Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1899-03-30

about. The lovs-making was of the
unadmitted, under -the-surface sort, sc
far.
He broke off one OF the big white
flowers and put it into her hand
with care, as if she could not manage
her own hands, and he had to open
and shut them for her.
Try your fortune he said; '1et's
see If the daisies are to be trusted"
II hope they can be trusted not to
tell the way you are trying to hold my
hand" said she, but she did not say
it or take her hand away for exactly
seven seconds.
"Try your fortune, let us see
whether to believe in daisies or not. 81
So she began pulling off the petals.
"He loves me; loves me not; he loves
me; loves me not;" and with each
assertion slim little leaf dropped in
her lap. It was coming out, "He
loves me" and she played false, and
pulling the last two together made
it Gloves me not" and then sat help
lessly waiting-obvlously waiting
for the contradiction she had in
vited.
Well, it came, not with any fine
speeches, but with two or three broken
words, and timid grasp of the little
hand he'd been so bold to grasp about
two minutes before, and then there
was the old touching miracle of new
heaven and new earth.
That was the way they got them
selves engaged, and very naturally, as
they we're young enough to take
pleasure in sentimental notions, they
called daisies their flower, and made
much of the part the one sacrificed
had played in their drama.
"It's not what you might call a
rare blossom" said Phyllis, with an
affectation of the critical, when they
were sitting again on the same boulder
and adopting the daisy as their
emblem.
'It's because there is no limit to
them that they suit for my part of the
love in this business" said Dick
Tyson, with more sincerity than clear
ness or elegance, but Phyllis found
the sentiment satisfactory. These
particular lovers were not born to
overthrow the tradition that true love
never runs smooth. They quarreled
in a month; of course, they had quar-
relied before that, but in month they
had row that amounted to some
thing.
"Mr. Allison rowed me over to the
point to-day, and we gathered mussels
there for an hour" Phyllis said, one
day, as she settled herself in the stern
of Dicks boat, and Dick answered,
heartily: "Nice fellow, Allison;" and
then, just as Dick was giving his at
tention to getting clear of the landing
and into deep water. Phyllis declared
that it seemed to her as if they were
making great mistake, they were not
meant for each other, and so on, in q
tragic voice, trailing one hand in the
water and fastening her eyes upon it.
Her heart seemed to faint away in her
breast as the moments brought no
denial. At last Dick said, still row.
ing:
"You must mean something by
what you say! Is it that you think
you have made a mistaken"
Phyllis controlled her breathin g by
an effort as Dick spoke, and then she
said:
care you giving me chance to say
I have? Is that what you want?'
81 want to hear it if it is true, :"
said Dick, leaning on his oars and
setting his teeth. a
To him it seemed plain enough that
he was waiting for his death SEN
tence; to Phyllis it seemed that he
was crushing her with his indiffer-
ence. What could that mean but that
he did not love her, was giving her
the woman's privilege of breaking
with him?
Every well, then, if you wish it, it
is true," was all even her pride could
drive her to say. eff you wish it, it
is true" Surely no man would take
that for sincere announcement!
But feeling real emotion makes peo-
pie very poor judges of the weight of
their own words or anybody else's;
and Dick was feeling a great deal.
He did not grasp the exact form of the
sentence. He heard the strange, hard
voice-the voice of woman on the
verge of Mysteries; but he did not
know that-and the words sit is true -
He rowed back to the landing, and
without waiting for assistance, as an
older woman certainly would, Phyllis
sprang out and took her way to the
house.
CHAPTER II.
Dl,c11;e woo c,ttiocr Iafo,o !,