The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1898-04-29
MARY KENT.

MARl Il EN-.
Every ono In BreeEboro know Mary
k,nt. Indeed, sho was oftentimcs a sub,
jet Of conversation IN regions beyond the
metcs and bounds of that little town.
That the conversations in which she fig
ured as the subject matter were not al
ways kindly goes without saying-or will
60 in that manner when l record the fact
that Mary Kent was very pretty girl, and
sho was very we'll aware Of it. She was d
girl that always had man-someti:rcs
several men-at her beck and call, and
when she ''sat out" dance it was solely
because she wanted to sit it out" SIZE
never posed in tho decorative but trying
position of "wallt!oWer." Fer the rest
she was vivacious and sparkling young
lady, with moro courage than prudence,
though l cmphatically refuse to admit
that she was deficient In the latter. FoT
reasons best known to themselves there
are many of tho sex feminine who look
upon girls of Mary Kent's ilk with EC
charitable eye. BTccsboro had as many
women of this sort rs the next place. maybe
moro, ana they frequently found Mary
Kent most absorbing subject for flgur-
alive viviscction, which, when we reInen.
Der that even in this enlightened age
imaginary faults are far moro interesting
topics of conversation than the most tangi'
bic of virtues, is in no wise remarkable.
But that's enough In tho abstract; let's
get down to the concrete.
Tho thing that disturbed BrcGsbUrO and
its environs, or, to speak more correctly,
the gossiping clements thereof, was Mary
Kent s "car.yings en- with the Leicester
boys" ] arrived in the town just nbout
the time when these particular 'caTryings
on'' were causing Madam Runners BrcGs-
boro representatives to work overtime.
My arrival and subsequent residence there
are not important except rs tending &c
show that l was en- the ground and ought
to know something about the matter.
The Leicester boys" owned and con-
Quoted big and fertile farm not far from
Breesboro. They were both big, fine look.
ing men; the sobriquet "G0y5' was !. relic
of the days when they used to both come
to school riding one horse, who bore il
addition to his other burdens dinner pail
of surprising dimension" bigger than
either of tho riders, y said tradition, but
then tradition is Eot0riaCSly unreliable.
Henry Leicester was Il year older than his
brother Will; both were large, bat IcnTy
was dark and VIII was light. Strangers
considered them alike, often mistaking one
fer the other; Brccsburo people said they
could see no resemblance.
As u stranger and attCrward 4 ErcesborC
man am bound to say that both views
were perfectly correct-thoro is often on
apparent lack of lJgic in facts. They
were certainly very different in disposition
They were devoted to each other, but al
ways Thoughts, and ErGCsbGro agreed viii
me, that Henry often Inade way for vii
with unnecessary unscl1shncSs and VII
never seemed ioath to avail himself OF ad
vantages thus offered. Both were frank
but Henry was quiet AID cool, VIII I'M
pulsiye ard hot tempered. All these traits
wero emphasized after they began puyi!iz
court to Mary Kent. just when they dix
begin would be hard to say. Tho hc2N
and tho LCiccsters had been intimate G!'s
friendly for generations, and it is probable
that this complex love affair stole II lEarci
on the gossips and WIS well under wa.
long before it threw BrGcsbGTo fCminiNit.
into throts of agonized curiosity. II wa
about six months before migrated thitAc
that the matter became town talk. ttht
Leicester boys were among my cG1Hcs
acquaintance and rs acquaintance riPcNe;
into friendship gradually became tie re
pository of tie hopes and fears OF b0ti
brothers, though neither ever knaw itctc;
as father confcssor to the other. ] 81
afraid l was not an impartial spectacle o
| d 1udicially minded c0nGIant, Tor l ,stscl
| inwarClly rGG8d as the lGanECr in w Lei
Henry set Wul's hopes for happiness aIrat
| of his own ard at the entire absences {
reciprocal spirit in Will But l rcfni :Ct
| from arguing with either about that ass
| of tho matter, rs such argument niTh
| easily have led to betrayal OF my d! Ia
| capacity. OF course, too, l soon - t.
| know Mary Kent, first because she Ia rT7ri
ably came to BrccsEoro OYCry day II III
week with one or the other of the ITi?es
tiers. Monday 1t would DO Henry, .sItes
| day it would be VIII, and SO On. ATSd
secondly, because both tho boys insiGae
| that must call on her. TO each Of ther
expressed great admiration for the girl
| and that seemed TO cement our fTiCnusbi
| nil the more strongly. l really did admir-
| her very much, and l thought 1t was hard
| " necessary TO go further and say that
| wouldn't give either of them Il halfpCnn
| for their chances. In the course of th
| next two or three months, though l say
| Miss Kent quite frequently, did not Sc
| ANYTHING to mako me put IL higher valu
ON the Leicester stock. BY q coincidence
| singular or otherwise, this estimate c
mine tailed very closely with the opinio
of BrCcsboro gossiPs, but we drew yer
| different conclusions thgrGfrom.
One night about II o'clock l sat In IN
| Office II Brcesboro looking up certain lay
| points that were haZy in my mind. Tha
was what had been doing at least; bu
having cleared up what l wanted, lit
pipe, and, leaning back in my chair, IN
mind dwelt on Mary Kent and the Lcice!
ter boys 1t was an eGgrossinG subject
for failed to hear the door open and wa
only reused from my meditations by:
Hello, Jack!'
1t was Henry Leicester. With one glanc
at his face jumped up, without ackno"
edginy his salutation, and exclaimed:
"Great God, Hal What the matter?
He was pale to the lips, and his expre
sion was that of o man who had bee
through some awful ordeal.
"I'm done for" he said, throwing b
eauntlcts on the table and sitting down.
"Dono for?"
"Mary Kent's going to marry Will.
"Tho devil sho is -
eyes, " lie went on in q quiet, monot
nous way somo men have when they Il
badly hurt and that is moro horrible
listen to than groans. II asked her
marry me tonight, and she refused; ga
mo lot of brother and sister rot. y
feared it all tho time, but am knock
silly all the same. My God! Jack, y(
don't know how love that girl, and
night she was SO sweet lost my head.
] didn't intend to tell her for awhile, but
makes no difference. lit would have be!