The Irish standard., 1897-03-20
copyright. 1896. by J. B. LIpplncott Col

-" S~apP'"~Sss
! enoug b," Dorothy exclaimed, divinina
his idea with merry laugh. 80.
II suppose not; and it Is SO abomfu1
ably dirty besides" he disgustedly ra(
joined, his Laugh by no means so gay az
hers. as he threw the thing back whe14
he had found it. "But you ought to
have something around you; you will
have your death OF cold. am afraid
my coat is as wet as your dress, /" anxa
iorsly feeling the sleeve.
"And I could not think of taking 1t Is
1t were not" she decidedly rcturnedt
'tPlease don't trouble; am doing beau4
tifully. It is such a glorious fire."
"But still, with all the draughts tn
this sieve of plnce- Oh, I say, why
can't put the box up on the forge for
YOU, to the windward OF the smoke
so," suiting the action to the words, and
hastily adding small erection OF sticks
TO save her feet from contact with the
ashes. SNOW, Miss Meredith, you WON'T
find this half bad, promise you.
Come" He confidently held out his
hand to assist her.
"Dut I cannot" the girl p1otestedi
laughing at tha idea, even though as
she spoke che yielded the point, zneeks
~ permitting herself 10 try the strange
construction. II feel like Patience on
q monument, smiling at grief" sfa
laughingly observed, CHANGING about
from the high perch.
"And will do to personate grief?M
he amusedly returned. "Niobe could
hardly have been wetter than ], fancya
But-heavens!-hear that downpourl
We are here just in time, you see, MISC
Meredith"
eyes," she replied listening with aa
owed face to the thunderous beating
upon the roof. "And it is leaking ove4
there In the corner-see."
"But it is all right where you are,1
he reassuringly returned. "And are
you getting warm? Can do anything
to make you more comfortable?
II am doing beautifully, thanks.J
There was puzzled light in her eyes
as she looked at him with a glance that
swiftly took note of his dark browns
close-cropped hair, showing tendency
to curl at the ends, which lay damp
against his forehead, the clear, gray1
blue eyes, the dark moustachc, and the
suuare-cut chin beneath. It was q
strong, masterfu face, f1ne-loolsinsa
rather than handsome. There was in!
tellecta1al force in the high forehead!
uprightness in the frank glance, which
had way of flashing in light Of humora
exquisitely contagious when be smiled!
In that smile lay his strongest claim to-
real beauty, softening and Frightening
the whole face, which expressed some1
thing of severity, almost Of sadness, I'M
repose. But even when he was grave
it, was a goodly face to look upon, face
to like and remember. If in any part
of the world she had ever met this man,
before, Dorothy thought, it would SEEM
that she could hardly fail to recognizei
him now, even under the partial dis1
guise Of his rough mining garb, and
yet
81 beg pardon; you were about to say
something's" he asked, as with littlA
catch in her breath she looked away1
meeting his glance.
cit was nothing, only" hcsitatingf
with shy little smile that made herl
divinely pretty in the dancing freight.
cit struck me that had possibly met
you somewhere before to-day"
II think you have, Miss Mercdith.I
he answered, smiling 30 broadly thnt
she must n ote how even were the strong
white teeth showing under the brown
moustache. "But hardly expected
that you would remember 1t, he added1
She looked at him for on instant I'M
silence, the puzzled expression shd-
denly changing to flashing smile OF
recognition. II know" she breath1
1eesly exclaimed. cit was at the
worlds fair!-It was you who"
"Who turned burglar to fl1ch your
jacket from the Colorado building I'M
the dusk of summer evening"" he
sn1ilingly finished, as she hesitated.
"And to think of meeting you again
in this out~of-the-way placed" she CRIED.
with an excited little laugh, surveying
him incredulously. Il thought your!
voice seemed familiar the moment j
met you to-day; but did not half see
your face that night and THAT it could
be you--of course such thing could
not enter my mind" She looked ut him
again, as though reduced to speech-
1essness for the wonder OF It, while he
laughed anusedly. saying nothing. "Of
course I guessed that you might be-
from Colorado, from your familiarity
with the building" she presently went
on, "but to think of running across YOU
here, of oil places" |
"And I fancicd also that you might
be from Colorado" he rejoined, look3
ing up at her with pleased eyes. Just
rs abe had been keen to take account OF
his good looks moment ogo, 80 was
he missing no charm of the bronze
brown hair with its soft lovc-lock7
pressed fiat against her forehead where
her riding-cap had been, no curve OF the
tlaintily rounded form, 50 trinity dis-
played in the yell-fting habit, OF the
wildrose bloom Of her face with ita
gray eyes, that now looked black in the
shadows, of the enticipg lines OF t}1s
small mouth, where pride and passion
seemed equally blended. But. unlike
her, he would make no rese-vations;
I her beauty in his eyes was simply per-
feet. And he could not cay that lie had!
not seen her face Oh the night OF which,
che spoke, in the CLEAN Of the electric