dabs at a canvas in front of her.
Minnie had thrown her implements of
art upon the floor beside her, and was
| lounging with crossed knees in a bas-
ket chair near the window. She was in
| one of her high-spirited moods, and
! was rafting away like the proverbial
smallest hour
eff l were you, Maud, I should as
| sert myself, defy Aunt Agatha, and
marry Charles Bidding tomorrow
flush. Minnie. How can your
EYES, I should. If I loved a man,
| I shouldn't care a twopenny-I mean
| twopence, whether he was poor or
rich. All the mothers, or fathers, or
brothers, or aunts in the world might
try to stop me. But l shouldn't let
/ them. If a man, L say, whom l loved,
| asked me to marry him, I'd do it, in
| spite of 'em all"
"Ch-Mr. Bidding has never asked
| me to marry him." said Maud, blush
! ing.
But you know that he wants to.
| You know that you are only to give
| him the opportunity to ask you. And
| you daren't, because you're afraid of
| Aunt Agatha, which-Good heavens,
| who's this?''
A hanson had drawn up at the door.
Minnie watched the occupant alight
She clapped her hands merrily.
Talk of an ANGEL she cried. 'Oh,
| Maud, here's fun. Who do you think
| it is.''
''Who?' exclaimed Maud, springing
T! to the window and peeping out Her
! face suddenly flushed the rosiest of
| reds. She recognized the athletic form
| of Charles Bidding.
HE has come to ask Aunt Agatha
| for your hand,'' laughed Minnie.
Poor Charles, do not envy him the
| Interview
"Oh, I'm sorry he's come, faltered
| Maud, looking rather distressed Ct
| I'm afraid mamma will-will be dread
! fully rude to him. She was-was hor-
| rid to him the other night at Lady
| P-'s ball. It's of no use his coming,
| either; no use whatever. He-he-only
has $500 a year, and he's in-in debt.
| Mamma would never let me marry
| him.
! "Fiddlesticks, dear old co.," said
| Minnie, putting her arm around her
! and giving her a kiss. "Aunt Agatha
{ can't prevent you. Girls are not slaves
nowadays. You only have to assert
| yourself, you darling goose. My motto
! is, If man is worth loving. he is
! worth marrying. And if he's worth
marrying, marry him. For men worth
marrying do not grow on every BUSH"
In this half-jesting strain Minnie
ran on: But Maud did not hear much
! of it. Maud's attention was obviously
| distracted. Her eyes constantly wan
dered to the door. She seemed to be
listening for something outside. At
| tered. e-i-
"A message from missis, please Miss
Maud. Will you go down to her in
the drawing room?''
Maud sprang up and 'smoothed her
\ hair with her hands. Then she ran
down stairs to obey her mothers Or
I, der with very. nervous, frightened
| expression upon her face.
1t was nearly an hour before she
came back. Minnie looked up at her
| questioningly. 1t was clear that some
thing unexpectedly good had hap
| pened.
"Oh, Minnie, I have something so
wonderful to tell you. Mr.. Bidding
Charles--has had an extraordinary
piece of fortune. He has-has-come
into two thousand year! And NAM
ma has allowed US to be engaged
She was SO kind. Minnie, and said such
-,such-beautiful things about my
happiness being her one consideration.
IL think 1 have misjudged mamma,
| Minniep'
Just for second a queer, quizzical
flo chnl ,,o