Middletown transcript., 1896-01-18

|, | oiiCy tutO oouto OHt ooio, anu toA III
first half hour after the event the
met no one.
4 1t was what the inhabitants ,
Channel City call ''genuine SAINT
Barbara day." The sun sh0ne war;
and bright, and soft perfumed breez
came out of the west. There wa
June in the air, although the calande
was set for midwinter. The birds san
| in the trees above them, the squirrel
chirped from the hillside, and thei
horses, wandering from the road, san
to the knee in waving sea Of flower
"First OF ALL" she said breakinI
the silence of a whole minute, yol
must tell my father"
Certainly" said the young man
| Who's afraid?"
"You have never seen papa do tn,
role of the parent, !" said the girl: "h
can be quite a dragon. AS you are
kinsman, however"-
ga fifth cousin" cried the youn,
man. with a laugh.
"Well, fifth cousins are better thar
nothing, aren't they?"
"Truly: how else should we be here
to-day2" Then the Young man added
with peculiar and significant emphasis:
II am inclined to pride myself on that
little scheme"
The girl brought her horse to a sud-
den stop and turned her clear brown
eyes, half opened under their long
lashes. upon her companion.
''That little scheme.' she repeated
slowly. l don't understand"
The young man laughed uneasily.
"Why Catharine,n said he you don't
mean that you have believed in the
entertaining fiction about our great
great-et-cetera-grandfatherP"
"Old Ebenezer Strongp" exclaimed
the girl. ''How dare you call him fic-
titious, when I saw his portrait at my
own father $. =
"As your ancestor, my dear one, be
is an undoubted reality-but as mine,
l regret to say, he Is merely fgment
Of your worthy fathers Imagination.
In short-I would fain break it to you
as gently as possible-we are not fifth
cousins all. but just plain ordinaryn
sNot fifth cousinsp'
mo, darling; and if you are going
% faint, please fall on this side, with |
POUR head right here on my shoulder. +"
81 won't wretched boy. how could |
'ou deceive poor papa SOP"
II didn't deceive him. He deceived /
himself. From the very beginning of
ur acquaintance he seemed deter
mined to locate me somewhere on the
Western family tree, and you aided
nd abetted him In the attempt.n
"Richard Strong, how can your
81 have sweet and gentle DISPOSE
oD, and when he asked me il / was
OF descended from Ebenezer Strong,
West Brighton Centre, and you
oked at me SO appealingly"-
II didn't any such thingp, L
I
"Why shouldn't l assentP have
had several hundred ances-
rs named Strong, and took the
lances that come one of them re-
iced in the prenomen of Ebenezer.
is just the sort Of a name that my
rbears were given to put upon them
Ives, as an effective and continuous
of the flesh. A horse
ir shirt, now, would be nothing to
''You may laugh, il 1t pleases you,n '
ID the girl, severely, "but il papa q
d known you were not relative we
ould not be riding alone together. n
generally disapproves of the East p
N people who spend the winter at 81
, hotel" tc
If you really feel that have been "a
lily of false pretences," said the
uDg man, drawing his horse a little 81
.rer. '.suppose We begin all over re
,in.n nj
Keep your distance, STRIP ex-
imed the girl, steering to the oppo- y
} side Of the road. "lf we are to OF
1T afresh, let it be from the very be- sh
ming, three weeks ago." W
Now, as to your father,n resumed Ill
young man, 81 think / understand
pretty well, because my one and in
y parent. the governor himself, is ril
structed on much the same plan.
lerever he goes he is continually in fe
rch of the lost triles Of the Strong re,
ealogy. The last letter had from
, In Colorado, where he is spending or
winter, contained the. ANNOUNCE av
ut that he had unsarthed -four orj au
new cousins choice specimens, u III,
bt not, that lie will sexpect me To ga
stand embrace onsmy way home. ro;
Perhaps it was ewrang,n p he con- tie
led, after . moment OF reflection, 70.
play uponthat iittieS Spsculiari.y Of pa,
r fathers, to get into bis go d sh,
ces, bat you must consider the ex- ior
ordinary provocation, dear. II ide
ned like my only chance-are you
y took it?" yoj
he looked her answer but did not /,
X Il, and then, avoiding the hand 10
sudsd to seize her own, she struck Is
horse ! light blow and dashed yo'
n The road ahsad,