The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1896-06-03
copyright, 1895, by J. B. LppIncOH COL
L-CoNTINUED.

ly, concluding with plea for secrecy.
"Pd rather you wouldn't tell even Mrs.
Ludlow" he added. cts such piece
of ridiculous absurdity in it's present
stage, you know"
III promise not to tell her of my
own accord" assented Ludlow, "but
that isn't saying much. It's only fair
to warn you that she'll get it out Of mo
sooner or later. Best thing you can do
: is to get the affair into presentable
shape as soon as possible; then you
won't mind"
"Presentable SHAPED" groaned Ring
brand, "and 1 haven't even had an in
PRODUCTION! Ludlow, 1 believe I left
my wits behind me when / came away
from New York. haven't been wholly
accountable since l crossed the Ohio
river"
"Oh, don't know about that" re-
joined Ludlow, refectively. "You
might have gone farther and Jared O
good deal worse; Hester Latimer's
we'll worth any mans winning-only
I'll tell you beforehand that she has
all of her fathers prejudices, magni-
fled by the emotional nature of an i'm
pulsiye young woman"
"What sort of prejudices?"
Southern, mostly; pride of race and
loyalty to section, with lingering
trace of bitterness as result Of the
war. But there are compensating vir-
tues that will warm the very cookies
of your heart; such open-handed hos
pitality as you never dreamed Of; a
loyalty to kith and kin and friends that
takes you right back to the days of chiv-
airy; and another pleasant thing about
them is that they reverse our social
rule, and take man for what he ap-.
pears to be until he proves himself un-
worthy"
They walked along in silence for
awhile, and then Ringbrand said: "I
don't kna,1wbut I overstated it mo-.
ment ago, after 4slst impulse
when saw Miss Latimer was merely
strong desire to study the type; it's
unusual, and she is uncommonly beau
tin. Just where the artistic sense
merged into the erotic, / can't tell;
don't know enough of the symptoms,
to be able to diagnose my own case.".
Ludlow laughed heartily: "That's q
damaging admission for story-writer.
Why, you fellows are supposed to be
able to analyze the tender passion in all
its stages, from start to finish, and here
you can't apply the first tests of your
art to your own easel I shouldn't
write any more love.tales, if 1 were
you"
Il fancy it's another case of the sick
doctor, Tom. You know q physician
never trusts himself to treat his own
malady." ,
Ringbrand was decidedly preoccu-
pied at the supper table that evening,
and Mrs. Ludlow did not fail to rally
him numerically. So many of the
sharp thrusts found the joints in his,
armor that he pleaded the need Of exer-.
else when they left the table, and went;
out for an evening stroll. When he
was outof earshot, Mrs. Ludlow prompts
~ attacked her husband. :.
"What is the matter with Mr.. Ring,
brand this EVENING"" she inquired.
Nothing that 1 know Of" replied!
Ludlow, dropping into veranda chair:
and burying himself, ostrich-like, in;
the newspaper.
"But l know there is" insisted the,
lady. HE is distrait and embarrassed
and he seems to be afraid I'll find out:
something. Where have you been to-
day?"
"Nowhere, except down to the fur.
mace"
Mrs. Ludlow rocked gently in her,
chair, watching the figure of Ring
brand appear and disappearin in the wind,
ings of the road leading to the summit
of the mountain. She was silent so
long that her husband had time to re-,
lax his vigilance in the interest of the
newspaper, and her next question
caught him off his guard.
"What do you suppose he's going
away up on the mountain for at this
time of day?" she asked.
Ludlow heard the question with his.
outward ears and answered it mechan-.
ically: 81 don't know; perhaps he's
going up to see if he can get sight Of
her"
There was another interval of silence,
and then Mrs. Ludlow rose and stood
before her husbSi,d. "Tom," she said,