The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-07-16

well, as | said, she was crying
stormily, and | set about finding oui
+ why. She told u most blood curdling
/ tale of parental cruelty. 1t wasn't trae.
I've found that out since. She was only
i Is, but she could tell an extraordinari.
/ ly good he As Il matter of fact, she had
found that a particular flame of hers
was going to take another girl TO some
shindy. But the cruel treatment story
did nicely, and l comforted her-she
was such Il mere child, [ honestly
thought The lie WIS innocent enough.
/ They aren't taught to think Il falsehood
anything serious. She was just trifle
shy and shrinking, Ike little girl who
! puts her hands behind Der and lowers
j her lashes At the advances of a stranger
In fact. that is exactly what she did
i You should have seen those lashes
You'd have been just rs big fool as
was and have staid until the moon
rose and made an appointment for an
other meeting, and eventually you d
have fallen a. badly in love rs | did.
Eve always met under this tree. Il
was on her fathers land, but quite out
of sight of the house She said that II
he were to find us together he would re-
double his brutality, but | assured her
that If we were discovered we would
run off at once and get married. The
child was in one Of her acquiescent
moods and lowered her eyes and agreed.
/ OF course | could only manage to get
away on Saturday evenings or Sundays
this is the anniversary Of our meeting
by the bye you see cling to old mem
ories-but we made the most of ou1
time. | never had been 50 infatuated as
was with that Spanish child. with her
tawdry. bright frocks, her shy ways,
her gorgeous eyes and her broken Eng
lish. She really was Spanish and not
Mexican, l learned. "
"They all are, " / ventured
q know, but your sarcasm is wasted.
In this ease it was beyond question, and
there was American blood in her veins,
too--a little of it.
= insisted upon running away with
her and getting married at sea, and,
after no end Of refusals she finally CON
scented. Oh, was far too smitten too
ensnared, to have it occur to me then
how a match of the sort would hamper
my career; how an ignorant country
girl would prove u thorn in my flesh in
the critical town clique; what a social
drag she would be upon me! [ knew
the family would raise particular Cain,
but when a man wants TO marry in spite
of his family he is apt to look upon it
as a small stone to be kicked out of his
path, and it takes him some time to dis
cover that his pebble IS u good sized
bowlder
But we quarreled. " A long pause,
while Barry lit another cigar from the
old one and pulled it into glowing l
kept silence and after awhile he went
on: "You may think most women are
fiery, but you should try Spaniard.
She got the cruel father-a harmless,
shrivrled up old fellow-to take her in
to town behind one of his trotters one
day. She wanted to buy a gown, which
she told him was for some kind of a
bale out here, but it was really to get
married in | had brought her sample
of the stuff | wanted her to get; other
wise she'd have appeared in pink and
green and white lace beyond a doubt.
well, she saw he on the street with
a city girl. believe it was Nora Clarke.
You remember her? She was the merest
acquaintance, as you know, and | treat
ed her AS one does any woman one hap
pens to meet. We passed confectiOn-
err 5, and |, naturally enough, asked her
to have some soda water. | don sup
pose | d have done 1t If I'd known that
4sadora was around, simply because |
was aware that she wouldn't take 1t as
an American fianeee would have done.
But she was around, and She thought
| WAS doing the deadly d, voted, so the
next Saturday, when we We're to have
run away, She met mo with reproaches
and tears and deylluy generally. She
wouldn't listen to reason. She tore up
the new gown and refused ever to mar
ry me or any other man, and she used
some strong but musical Spanish. | fam
cy she was more jealous than hurt but
well, | was completely done up. To
say that she looked more beautiful than
ever would be to put it weakly. When
| saw her disappear for good over be-
hind that clump of eucalyptus, was
on the verge of suicide. Pity | stopped
at the verge.
"The fellow who has since built the
hotel bought this spot. that saw our