The Wilmington daily Republican., 1899-08-02

havin Elmore take NO notice of me,
and" she hurried on TO say, II
couldn't a-hear to let him make trouble
for hissalf bv lettin ueoule see his feel
ms as long as am so unlearned and
backward. l make Elmore be mighty
keerful-keerfuler than he likes"
We settled upon a cheap country
"academy" in an adjoining county,
where thought she would be as little
discounted az anywhere and where the
head teacher was an acquaintance of
mine. whom I hoped to stir up to lit
tie special sympathy and interest.
Patsy returned home that afternoon,
riding behind her father, as she came,
but she repeated her visit several times
during the summer That season had
now sunk into the position of mere
forerunner to the autumn when school
began. had a beautiful time oversee
ing her dresses and making her look
pretty. She was very superior sort Of
doll. Once she staid all night at our
cottage The way in which she waited
and watched for suggestions and ex-
amples of etiquette at table and else
where, yet managed while pursuing
that arduous occupation TO preserve her
own soft, bright, unconscious bearing,
was bit of social skill such as a court
might not match in year.
l am aware how improbable this
sounds to the unsentimental observer
of country girls, but there was much
that was childlike about Patsy. Among
other things, she was plastic, like
child. Then, too, if she was from the
backwoods, she was also southern,
which In this connection means that
wide reaching, deep reaching puritan
ism had played small part in checking
her natural instincts of social grace.
Our acquaintance were told nothing
about her, but they, particularly the
elders, let her pass with graciousness
born Of experience of life in poor and
thinly populated and aristocratic coun.
Try, where anybody may be akin to
anybody and where kinship counts-a
state Of society similar to that in Scot
land. especially the Scotland of the
past. / feared. though, that tho callow
schoolgirls even at Coffees academy
would be less elastic.
gave little miss all the points on
grammar that II seemed she could di.
gest, and she made wonderfully good
use of them. One day said, "Do you
and Elmore write to each other9'
She colored and bent over her sew.
ing The tears had sprung to her eyes,
but il l had not been brute in the
way watched her never should have
known it, she recovered herself SO gal
lantly In an instant she answered
steadfastly:
"Oh, mol He writes to me onct In
awhile, but in course he don't like to
do all the writin, and you see my letters
would shame him. and DON want TO
make him consider how ignorant am
when I'm not there" she added half
archly. wholly pathetically.
She realized any meanness in Ell. |
more's attitude only 60 dimly and con-
fusedly that she could not be mean
enough herself to give the charge a
hearing. He was full of sort of devo.
ticn and subsection to her spell when
he was with her. and. of course, was
assertive Of his faithfulness in proper
tion to his own distrust of it, OF course,
too, he was also proportionately anx-
ious about hers.
"He keeps a-sayin to me to be true
10 him." she said once. "T'd rather
ho'd feel cure without askin."
She had plenty Of dignity Of char
acter; but how was that to teach her
to release lover like this3 1t simply
made her feel his neglects like wounds
without even the solace of indignation.
Patsy was far from loquacious, but
at times, when fsvoriug conditions
started her chirping and twittering. she
brought forth discriminating remarks.
In talking Of her brothers she said:
"Ab have the mos sense but whats
that when Eb have all the determine.
tion9"
! wondered how 1t would bo when
this coherent intelligence was brought
to bear on Elmore's colossal incoherence
on something like equal terms, Or could
there ever be an approach TO equal
terms so long as he had those eyes and
that smileI They even warped my sat.
lsfaction In declaring him fool.
One day Patsy's father twirled HE
shapeless old white hat in his hands in
uncommon discomfort as he said to me:
II don'tfcel no ways at ease in my
mirfe aboht this schoolin business for
ny littlegal. Patsy have the bes' head