Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1897-11-05

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on said propr ed amendment 10 The Coost;'
Aon shall be by ballot, npon each I'M
: used st said election shall be printed an
. lne lists n candidates, the question concef
ing the adopiioa or reisciion OF said propos
constitutional amendment, 50 that each M
s-i@t sslah - y
quence.
On snch occasions Harry had al
ways been mammals and my escort;
but, of course, he wonld take some
one else now, and Tom had asked us.
had always run down to exhibit my
self to Harry before final wrapping up,
but could not do so for Tom,
and l was as sulky as sulky could be
when presented myself.
What did care for his old riches?
never would marry him, and he
might as well find it out first as last.
So, when he remarked on the beauty
of the night, as we proceeded to the
carriage, / declared that it was the
coolest, blacklist and most wretched
night Of the season.
An answer so full and exhaustive
admitted of no reply, and there was a
silence of several minutes.
Mr.. Winning was probably moi 20 be
present at the party, as he was gener-
ally my escort, was the next remark.
! was sure l did not know whether
he was to be present or not. | was
not kept informed Of all my Cousins
movements.
A silence somewhat longer than be-
fore, but Mr. Dickerson was not to be
thwarted. He had set out with the
determination to be agreeable, and
slight obstacles should not discourage
him.
Mr.. vining appears to be very at
tentivc to Miss Knapp lately" he
said. ''They were riding in the park
on Tuesday, | noticed.
Such pang as shot through mel
/ had not the heart to be cross, so /
merely said, ''Indeedr' and coughed
aud laughed aud ehoked and swal-
lowed to keep back burst Of grief.
And all the time mamma sat quite
silent and seemed to pay no attention.
OF course the first person | saw on
entering the ballroom was Cousin
Harry, with Nora Knapp upon his arm,
but l affected the most supreme devo-
ton to Tom, and utterly ignored
Harry's presence. 1 was perfectly
wild that night, dancing, flirting and
laughing as though l never had a
care; inasmuch, that 1 heard a gentle
man remark to another, 81 think Miss
Vernon is the most light-hearted crea-
ture ever saw. What a sunbeam she
must be at home.
After while Harry and l met face
to face, and he said, Good evening, 4"
with careless smile, and turned to his
partner.
So the winter months passed, and
Tom was usually my cavalier, though,
now that Harry's attentions had
ceased, other gentlemen began to make
advances. But none of them pleased
me, and Tom Disguised me so that l
could hardly treat him with necessary
civility. In fact, l was often Excess
sively rude to him, which had an eff
feet the reverse of that desired, for
his visits and attentions increased
every week.
Harry, in the meantime, was as at
tentiye as possible to Miss Knapp, and
it was soon reported that they were
engaged, and even was compelled to
believe it when she displayed an en-
gagement ring.
SO. with some heartaches, deter
mined seriously and after mature de-
liberation that L should not marry at
all. was the only child, and it was
plainly my duty to remain with my
parents, to comfort to their declining
years, and, inasmueh as such was to
be my fate, might as well begin inn
mediately; so / took to drinking a
great deal of tea, to taking a very
great interest in household affairs and
to sympathizing with and assisting
mamma among the poor and to being
extremely methodical aud precise.
Harry had not been to the house
since that last day, over three months
ago, and now mamma aud papa did
not mention him. l had never told
them the cause of our quarrel, and
they soon ceased to question me,
though could not help suspecting
that they knew.
At last, one day, Tom Dickerson
asked me, in a stupid, blundering sort
of way, if would be his wife; where
upon informed him. in manner suf-
iiciently positive, that most assured
ly would not His surprise was i'm.
mense, and he seemed TO think | must
have made mistake; wanted to know
il really meant it and said that
should have everything wanted. But
the more he insisted the more EN-.
phatic | became, and lie at length
took leave, saying that if l should
change mymind / must let him know.
As soon-as he was gone l told mann
ma all about il, and then she drew
FROM me the story, told with many
tears, OF Harfy's declaration and how
had spurned it and how miserable
had been ever since, and now he was
engaged to somebody else, and
should never marry anybody. After
sobbing a little while with my head in
her lap felt great deal better and
that it would not be so hard to be an
old maid after all. My only regret
was, that old as might consider my.
self, no one else could possibly con.
slider me so for ten years yet, and yet,
during all that time, | should be OBJ
| liged to SO into society,
A lew days after this mamma aat
papa went out one afternoon to make
call, and was sitting alone in tn,
parlor. Suddenly some one pronounce,
my name, and, looking up, saw