Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-12-30
/

AAAeA0s e1A1ssF - gAs0 4SO0Ats
becaupe me - chi "a befor@ her friend,
Maud. whoE. vas s lett tthsae years older.
Bnt, of eourse, she was eardfuls not 70 give
piness Ia poor Maud face. Indeed, she
be g fortunate a. herself -at least 40 for
tunate s was possible, for. naturally there
was only one arthur II the world, and he
vas he her own, husband. But there
were plenty Of other men, really quite nice
ONES She must see what she could do for
Maud. They were sitting together. Maud
had come to: tea with her friend, to talk
about her trousseau and the presents. r.
B. s.|'' Yes, i am happy said Phyllis pres
emily. She hal been giving Maud q list Of
the wedding presents. '.I do wish yon
were as happy, dear she said. !" Butt
believe you will be soon. : And she smiled
"WhyY, What makes you Say: thata''' ask.
I'd Maud = ~ =. :: =: i
Nov, Phyllis had meant nothing definite;
she only wished to De comforting and
vaguely to suggest. There was no actual
prospective lover. in her mind, but she
could not bear to raise poor Maud s hopes
only to destroy them the next moment, SO
she smiled again mysteriously, while she
ran over in her thoughts every probable
sutton. -. .,
= wish you wouldn t look SO knowing,
Phyllis, J" said Maud impatiently. "Who
were you-whom do you means''
"Ah, mustn't say. Besides, twas only
an idea-a mere SUGGESTION
Maud looked disappointed, and it dis
tressed Phyllis kind heart, so she said,
yielding to sudden impulse: Don't you
think George Stratton seems rather
don't. you think SO, dear? 1t has struck
me so several times"
Ion, nonsense. I'm sure I've never no.
ticed anything at-least!'' and she paus-
ed, and blushed a little, and wondered if
Phyllis had any good reason for her sug
gestion.
''There! Now you know you have
thought sop said Phyllis, delighted to
find she had made SO good guess. "Don' t
pretend you were blind, and he is such a
nice fellow, nearly as nice as Arthur"
But don't believe he means anything;
you know what men are,'' said Maud,
and she sighed as she remembered the
fiokleness and flightiness of men, and she
looked wistfully at her friend. Phyllis
answered the look boldly.
'Some men are,' she said, "but not
Mr.. Stratton."
II don't know; he has always. been
friendly and all that, and perhaps if had
encouraged him.
~ Maud put down her cup, and arranged
the cushions at her back before answering,
and Phyllis felt quite anxious for her re-
ply. II suppose like him. she said at
last, with proper maidenly hesitation.
''Then why are you so horrid to him? l
expect you've snubbed him dreadfully."
Maud laughed; she imagined she had
been cruel to Mr.. Stratton. .,. :,
"You must be nice to him. Let him
see you do care for him just little. Oh
/ do want to- see. you as happy as am,
dear!" cried Phyllis - -.
~ 8 A sensible woman can be just as hap
by unmarried, = said Maud, who had dab
bled in serious literature.
\ = n onsense; you know She can't, and
we're not going to, discuss those silly ques-
tions; wehad much better settle about the
bridesmaids and where we shall live Well
live somewhere near each other, won't
we?' - "H>-'
- eyes, dear, of COURSE
"Look here, Maud; write him nice
little note and ask him to lunch, tea or
something; your mother won't mind, or
say you'll be at home on Sunday, and
then-then you can arrange things, you
know. That will be the best way, for it
is silly to pretend you amt in love with
him."
"Shall l really writeq'' said Maud,
with show of hesitation.
"Certainly; here are the paper and pen
and everything Write it here, and I'll
send Jane to the post with it at once.",'
Maud succumbed to her friends deter
mination and wrote a carefully worded
note to- MIR. Strattop, in which she gently
reproached hint for not having been to see
her mother and herself lately, and said
how glad they would beEif he came to
lunch on the following Sunday.
Phyllis was satisfied with it, and rang
the bell for the maid. -
Nov, darling, Everything will come
right" she said. "How happy he'll bel
Fmay call him George, too, mayn II I?''
Maud blushed and said she supposed
she might, and just then the servant came
in.
Take this to the post at once, please,
Jane" said Phyllis. ~. =
"Yes, miss. This letter has just come for
you," answered the maid. =. T; n
Phyllis took the letter, and the girl left
the room with Maud's note. ...~
= "Whom is, your letter from? seem to
know the writing -, said Maud. :, ;,
"Only from Ethel Jervis- Carter. She
does write to me sometimes about nothing
in particular, answered Phyllis. She
had not read many lines Of the letter be-
fore she gave q little cry Of dismay.' :
/ What's the matterp' asked Maud, Sec
ing her emotion. "a. ~ =
Nothing, y ,stamtmered Phyllis. cat
least, nothing interesting. ,andI don't be-
ieve it's true. = = ~, x -. -.
Don't be silly, Phyllis; tell me what
it is * 5s.. 5s%$!s> ~ EE4.
D. There; read itp'' said Phyllis, and
Maud read: ,.5:..~ ~. ~: ~ 49,.
& !" You will be glad to hear OF my engage
ment to George Stratton: You and Maud
know him, SO you will understand how
happy I am We hope to be married
ssoon''-. Maud read no more. She was
pale. a3ts .s..< r. b s:=5 IA, 81 8 *5
IS Isl 8 Thanks, = she said, giving the paper
back. It's interesting. = Y 5
NJ SO horribly sorry - began Phyllis
9 For having made q fool of me? You
ought to be, . said her friend stonily i
4 h Maud swept out Of the room, went home.
and wrote a second note to Mr.. Stratton
to congratulate him on the delig htful
"a 80 r. x u = NJ ~ -