Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-02-21

or owing to tha lack of her accustomed
modicum Of stimulant or to the absence
Of any special motive for showing what
she could do, certain 1t is that she a.
lowed herself to be stopped" at .
brook by Miss Iongworth, who rode
with far less skill and Judgment, but
who had the courage Of youth and ig-
norance. aud shortly after that public
humiliation she disappeared from view.
Possibly, being q shrewd woman, she
may have realized that there are con-
tests in which il is useless to struggle
against youth. Ignorance. too, 10 not
without its advantages
Now, Mrs. Naylor might, had she
considered it worth her while TO be
malicious, have enlightened Annie
Longworth's ignorance with respect to
Lord Arthur's career and its episodes;
but, upon the whole, It seemed equally
easy and more sensible to rest satisfied
with the discontinue of Mrs Aston
and accept her own less conspicuous
defeat philosopbically. Returning early
to Newton Longworth, she sought an
interview with her hostess and stated.
with much apparent regret, that she
had Just received telegram which
would necessitate her departure before
the ball.
"Ohi Must you go;" exclaimed good
natured Mrs. Longworth in honest dis
tress "This is really becoming sauve
qui poutl First Mrs. Aston, and now
you! suppose the next thing 1 shall
hear will be that Sir Thomas Clutter.
buck has decided TO desert us "
II shouldn't be surprised. sAid Mrs
Naylor dryly.
And indeed before the day was over
Sir Thomas justified anticipation by
following suit He came in half IN
hour before dinner, snoihered in mud
md quietly triumphant, having demon.
stra,ed to his juniors that he could still
hide az straight M any man OF half his
pee. but he was not eager TO compete
with the young people in field where
gray hair IL heavily handicapped and
where hair which has been obviously
robbed Of that respectable hue places its
owner under double disadvantage.
He wished, moreover, to get up TO Lon
don as soon as he could and consult ex-
perts with view TO the recovery OF his
normal aspect
So of the four travellers who had
jourpeyed down to Newton Longworth
together only one remained in the house
SO hours after their arrival. and IL he
did not consider himself an uncommon
ly lucky fellow that was only because
no one ever does appreciate unmerited
luck. To have been set free at blow
from the entanglements Of two formi-
dable ladies-for both Mrs. Aston and
Mrs Naylor were very formidable, and
he was no match for either Of them
might in truth have prompted him to
return thanks to his guardian angel.
but he was for tho moment too much
overcome with admiration for Annie
Longworth's pluck-not To speak OF her
other attractions-to have any room
lett in his mind for reflection upon the
perils which he had escaped. This was
the third brush that she had won that
season, she told him, and he obtained
leave to have it mounted for her.
II was some months after these events
that Lord Arthur, turning out Of his
club in Pail Mall, ran against Sir
Thomas Clutterbuck. who said:
$50 you're TO be congratulated, i
hear. Well, she's nice girl, and IL o
man must needs marry don't know
that he could do better than choose
girl Of that sort For my part I've come
to the conclusion that the less one has
TO do with women the more likely one
Is to enjoy life. It's possible to get
along quite comfortably without 'em,
| can assure you. Been consulting any
more amateur vets lately?"
Lord Arthur made q retrospective
grimace. II haven't had occasion to do
SO, I'm thankful TO say" he replie'
"Have you been making any more ex-
periments in the hair restoring line!"
my dear fellow, you wouldn't be-
lieve what a job had to get rid Of that
internal stuff! The end Of il was that
was obliged to have my head shaved
and go of ON sea voyage for three
weeks. However. I'm my own master
now, anyhow, which 10 more than can
be- said for you. think, Fulton. We
may as we'll draw a decent veil over
the episodes of our visit to your future
wife's family. II makes good story, /
admit, but one isn't justified in telling
tales about ladies, yop know"
~ suppose not, answered the other,
guiltily conscious Of having already told
his future wife all about it. "Goodby"