The Penn's Grove record., 1896-10-23

ehould marry at sl, but II she must
marry, I'd rather she married you than
anyone else"
.'Thank you, sir, for saying that
I hank you very much" said |. grateful
". Selling his hand and w~ringing IT
hard.
Just go" said he. removing it from
ny grasp and looking %anxiously at 1t.
But why this fervorf"
l put witch's precious epistle in front
Of him. He read 1t twice through at
tentively, put II down, and looking
calmly at me said:
Very Interestingly But scarcely to
be regarded as a prelude to very
speedy matrimony, l should think"
"Ah, but 1t Is, sir. a girl doesn't
write a note like that and have done
with 1t. No, she continues to write
them. / shall probably get a similar
note once a month now and that will be
very firing. give you my word that I
did not sleep a wink last night The
practice won't stand that sort Of thing
long. you know" said I earnestly.
"You seem to have an accurate
knowledge Of women and their waya,s
no remarked dryly.
IaIlowed that speech 10 pass without
comment Comment seemed superlu-
Gus.
"If / might ask, I should like to know
whom you would consider in fault In
this little Observation-Disclosures he
asked.
81 am, sir. 1t stands to reason; l
.houId not be so anxious IL she were In
fault" and then l explained the whole
matter, finishing up with. II can't re-
member exactly what l called her, but
whatever 1t was l didn't mean it,"
al am not able to refresh your mem.
ory to what you said on that occasion.
but | can tell you what | have heard
you call her myself" said Mr.. Druitt,
quietly. And then he told me.
His tone was a revelation to me. Not
that I'd call Witch anything worse
than a little fool" But ! realize what
It must have sounded like to the heav-
ers, and to him, her fsthsYi l don't
know how 1 looked, hut / felt mean,
cheap, worthless. Utterly 90. I began
TO stumble put apologies. he waved
bis hand.
"All right" said he, but you see your
language is at all times forcible."
He Is q wise man, so he said NO more.
He showed HIS wisdom therein, for |
went at once to see Witch In a very
contrite frame Of mind. I was ready
10 make q mat Of myself and let my
darling trample on me II It should so
please her, or to do any other extrava-
CANT thing, such was the depth of my
humility. Still, as 1 journeyed Putney-
ward l wondered as to who could have
stirred up the strife between us. Sud-
denly 1t flashed across my mind that
Witch had seated herself beside Aunt
Betsy Jane, and that Aunt Betsy Jane
was her godmother and therefore Ii
censed to Interfere. l am not going to
explain how Aunt Betsy Jane came to
be Wltch's godmother. I am not a lady
novelist and therefore don't think II
necessary to explain everything. 1t has
nothing to do with this story; besides,
| was only O years old when she was
ckristened and wasn't consulted as to
Der sponsors. To be sure. 1t must have
been Aunt Betsy Jane who suggested
The letter.
When l arrived at the Cedars 1t was
about IL o'clock. If all went well peace
,,o,-Il yoy1n bafu,oan Witch, ana pnyaaff
IN an hour. And If SO / would take her
off to Richmond, get a boat from Mes.
sums, row up the river, come to an
chor in a backwater l knew Of between
Richmond and Hampton and then make
Ter name the day--8ut things didn't
go well: they went exceedingly badly
instead. When Amelia amelia Is the
Drultt's housemaid) opened the door
and l inquired for Witch she said,
Miss Druitt is not well, sir, but I'll
tell her you're here"
Then she showed me into the dining.
room. This was ominous! In the
Druitts' menage 1t Is customary to see
people who come on business--dress-
Iakers, laundresses, servants seeking
places--in the dlning-room before lunch,
Amelia left me and went upstairs.
rapidly diagnosed the situation. ! took
cut my pocketbook and wrote: my
darling, l shall wait In the old boat al
the end OF the lawn till you can see me-
end then | signed 1t John"
Amelia came back. 'If you please,
cir, Miss Druitt does not feel equal to
seeing you to-day, but will write to you
10 night"
Exactly" said !. quietly. Can you
give me an anvelopef Thanks. Give
taat to Miss Druitt, please"
The maid left the Dol and / went
Into the garden. At the bottom Of the
garden ran the river; chained to q posi-
was an old boat. 1t was seldom used
as the spot was not picturesque. but II
was secluded, hidden both from the
house and from passing boats by thick
dropping Willows. It vas here thai
Witch and l had come to the conclu
sion that we could not live without eact
ether. l sat down in the boat feeling
very WE0ln win UltSh eAN bAetoi
against Aunt Betsy Jane. i woult
have given much to know II she wer'
IN the house at that moment. Though
out all l had heard Of the days Of he
youth. l felt mean and spiteful. ! be
thought me of an old Incident in he
life wherein Aunt Betsy Jane hat
sailed very near the wind and had
harrow escape Of social wreck.
J ought to have forgotten 1t. but ! an
no heroic. Both morally and physic
ally | am commonplace. That 10 to say
If I'm struck l hit back, or try to
Would you believe 1t? / sat in tina
boat, except when l got up and stretch
ed myself, until 8 o'clockl 1t was near
IL dark, and when I heard the cloel
strike l swore to myself that If Vito
aid not appear before the Ginning o
the Ginning Of the quarter l woul'
row the old boat down to the bridge
give q boy sixpence to bring 1t bach
ard-well, when Witch wanted me sh
might send for me That was ALL
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