The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-07-15
The Red Haired Girl.
An Instance Where o
Man Found 1t safe 10
Go Bac3 on His Girl.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

] ton at Ballater, because Lefty and her
| mother had gone there for q change, and,
as Lefty and were engaged, naturally
we liked spending most of our time to.
gether.
About the 9th of September, however,
we all returned to Aberdeen, and | re-
solved to spend the remaining part Of my
holidays in the BuChan district, where
had few friends. SO, after saying good
| by" to Lefty for what seemed an inter-
! minable period-though it was only for
| fortnight took the train for Mintlaw,
where l was met by friend, who, for
convenience sake, l shall call George
| White.
] Old Deer, which is near Mintlaw, was
an admirable center for a cycllst, and, as
the weather goes was good, White and l
| took long spins together. 1t was toward
the end of harvest, and, although
"stooks" were still standing in few
| fields, most farmers had already finished
| leading, and it was assuredly the time for
| "meal and ales."
Now, had never been at one Of those
functions, so after spending delightful
| week at Old Deer l prolonged my visit
for day to go to Barnhill's harvest
home. George promised there would be
| some fun. Barnhill was one of the lar
gest farms in the district, and this year
| the meal and ale" was to be big
affair.
The evening came. We drove over
rather late, and when we got there the
dancing had begun. A wooden floor had
| been laid in the immense barn, the walls
taI vii Aar nd
! and ripe corn, and at one end was n rails
ed platform for the fddlers. At the 9TH
er end of the room huge pole had been
stuck up. on the top of which was the
"clyack sheaf," all dressed with bright
scarlet and blue ribbon.
White introduced ME to his host, a
short, jovial looking man. and to his two
daughters, Misses Kate and Emmy Smith,
| and several others, but directly entered
the barn I became conscious of girl
| with flaming red hair dressed in pale blue
muslin, who, although dancing at the
time, kept looking at me with her great
eyes till felt queer thrill 60 through
me and feeling as il somewhere before
had seen that girl.
l was standing by Miss Smith. / tried
to give her all my attention.
"You know, MI. Keith, this Is really
the servants night" she was saying, "but
we always invite few Of our own
friends too. Then we dance here till u
o'clock, and after - father makes it a
rule that the rest of us must go into the
house and leave the others to enjoy It up
till In the morning and sometimes even
till g."
"Tell me-" said more hurriedly than
politely, "who Is that lady dressed in pale
blue dancing with the tall, dark gentle
mani"
Miss Smith laughed slightly.
'The tall gentleman is my brother and
the girl my dearest school friend, Miss
| Nora Stuart. Shall l introduce you"
Although fascinated in a certain way,
l thought Of Lefty and did not particu-
larly wish an introduction, but now !
could not well refuse, and soon l was
dancing with the redhaired girl.
There was IN indescribable something
that made her very attractive and kept
me by her side, and again and again as
she talked she made me think that had
met and known her somewhere before,
but memory would not help me. And
soon l did not think Of that, but felt only
her and talk to her now.
The hours flew swiftly by. had
danced with her nearly the whole even
ing and scarcely left her side. Twelve
o'clock came. Miss Stuart and l were in
the garden. The harvest moon was shin
ing brightly and from the barn came the
distant music of the fddles and concer.
tinas. We walked along the narrow path.
"The roses are almost over" she said.
"Oh, no! There is one yet. The last
rose of summer 1t is yellow one. Let
me get it for you"
'Thank you"
She stuck it in her dress.
"You know" she said laughingly, ~
am so fond of roses, but l can never wear
them"
Artlessly she touched her hair, and
understood. 1t was not even auburn-it
was decidedly red-but just then
thought it the most beautiful had ever
seen.
at is great misfortune" she went on.
ION the contrary, II is blessing" !
FASTENED to reply. "That is Just my ia.
vorite color, and think it very beautiful,
and l also think blue muslin gown the
prettiest in all the world when a certain
person wears it."
Lefty was far away. had completely
forgotten her existence.
"You Gatterer. she said, smiling.
Then she tapped her foot impatiently
upon the ground and frowned. But men
are all alike. They have no constancy,
no stability. They are tossed about by
every wind that blows, taken by every
fresh face they see. have no patience
with them-none! Come, let us go into
the house"
l caught her hand. Goodness knows
what was about to say, but just then
we heard footsteps, and some Of the 9TH
ers approached us, and thought of Let
ty, and felt thankful for their presence
Soon afterward White and drove back
to Old Deer together, and next day
went on to Peterhead to spend the re-
naming days Of my holiday.
At first my thoughts were full Of that
red haired girl, and every time went out
! hoped to meet her. I cycled up to Old
Deer three days running, and once even
called at Ba.nhiIl, wnere | was entertain
ed to tea by Miss Smith and her sister,
who informed me that their friend, Miss
Stuart, had gone home.
But the last few days Of my holiday
brought Lefty nearer, and, dear girl,
began to long to see her again. And when
at last took the train to Aberdeen,
saw that the other had only been pass
ing fancy and that had been led on by
n bold. designing girl and that, after all,
cared for Lefty only.
had written her only the day before,
SO I knew she would be expecting ME,
and after getting some of the journeys
dust rubbed off, set out for the little
house at Queens Cross.
l was getting impatient I Quickened
my pace. | almost ran.
When I was shown into the pretty
drawing room, Lefty was there alone.
She wore white dress that had always
admired but she did not run to meet me
with little, glad cry, as had expected.
She only stood up and held out her hand
codly. kissed her, but she did not re-
turn the caress.
"Letty. dear, aren't you glad to see me
again? You have dressed for me alone, l
know. though you do not well
II thought you admired pale blue, Joe.
That was why dressed in white"
That made me think of that horrid red
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