Rock Island Argus., 1896-02-05

ny SOTEtOuS LII tL6 u
brilliant double rainbow. One end of it
| seemed to come up right out Of the val
| ley there, while the other disappeared
behind Starr King mountain. The fly
ing clouds, still black and heavy, ,whirled
swiftly along, hanging low, and, with
the sun approaching the horizon, made
| shifting shadow across the base of
Mount Washington, while between the
riffs the red rays of the sun striking diff
| ferent parts made beauteous tintings
among the green and the brown of trees
and rock. Oh, if an artist could only
have seen that! But then it would have
| been useless, for the hand of man could
| not paint such grandeur. 1t was in the
| foreground that the resemblance to the
| battlefields was to be seen again. Every
| here and there stray bits of clouds dis
| entangled themselves from the tree tops
and rose up smokelike till one could i'm
agine them to be from thousands Of
ca,npfires. Oh, it was simply wonder
| fulr'
| ut was indeed" said Mr.. Thauret,
''and your description brings it all back
again to me'
"Then the beautiful long twilight,
| Dora continued, almost unheeding. that
was lovely. Slowly these stray bits Of
mist met and joined others, till as the
darkness came and the moon frightened,
that beautiful sheet of water-for after
all your lake is real water-accumulat-
ed, and there it is. At least you can en-
| JOY that
| He did. But what he enjoyed more
was the simple happiness of being with
her. After a short time, however, he
was deprived of that, for Mrs. Remsen
Claimed his attention, and took him up
to the ballroom to introduce him to
some OF the many young women who
were dancing with each other and with
boys of ii for want of better partners.
| If Mr.. Thauret annoyed Mr.. Ran
dolph by being at this resort, the latter
gentleman was none the moro pleased at
his arrival Being left alone with Dora,
and constituting her present mood to be
one favorable to his wooing, he deter
mined to speak to her before the other
man might find a chance Moving his
chair nearer hers, he began, getting to
his subject without much circumlocu-
| tion.
| Miss Dora," said he, edo you recall
n conversation that had with you one
day? l mean about loneliness and the
longing one has for companionship?''
"Oh, yes" said she frankly; "why?
Do you wish to continue it now:''
| "1f you please. You remember you
said you would 10 better able to do so
after your sisters marriage.
because I thought that I would
miss her SO much and be lonely myself,
was not that it? Well, of course have
missed Queen very much, but l have
scarcely been lonely. You have taken
care of that, and I am sure that am
very grateful to you. You have been
very nice to me-"
"You think so? You admit that?''
He spoke eagerly.
why. yes! Why not, since it is
true?''
"Of course, but then you know so
many young ladies hide their feelings.
mean suppression Of all emotion is
considered SO necessary in a woman in
these days
Suppression and she laughed
heartily. Now Go you think that !
could ever be suppressed?'
"No, indeed, and certainly I hope
that you never viii be. But if you have
not been lonely, perhaps you have
thought some Of that other subject, love,
I mean
"Oh! Thatr'
eyes. That is one question, supreme
to me, about which wish to have your
views. Do you think you would be hap
pier Or unhappier-if you were mar
ried?'
THAT is question. Itwouid depcrd
upon-my husband, would it not:"
Suppose that we were''-
Don't call namcs, please couldn I
suppose such u thing have promised
nc: to"
Promised not to. I don't under
stand:"
Il mean that have made bet. You
don't think l am horrid to bet, do you:
Of course you don't. Well, l have made
curious bet with Bob, Mr. Mitchell.
you know. l call him Bob now, and ]
used to do 1t sometimes before. That
was when wanted him to do anything
for me- 1t made him feel like one of the
family. Well, &c tell you about my bet
You see, sometimes, when Emily was
cut, Bob would play make love to me.
He said it would be good practice fo1
me; would teach me the ways of the
world and all that sort of thing. Oh,
Bob is curious man, but he is grea,
sport! Don't you like him?"
Immensely. But you have not told
me yet about your bet. :"
81 am coming to it. Well, one day
when he was making love to me and
was doing my best, Suddenly he burs1
OUT laughing, and said, Dora, I'll BET
you'll be engaged within six months Of
our marriage How much:' said /.
AS much as you Ike said he. 1 asked
him if he would make it 81 900, and hi
whistled and called me little gambler.
But don't think it was gambling be
cause was to have certainty. Oh
course I wanted the stake to be large
one. So it was agreed, and he wrote j,
down ON paper. I'll show it to you soms
time if you like. II am not engaged