The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-04-10

floors: you want space, sumptuousness,
color; YOU want to dress for dinner.
wear diamonds IN Your hair. ana all
these things you cannot do untii we ny
south with the swallows and chanse
from mere nomads into fashionaple
idlcrS. Marry your cousin Afcnuaie,
Gertrude: say Yes to the question he
asked you at Monte Carlo last winter:
he will give you all these things. and
more. find six months of them more
than sufficient"
You are nartly right" Gertrude an
Swered. after q little thought, but that
is not all. ana what | want. Archdale
could not give me. want to be abso
lutely resOectable.
Philip Seccombe roared with laugh
ter.
Il am quite serious" Gertrude went
on, gravelv we are quite proper.
know: but you can't call that being re-
spectacle, can YOU
There Is no word In the language
with So may meanings, or which alters
so much In application" Seccombe SAID.
What does your respectable mean!
please don't laugh at me. father. l
mean | should like to live always in one
place, and To have special clothes Tor
sundays. and be looked up to, and do
Il great deal for the church and schools.
and-and--all that sort of thing. You
know what 1 mean
Perfectly. No lonSingS or strivinSs.
no la'e hours save al Christmas time.
only mild excitement and prosperous
stagnation""
You describe my thoughts exactly.
daddie. IT must be delightful life.
Then | gather that eighteen months
in the gayest and most brilliant society
in Europe and eighteen months an the
country lanes of England have proved
too vivid contrast. But is there no
other reason for this sudden craving 10
taste the placid joys of rural bour-
gsois existence
"PerhapS--yeS You see. three days
ago l met a mana young man-who
seemed to me to be the mental ana
physical embodiment OF the serenity
and peace that Meidrum hall suggests
architecturally-'
"Ha, / think | understand" inter-
rupted Seccombe
He was very kind to me-" Gertrude
went on "and is quite different to any
one have ever met. He interested me
because he was so content with petty
duties
And you have not thought II neces-
saIy TO tell me OF this meeting before
tOnigEt?" he further asked. smiling.
Gertrude did not ansv er the question
but plunged straight away into her eX-
PLANTATION. IN the lane back OF Mel
drum hall the other day, father. l saw
most beautiful rose on the Top of the
hedge. II had grown over from the hall
garden, and ! could not resist the temp
tation to pick 1t up. But the only place
from which | could reach II was the
bottom branch of an oak that stretched
right over the hedge. 1t was quite Il
low branch" she added quickly, as
SeccomDo raised his eyebrows II
scrambled up the tree and out TO the
end OF the branch. The rose was be-
tween my fingers when | slipped, my
dress caught in the top of the hedge
ANA the next moment l was suspended
like fairy in pantomine. between
| earth and sky. II was not IN the least
| funny for me. So please don't laugh.
! hoped the skirt would give way, but, oi
course, ii did nothing Of the kind. and
was helpless-think OF 1t daddie. abso-
| lutrly helpless hung there. ii seemed
| IL me, for mar AN hour, until heard
| steps IN the garden behind me. OI
| course. | called. and Il charming young
! man appeared. | couldn't see his face
| but explained my difficulty. and di-
rectly afterwards ] was standing up II
| my knees in green mud in the ditch
| Then he helped me out. Ii was u little
awkward, wasn't it,
| Very. What did h- say?'
THAT respectable young women
should not climb trees. nor should they
steal flowers. And now | entirely agree
with him. ! have seen him every da y
since. and really. daddie. he Is giving
IN. fresh outlook upon life"
Again Seccombe ruared with Taught
en- And the name of your tutOr?'
"Prrcival FoXwell. His father
bought Medium when our old friends
| the Tassingtons We're BANKRUPT"
"Ah, yes, | remember having heard
of this young man. \ prig of the first
| water. So the son of the soapbOiler has
taken to preaching the Gospel Of Re.
spectability. and makes disciples of the
pretty girls he finds hanging on hi.
fathers quick-set hedges. Did h,
| smell?"
| Father"
II thought he might. His father |.
always living advertisement of Fox
wells Superfiine Scented Toilet"
Gertrude bit her lips. ''Percival Fox
well Is most conservative she wen
ON. irrelevantly. ''and says that one
of the greatest evils of the age is tn.
license allowed to women. He. think.