The true northerner., 1897-01-20
SPOILING A SCHEME.

The crowd grew thicker every moment
| till il became almost impossible TO move
| i'm the ballroom The charity on account
| of which the entertainment was being
| held was popular one. Some great ladies
had taken the thing up and made It "A sue
cess And rs many of the men and nearly
all the girls were in fancy dress the scene
was striking and brilliant
Among the Henrietta Marias, the Amy
| Robsarts Flora McDonalds and other char
acters that filled the rooms one girls face
| took my heart captive the instant beheld
| Ii. She did not look more than II, though
| she may have been year or two older,
fair, slender, with sunny hair and a milk
white complexion. She was dressed TO
| represent the snow image Of Hawthorne's 8
charming fantasy and the character suit
ed her style of beauty admirably. She was
pale as the snow wreath that crowned her
head, and she seemed almost as fragile as
the icicles that were her only ornaments.
The girls beauty was indeed remark
able. People turned and looked Mt her as
she moved here and there, and whenever
she stood still she was instantly surround
ed by a small crowd of men eager to get
their names put down on her programme.
| noticed, however, that there was sad,
| not in the ballroom.
In spite OF all my efforts 1 failed to get
an Introduction to the girl who had fasci.
| mated me. failed even to learn her name.
| But none the less had fallen i'm love with
her-like fool. had fallen in love with
| a stranger-a vision that In all likelihood
should never see again, that would be for
| me as ficcting and unsubstantial as the
Snow Fairy whom she represented.
There was one other person at the ball
| who attracted my attention. This was a
| tall. dark man. with thick, short, black
| beard "A man considerably over the middle
| height and evidently possessing IL strong
| will IA well as a powerful body. More
| than once this man approached the Snow
| Fairy, and on each occasion she seemed to
| me to shrink from him as II she in some
| way had cause to fear him. They were
| evidently connected, but what the rela-
| tionship between them was could not be
| sure, for the man seemed too young to be
| her father Surely, said to myself with
| jealous pang surely he cannot be her
| lover.
|, The whole evening pestered my friends
| in the hope of getting in some indirect way
an introduction to the girl who had fasci-
| mated me- but L was quite unsuccessful.
| Once her eyes met mine. What she read
there 1 do not know, but she suddenly
| turned aside, her pale cheeks showing
| sudden glow of rose color. Vexed with
myself for making her blush, | turned
| away In the opposite direction, and took
care not to approach so near her again
The evening wore on, and it was evident
| that my ambition was not to be gratifled
| About O'Clock | left the ballroom, and,
muffled i'm my thick ulster, was making
my way along side street which led to
the main thoroughfare where hansoms
were to be found when | heard rush of
| flying feet behind me.
| I turned, and there close to me stood the
Snow Fairy, white opera cloak wrapping
her from head to foot and her sweet, sad
| face looking out at me from within hood
| Of swansdown.
stood and stared, too much surprised
to think or to form a conjecture.
lis there letter box near?' she gasped
| out, for she was brsathless, as much from
excitement, 1t seemed to me, as from the
exertiOn Of running. "Oh, please, please
tell me. Where shall look for onee' she
went OH, without giving me time to collect
my thoughts
Il don't know where the nearest letter
u
| out. If you will intrust your letter to me,
I will see that 1t Is posted. -
mo, L cannot | dare not trust it To
any one. Do try to flnd out for mel
The words died away on her lips, for
she, as well as I, had heard the noise of
some one running up to us, and the next
moment the man with the short, black
beard stood over us. Rage knotted the
veins on his forehead till they seemed to
be near bursting. Rage for the space OF
two seconds kept him speechless. During
those two seconds the girl crept perceptibly
nearer to me, and something smooth. stiff
thin. like piece OF thick pasteboard, was
pressed into my hand. l slipped 1t &C once
into the pocket Of my ulster
What ara you doing here.' he said TO
she girl In tone of suppressed fury, and
before she had time tn answer he turned
savagely upon me. How dare you speak
To my daughter" he demanded, advancing
on me in n slow and threatening manner.
l had just time to zee look OF mute sup.
pIication In the girls eyes She was en-
treating me not to betray her.
Really, SIR said, with as much
coolness IN | could command, really, you
must pardon ms for saying that you seem u
little less than reasonable One is permit
ted To speak to a young lady at a ball T"
I'm the open street, In this clandestine
manner"
I'VE were not I'm great privacy, to be
sure, but that might be urged In mitiga-
ton Of the offense,' l said, with smile.
You shall not hoodwink me- What
was it that she was saying to you when I
came upy''
IF 1 have been guilty Of an indiscretion,
the fault Is mine, and am ready To an
swer for IL, but you cannot expect me To
repeat whatever trifles l may have permit
ted myself to say to the young lady, whom
/ fear I may not have an opportunity of
meeting again. No gentleman would be
guilty of such thing, nor, / am sure,
would you II you had been in my place. -
| saw by the mans face that had
achieved my object. had led him to be-
lieve that there had been nothing more