The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-09

NEST anXiously, for a moment, then
| Strengthened herself and began to lose
some of her abstraction.
Il am cot q strong person." she
smiled, but neither am l so very weak
either. was always small. So was
my mother, you know"
! She seemed to think she must talk OF
her mother, though [ noticed that the
word gave her pain. AS for me, nc
topic could be more agreeable save one
L therefore answered her in q way tC
| prolong the conversation.
Yes, your mother was small" said
/, but never thin or pallid. She was
like a fairy among US schoolgirls Does
it seem odd to hear so old a woman as
l speak Of herself as a schoolgirl"
'Oh, nor she said, but there was nc
heart in her voice.
Il had almost forgotten those days, -
l proceeded, seeing | must keep up the
conversation if we were not to sit in
total silence, till I happened to hear
the name of Althea mentioned the other
DAY. Then my whole early friendship
with your mother REQUIRED to me, and
| started up-as | always do when 7
come to any decision, my dear-and
sent that telegram. which 1 hope I
have cot followed by an unwelcome
presence"
ooh, no." she repeated, but this time
with some feeling, 1--WE need friends,
and if you will overlook our shortcOm-
ings- But you have not taken off your
hat What will Loreen say to me?"
And with a sudden nervous action as
marked as her late listnessness she
jumped up and began busying herself
over me, untying my bonnet and laying
aside my bundles, which up to this
moment 1 had held in my hands.
Il am so discontinued" she muir
INJURED. II did not Think hope you
will excuse me. Loreen would have
given you much better welcome"
'Then Loreen should have been
here" I said, with a smile. I could not
restrain that slight rebuke, yet I liked
the girl, Notwithstanding everything
had heard, and her own cdd and unac-
countable behavior there was a sweet
ness in her face when she chose to
smile that proved an irresistible attrac-
ton. And then for all her absentmind-
edness and distracted ways she was
such a LADY, Not even the plainest of
dresses and the total absence of any
thing like adornment to her person
could hide that fact 1t was in every
line of her thin but graceful form and
in every infection Of her musical but
constrained voice. Had [ seen her in
my own parlOr instead of between these
bare and moldering walls I should have
But this only passed through my mind
at the time. l was not studying her
personality, but trying to understand
why my presence in the house had so
visibly disturbed her. Was it the en-
barrassment of poverty not knowing
how to meet the call made SO suddenly
upon it? I hardly thought so. Fear
would not enter into a sensation of this
kind, and fear was what I had seen in
her face before the front door had clos
ed upon me. But that fear-was it
dread of me or of something discon-
nccted with me and threatening her
flCm another portion of the house?
l could not but think the latter. The
way her ear was turned, the slight
starts she gave as some sOund-I could
not gather what-came from the far
Their recesses of the house, convinced
me that her cause of dread lay else
where than with myself and therefore
was of a. character worthy of my deep
est attention. Though l chatted and
tried In a way to arouse her confidence
and set her at ease in regard to myself
at least, I could not help asking myself
between my sentences: Is it her sister?
Would it prove to be her brother? Was
it anything connected with the dread
full matter that had been the first
cause to draw me here, or was it the
sign of some habitual distemper which
misunderstood by Mr. Gryce, had given
rise to the suspicious which it was my
possible mission here to dispel?
Anxious to force things a little l
said, with a. glance at the dismal
branches that almost forced their way
into the open easements of this side of
the house: What scene for young