Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-04-11

spite of all his arguments, and mad re-
NAMED there ever since, and tonight,
as he looked at il once more, he made
no attempt to moralize, for he realized
only too well that to forget was i'm
possible.
And yet the romance had been very
slight one. after all! He had met Kit
~ Macdonald first down at Sanford, a
little seaside place where he and his
friend. Hal Stanton, had stayed one
summer. How we'll he remembered
that first meeting! 1t was wild, windy
morning (wind being prominent feat
ure Of the weather at Sandford, and
he and Hal were strolling along the
beach after their morning swim.
Suddenly Hal uttered an exclamation
of surprise.
."Hullo, old man, there are some girls
| know, l do declare; come along and
II introduce you" and 50 saying, he
caught hold of Ralph's arm and, with
out waiting TO listen to a word, he drag
ged his friend toward group Of girls,
who were standing laughing and chat
ting round a small tent.
Il don't want to know the girls"
Ralph protested, Il came down to play
golf, not to hang about and pay COM
pliments."
But there was no time for further
comment, for suddenly a sharp gust Of
WING swept down upon the little group,
and in another moment two of the fair
maidens' hats were flying cheerfully
along the beach. An exciting chase
ensued, in which the TWo young men
took a prominent part. Ralph rescued
one hat from a watery grave at the cost
Of considerable wetting himself, while
Hal, after long pursuit, succeeded in
capturing the other with the aid of his
walking stick. which he managed to
poke through the crown in his excite
ment.
Ralph was the first to rejoin the little
group, AID as he did so a merry-loOk-
ing girl stepped forward 10 claim her
property.
Thanks, so much" she said, with
frank smile. I'm sorry to have trou-
bled YOU I'm afraid you got very wet. ="
That doesn't matter in the least,
replied Ralph, grayely, Il like pad
ding"
A pair of mischievous blue eyes look
ed at him somewhat curiously for a
moment, and then with a laugh. their
owner turned TO greet Hal, who was
apologizing for the damage he had
done
Il see my friend has already intro
duced himself he added, but to do
the thing quite properly. allow me TO
present YOU to Mr St. Clair-the ladies
of the Macdonald family. Miss Flora,
Miss Jennie, Miss Mary and Miss
Kitty" and Hal waved his hand in
shCwmanlike sort of way. while Ralph
made a comprehensive bow to the little
group.
There are several more of us, you
know remarked Kitty, as she stood
still. hat in hand the wind blowing her
wayy hair in all directions, this is only
a first i1Stallment"
a most charming installmeat. I'm
sure replied Ralph: are you afraid
of dazzling the world by appearing all
tO-c,her?"
"Oh. not in the least" came the
prompt answer, only we object to be-
ing mistaken for a charity school But
you'd better come to our picnic to-
morrow. and then YOU can judge for
yourself what the whole batch is like"
"Yes." chimed in an older sister,
turning TO Hal, I'VE shall be SO pleased
if YOU and Mr.. st. Clair will join us.
It's only quite an informal affair. but
we thought we should like to take our
tea out in the garden, and if you could
come with us or join US after Solf we
should be delighted"
The two young men seemed nothing |
10th to accept the invitation. and the
time Of meeting was soon arranged. !
Then, lunch time being near. all help |
cd TO take down the tent and Hal and
Ralph insisted on carrying it back to
the Macdonald house.
SO ended the first stage of the ro-
nance; the second stage was more
acute. and was the result Of series Of
picn;cs.
The day after the first meeting the
two friends had, of course. Joined the
Macd1nalGs at the picnic, as had been
arranged What a festive time they
spent. too Ralph had never laughed
so much before as he did that after
noon. There was a happy-gO-lucly
style about the Macdonald entertain
ments which made them irresistibly
funny as we'll as unique.
we generally forget something or
other yau know" Kitty c1nfded to
Ralph after tea. (There had been some
slight eccentricity in the bill of fare
which seemed to demand some eXpla-
nGtiom. You see, we all do the
housekeeping.
THAT must he a most satisfactory
arrangement" Ralph remarked, SOL
EMMY. but who keeps the money ard
the accounts
Kitty laughed.
oh. that's just how it happens she
replied. cheerfully. THAT phrase was,
in fact, the ruling T~tto Of the Mae
donald family.
Several other picnics were organized
during the next fortnight with the aid
Of the two young men, and Ralph won
quite a reputation as master of cere-
monies. He insisted on showing Kitty
how to make tea one day, and younger
sister photographed them during the
performance. That photograph lay
among his treasures now; in fact, all
those little amateur photos which he
kept so carefully were taken at Sand
ford. They were only snap shots, but
they were very amusing little pictures,
and far more interesting than more for
nal groups would have been.
Perhaps the latest successful of them
was the one taken on the sly at the lit
tie railway station on the last day of
Ralphs holiday. when almost the en-
tire Macdonald family had come down