Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1899-08-06
@n Unconscious Ally
~ f's.tr9si

! HANEaIwayshada remarkabJv vIarge
 number of friends of my onu seN. Lest tbis should lead people 10 ei1eme an undue amount of credit for ania= bility and sweetness Of disposition, may as well state al once that l have T marriageabic brother
 Being possessed also of Il fairamauHt of brains. 1 was never for q mamea5ae= eeiNed as te the nature of the affection lRished upon me by most of aIy female friends But then my dearesteb0m. the girl ! really thought loved me for my self alone. told me she tYas engaged tu be married to my brother fred my grief and anger knew no bounds.
 had gone over to stay all nightHith Maud, and had laid awake till three q.
 n. exchanging condolences, and all the lime the sneak never said word about Fred. At last l dropped off to sleep and was just in the midst Of a glorious dream, in which | was leading eotil- on with magnificent man with soul- tul eyes and a bank account in seven fig ureS, when Maud suddenly threw her arms about my neck. entirely shutting oil my wind and soaring me almost into nervous prostratiou, md with burst of tears confessed that she had been keeping q secret from me for two whole days, and that we were to be really. truly sisters, not just sisters in affcc- ton, as heretofore. etc.
 managed to wriggle out from under Maud's arm, and then l sat np in bed and said things, don't remember cN- aetly what they were, but they must have been pretty bad. for Fred didn't speak to me for week tof course. Maud had to tell himl. and Maud herself went around looking like suffering martyr whenever We ehanced To be under the same roof.
 l was convinced that 1 was tbe most miserable girl in the world after that. and the worst of it was that every badv. including Maud herself thought l was only mad because she was engaged first an imputation which need not say was entirely unjust.
 I'm sure l could not see what Maud had done that was so wonderful any way. Fred is anything but brilliant and never considered him even good looking. while as long as mamma livt~ i he hasn't penny to his name except his i salary, which iS by no means prueelX. l
 But Maudi You'd have thought she'd l landed Vanderbilt or q poet=iauroate the way she acted.
 pretended moi to notice her airsaHd I nursed my grief in proud silence. but l had no doubt that uas the mast | wronged and unhappy creature that ever lived until subsequent events i taught me that our affairs are arranged by an all-wise Providence, in whom we | may safely trust, no matter how dark | our way may seem at the time l shall | never doubt the wisdom of Providence | again.
 To begin with, founG that twas like ly to get lot of amusement out of this | engagement Fred was madly jealous of Maud all the time, though anyone l could see with hali an eve that she was | simply mad about him and in deadly | fear of losing him herself
 He would come home at least three i times 8 week, pale, hageard and wild | N.A1Ar tA ttlsAt bNANAt 0A AtOtfAs | ttG IkSl l of the time he was madly joyful and talked about Maud as if she was several degrees higher than the seraphim. II was enough 10 make St. Bernard dog laugh just 10 see him.
 l also found further consolation in the fact that his state of mind inter- fered seriously with Freds appetite. that [ got all the extra pudding and 1 things that had always fallen to his share Fred was always a greedy thing), | and then Pereival Jones came from abroad.
 Percival was millioaire's son. with ace too beautiful for words and a taste or Ibsen.
 Of course. all this made him desirable eyond most other men. but l must say he way the girls of Archeryille made ifferent kinds of fools of themselves bout him was enough 10 disgust even | romans rights advocate with her sex. need hardy say that l was smart | lough k ssear Mir. Jones with marked ] (