Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1897-04-01

young ladies, and one older. in tn
room as Tom made his appearance
and he was at onoe transfixed q
the sight of . singularly beautifu
girl, who stood IN the centre of th
group with her large dark eyes fixet
on him steadily, and with a grav,
surprise. Indeed, they all appeared
somewhat astonished and embar
rassed.
"This is Mr.. Burnham, the edi
tor Of the. Planet" said the elder
ly lady, holding bis card.
Tom acln8wledged his identity
and he Observed his questionel
smiling q little and biting her lip
eve have heard d 5o1 ;, shl
went on; "particularly as a iiterary
critic. Your review Of Miss Daisy
Henderson's poems has excited q
great deal of remark"
'I was pretty severe, am afraid, !"
said Tom, laughing; "but l was,
perhaps, not altogether in good hu-
NOR on the evening l wrote that
criticism. To tell the truth, / Just
glanced over the book"
"Permit me to introduce you to
these young ladies Miss Harper,
Miss Wilson, and this"-she iudi-
Gated the tall, handsome girl-''is
Miss Daisy Henderson"
Tom never could tell how he felt.
He turned violently red, and his
heart sprang into his throat. Evi-
IDENTIFY there was some mistake. He
began to perceive the room was a
strange one.
"Pray, where am ] ?" he gasped.
"Is not this Judge Periwinkle's ?"
"Judge Periwinkle lives next
door. This is Mr. ID. W. Hender-
sons"
He had, in his abstraction, got
into the wrong house. He began
staggering back with some dim
purpose of taking flight without
another word. But at this point
Miss Daisy Henderson came for
ward, little, and said:
'Mr. Burnham has evidently
made mistake, but | hope he will
consider that he has paid papa the
call. We have all heard of him,
as every one has. AS for the no.
tice of my foolish little poems, of
course'-and her lips trembled a
little-I know that it is an edi-
tors duty to tell the public the
truth, and they were very bad. 1t
was a painful shock to me 20 learn
the truth so plainly, but the effect
will be beneficial, because | shall
not write again. | am not silly
enough to be angry with Mr.. Burn
ham,
Toms duty to the public y He
had not read whole page in the
book. He had just singled out q
stanza here and there for sacrifice,
at the same time knowing in his
heart that the verses were sweet,
womanly and clever. He stood the
picture of shame, confusion and re.
morse. He would like to have died
there and then.
He tried to stammer some sort oi
apology and explanation, and en-.
treated to be allowed to go; but
Miss Henderson smiled, and seeing
his distress, said pleadingly that
she hoped he would remain ant
have some refreshments, as she ha6
something particular to ask him
some adSice-and her papa, .wh,
would be down presently, would b
delighted to meet him.
So Tom, fearful of giving fresl
offense, and in truth captivated b,
her beauty, yielded, and after drink
ing glass of champagne, sat dowl
beside Miss Henderson on the sofa
and heard her tell, in her pretty de
mure way, her story. 1t was t,
the effect that she had written
novel. Poetry she was now con
vinced-and more than ever sine
reading Toms profound alalysis o
the little volume-she had no talen
for; but would he just glance owe
her novel--she had tried so hard T.
make it interesting-and give hi
candid opinion f!
He undertook the Office gladly
of course, and then they fell t
chatting of other things, and b
chance let fall a word about her ap
preaching marriage to Mr.. Watson
Her face clouded lightly as sh
touched upon the topic. and Tor
wondered whether she was alto
gether happy over the prospect.