Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-02-10

l told her thai, if she we're at all de.
, cent sort OF girl, the memory of it
ought to keep her awake for many
nights. This did not appear to i'm
press her i'll the least. She only
laughed. l very much doubt whether
Mary has a conscience.
Things went on pretty quietly, until
Ethel Rawlins took that journey to
Australia. She had q married sister
living in New South Wales, who, being
rather out of health, had asked Ethel
to come and stay for six months or so,
and help her with her household
duties. Ethel accepted the invitation.
l don't deny that I felt bit sorry at
the prospect of losing her. She was
my most sensible companion, and the
girl whose rational conversation so
often sootbed me when l had been
nearly irritated to madness by the
brainless vaporings of my sister. OF
course, it was not for me to interfere
with her movements. / did, however,
take the opportunity OF having q con-
versation-an almost fatherly CONVEX
sation-with her, on the day befo1 e
she sailed.
told her plainly that she was the
most sensible and companionable girl
L had ever come across. l said that
1T was on account of these qualities
that l entertained for her SO high
regard as l did. 1 ventured to ex-
press n hope that she would always
continue IN the same path, and would
not permit herself to be drawn aside
theretrom by any sentimental COM
panions whom she might chance to
meet. pointed out to her, in this
connection, the perils of sea voyage
There was n subtle sentimentality
| about the sea that was fearfully In
sidious. And then those Australian
sheep stations. She mightn't think
it, but they were downright hotbeds
OF sentiment. Australia was nearly as
bad as India in that way. 1t wanted
an unusually strong minded girl to
visit either the one or the other, and
to come back home without having
been let in. She. however, was un.
usually strong-minded. And / thought
l could trust her to be true TO her
colors.
She was very humble. She took my
advice gratefully. l believe she would
have liked some more OF it. At least,
she seemed as though she expected me
to say more. But didn't. thought
that was enough. So [ simply be-
slowed my blessing upon her, and we
said good-by. Was deceived? Were
those tears shining in her eyes, as l
pressed her hand? l hoped l was mis-
taken. A girl who could be betrayed
into sentimental exhibition, upon so
tritiing a cause, was scarcely fit to lie
trusted in the insiduous surroundings
of sea voyage and sheep farm.
l had not asked Ethel to write to
me; and I did not write to her. Prob.
ably 1 should have corresponded with
her, but did not wish to lay myself
| open to misconstruction. When a fell
low has lot of sisters who overhaul
his letters before he comes down in
the morning, and examine the hand
writings and postmarks, to see whom
they are from, he is bound to be very
careful. If the sisters are decent girls
it doesn't SO much matter. But when
there is q Mary among them, with
gossipin3 tongue and fiippant disre-
gard for veracity, too much caution
cannot be exercised. So heard moth
ing direct from Ethel. But as she
wrote pretty frequently to my eldest
sister Katie, l was kept tolerably we'll
informed of her movements and occu-
pations.
1t was not long before the contents
OF these letters to Katie began to
awaken in me n serious apprehension.
There was fellow named Bowley who
had gone out in the same ship with
Ethel, and whose destination hap
pened to be the farm adjacent to
Ethel's brother-in-law's. He was Mr..
Bowley during the voyage. For the
first month on the sheep farm he was
Charley Bowley. After that he became
Charlie. l am bound to say that
Ethel's mode of alIuding TO him in her
letters caused me decided annoyance.
1t is such bad form for girls to call
comparatively strange men by their
Christian names. [ should have ex.
pected it OF Mary, or indeed of most
other girls OF my acquaintance. But
Ethel-who had always been the per-
sonifcation of form-well, it was q
falling off for her. OF that there could
be no doubt.
But it was not erely this that vexed
me. Apart from the question of form,
there was tone in Ethel's letters-a
dreadfully sickly, sentimental tone
which showed me clearly that her
sound sense and her practical charac-
ter had become seriously undermined.
1t occurred to me that something must
be done to stop it. An ordinary fel-
low in my position would have written
her lofty re5uke. J. am a man of
QeeDer reS0urnn thon that 7 hit upon