The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1899-12-27
CHAPTER VIII.
CONTINUED

ABOUT meetlnS nODlemen. In my LII
/pocent ignorance I couldn't quite rec
6gnize that they were like other peo-
vPle; but your papa quite cured me Of
&at feeling, Mr.. Stanley. And then
ybur brother, Lord Appleby! He is a
most delightful person.
"Ahl We are a delightful family
klaltogether, Miss Gaye," said the Hon.
Clarence Stanley, good humoredly.
eyes, Mr.. Stanley, you are a de-
iightful family; and Lady Appleby
and the dear little boy, the new heir
to Windermere, and even dear old
Toddlekins!"
ssAh, indeedl There you have the
advantage of me, Miss Gaye. You
see it is many years since I left Eng
land, and my brother was not yet
married. hope the dear little boy
is quite we'll. I know nothing that
would distress me more than any &C.
cident to him. But, dear old Toddle-
kins!' Now, who is Toddlekins?
That is a member of the Stanley fam
ily with whom I am not at oil ac-
quainted.
"Why, of course; because I be-
slowed that that name upon her my
self. Toddlekinsis the old-maid sis
ter of Lady Appleby."
"Really, had quite forgotten her!
And by that name, too! But, since
YOU have bestowed it on her, I am
quite charmed to make her acquaint-
ance."
"But she hasn't forgotten you, Mr..
Stanley. All, no! You are quite a
hero to her, and she has picture OF
you about which she is quite silly.
She has it set up in her room like a
saint in q shrine"
ga picture of me" exclaimed Clar-
ence Stanley, and his hand closed
convulsively upon the miniature he
had been holding. Hewas conscious
of tho violence of his own grasp, and
he felt the old and worn hinge of the
frame snap. How provoking! Do
lores would be distressed at the acci-
dent, and he was very anxious to do
nothing that might annoy her.
Mary Hamilton, vaguely conscious
that something like duel of words
was taking place between Clarence
and this new acquaintance, but quite
unable to guess at the meaning Of it.,
had taken Bertha Seton to the other
side of the room to meet Dolores, and
the three girls stood there, exchang-
ing commonplaces and feeling uncom-
Portable. Bertha was wishing that
\ she had not brought Olive, and Won
dering at her curious manner toward
Mr.. Stanley; Polly was thinking that
Olive Gsye was "queer," and Dolores
was waiting IN opportunity to get
back her mothers miniature without
being obliged to ask for it, and feel
ing that she could not endure to have
it looked at and spoken about by these
strangers, even though they were
Maruia's friends.> Olive Gaye alone
was perfectly serene.
"'A picture of your" she was say
ing, repeating Stanley's last words.
"Why, yes, that is not very surpris-
ing, am sure. Why shouldn't dear
old Toddlekins have picture of you if
she wants one; and most excellent
picture it is, Mr.. Stanley. Now, I
don't think you at oil like your papa,
or like Lord Appleby; but I recog-
nized you at once by that picture
when saw you last night. Oh! How
did you like the .opera9 Wasn't it
p lovely? I Just dote on music! Do
you?"
Clarence declared that he, too,
dotted on music; and then he said
how fattered he felt that Miss Gaye
had recognized him from his resem-
blance to his picture. Mary Hamil-
ton now came toward them to intro
duce Dolores to Miss Gaye, and
Stanley felt that he was at that mo-
ment almost in love with Polly
pretty, innocent, good, honest, little
Polly.
He took immediate advantage of this
slight diversion to retire to little
distance in order to examine how
much mischief had been done to the
miniature. He found that the case
was not broken; the slight snap he
had heard was caused by pressure on
what was evidently secret spring in
the back OF the case; and, as this had
yielded, piece of parchment, yellow
with age, had dropped out of it and
now lay in the palm of his hand.
Clarence cast one quick, startled
glance toward Dolores, and saw that
she was standing with her back
towards him, talking with Olive
Gage. His heart gave great bound
of triumph.
What was it? He could scarcely
repress his excitement, so great was
his longing to get away where he
could examine this slip of parchment
at his leisure. And yet, perhaps, it
might prove of no value at all. At
any rate, it would be we'll to return
the miniature at once, and so rouse
no suspicion in Dolores, who prob
ably knew nothing of the secret con-
tanned in it. He watched his oppo--
tunity, and presently succeeded in
placing the miniature in her hand in
such O manner as to attract no atten-
ton to it. She gave him a swift,
grateful look-a look that flashed like
light from her deep, dark eyes and
which sent strange electrical quiver
through the heart of Clarence Stanley.
But he was scarcely conscious of it
then, though he remembered it after
ward. His mind was on fire for a
single glance at the slip Of parchment
he held in his hand. He felt he could