The Portland daily press., 1896-10-02

young man stepped quickly into the next
room rs the opposite door opened to admit
the visitor Through the slit Andrew
could make out the graceful silhouette of
a young girl.
How do you do. Mrs. Harmonp' said
the girl as she entered the room Il have
brought back the little books on the orphan
asylum that you lent mamma. May I
stay a moment with your
She continued to keep her back toward
Andrew, and he, now beginning to get
tired of the game, had about concluded
that she must be frightfully ugly.
''Sit down here, dear, beside me-" and
Mrs. Harmon easily contrived to place the
girl just opposite the small room, and the
young man, approaching his eye to the
crack, was struck by the pretty face he be-
held.
well, Rosamond, what are you doing
nowadays Are you going out much?''
''No; very little 1 had card for Mrs.
Laton's tea this afternoon, but wrote her
/ was ILL., You will not betray me, will
you2" and she laughed u merry laugh that
set Andrews heart to vibrating.
do you not care for such affairs?' asked
Mrs. Harmon.
0oiCiy3 4sAin. YOU no uOU Gn1QK
it would be amusing to spend an hour or
two watching Mrs Laton's flirtations,
with no one to talk to but the insipid
women and stupid men of her set?''
You are severe, my child"
"Severe? Well, with woman like Mrs.
Laton do not think one can be too much
so.''
Instinctively Mrs. Harmon raised her
eyes to the door that concealed Andrew.
and, under pretext of arranging the por-
there, she crossed the room, and, as she re-
arranged the drapery, whispered to her
nephew: It's nearly 5. You'll be late for
your tea"
But her warning was UNDECIDED An
drew did not bulge. AS for tho girl by
the fire, she was still full of her idea
do you know Mrs. Laton, Mrs. Har-
mon?' she asked
Yes, yes" the old lady fastened to re-
ply, and, to turn the conversation, she
went on: but you are wrong to declare
that all men are stupid. There are some
who are quite sensible
Sensible Well, do not know them.
I do not mean that they are all stupid, but
they think themselves 80 superior that
they are wearisomo. They are vain, insult
ferable bores, with their blasc airs and
their idea that they are irresistible because
they can 1irt with Mrs Laton, who has
bleached hair and smears paint on her face
as if it were a palette, and whose brains
are good for nothing but to devise outra-
geous gowns.
Again Mrs. Harmon cast an uneasy
glance toward the little room in which
Andrew was fast waxing angry. He would
have liked to strangle thi- girl, whose SUI
perb health and triuml @nt beauty irri-
tated him
''And whom will you get married, my
dearl" suggested Mrs. Harmon, again
throwing herself into the breach.
II shall never marry"
"Indeed? Why not?''
'Why not?' repeated Rosamond, a shad-
ow of melancholy coming over the face
that Andrew admired in spite of himself
Because am little fool who cannot do
as the rest do would wish to love my
husband and to have him love me- Iwould
wish to marry man whom / should sim
gle out from among the rest for his good
ness and Intelligence. would wish to
have confidence in him, and, above all, to
be proud of him.
AS the girl spoke she had become ami
mated with gentle exaltation, which was
not without it's effect on the young man
behind the door,
We'll, Rosamond, said Mrs Harmon,
why do you net realize your dreamp'
Because there are no young men nova
days who care to look for a girl who
pleases them. Marriage for them is a mat
ter of business, nothing more, and the
woman herself dees not count. They marry
when they have lost their money, and
when the little heart they possessed has
been frittered away on some Mrs Laton or
another -
Again Mrs. Harmon arose, and. pretend
ing she had an order to give excused her
self and hastened to her nephew.
WELL aunt, she has given us a nice
dressing down, ehs For charming girl.
l would back her against the world "
Hurry, Andrewi 1t is late, and you
have almost missed your tea"
"My tear' he repeated Bother nv
teal Is there nothing else in the world
but my tear No, you must find an excuse
to bring me. into the room, and I'll show
that young shrew whether all men are
fools. Oh, she need have no fear. shall
not try to marry her, for 1 still have all
--'J >A~At - ANo"AS hAoLCS sudu a AOdEb SUlll
intact
Mrs Harmon could not restrain smile
at the young mans vexation, and five
minutes later Andrew entered the drawing
room.
But, contrary to all expectations, the
conversation did not become war of
words. On the contrary, the girls fresh
gayety disarmed Andrews anger at once.
His preconceptions fed before her dimpled
smiles and her gentle voice, and he soon
fell under her charm, forgetting his anger
in his admiration for her graceful move.
ments, the penetrating timbre of her voice,
the sparkle of her wit.
The hour for the tea had long passed,
and Andrew was still there He had lost
all desire to run after Mrs. Laton, that
faded doll whom Rosamond, as he was
forced to admit to himself, had portrayed
SO truthfully.
And ensconced once more in the depths
of her armchair Mrs. Harmon smiled
kindly smile and silently regarded the
young people, who, for their part, looked
at one another with looks that do not de-
ceive and in which the old aunt read with
iOy the hone of a hanr,v ,,piop do1+oa