Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-03-23
THE YACHT ORCHID.

THE YACHT ORCHID.
He was looking at Mays portrait-a
lovely little riniature-when the
housemaid brought the packet to him.
The girl entered timidly, with a fur
tive glance at her master, for whom
her heart was bleeding But if her
timidity had arisen from the fear of
seeing some exhibition of terrible sor-
row, she had alarmed herself needless
ly. No sign of tears, either past or
present, was visible in the young mans
eyes. They were hard and bright,
Hard, also, was his face, and the
olenched lips like adamant.
He took the thick envelope off the
salver, glanced at the clerky writing
and at the back. upon which was
stamped in blue letters, "W. Robinson
& Co." Then he flung it on the table,
and as the servant left the room the
sound of harsh laughter broke upon
her astonished ears She fed to the
kitchen and with scared face whis-
pered that she thought poor Mr.. Ord
must be going mad
Small wonder, perhaps, if he were!
He had written a few days before to
William Robinson for those patterns
that he might choose the materials for
his wedding suit. What a weighty
matter that choice would have been!
May was so particular about what he
wore. He used to be a little careless
about his dress once-going about in
coats with creases in them, and farm
er's boots. Then, in his endeavor to
/ gain Mays approbation, he had over
done it in the opposite direction, sport
ing collars of absurd height, and i'm
possible ties, enduring like a martyr
the pinch of patent leather shoes a size
too small for him and getting himself
little chaffed by appearing in suits
unmistakably in advance of the fash
ion.
May, with gentle tact, had changed
all this. Never hurting her ardent
young lover by open condemnation of
his apparel, but by artful suggestions
had first reused him to an interest in
his attire, then toned down his some
what crude tastes, and finally schooled
him into that quiet perfection of dress
ing which is the attribute of a gentle
man. He had written for the pattern
from Robinson's a few weeks before
the important suit should be needed. as
he wanted to have Mays opinion with
regard to the materials. Already the
little, laughing, gay girl had begun to
be more than a mere piece of lowell
ness for his admiring eyes to rest upon.
He consulted her about everything. He
had no sisters, and until the last year
when the death of an uncle and the
inheritance of a fortune had made him
his own master-he had lived a soli-
tary life in a remote country town
with the relation by whose sudden
death he was enriched. May Garden,
one of the first young ladies he came
across in town, had taken his heart by
storm. The mixture of frivolity and
| sound practical sense in her nature
was exactly what he needed The one
broke the crust of a certain morose-
ness born of an unloved life, and the
other steadied the propensities to ex-
travagance of taste and living which
unexpected wealth had not unnaturally
aroused.
After that laugh of harshness, which
had so startled his servant, Laurence
Ord went back to the study of Mays
portrait. 1t was indeed a veritable
May" face. Cheeks like young roses,
hair brown as hawthorn twigs, lips
which were akin to the deep pink buds
of the apple blossom, and eyes
Tinct with azure, like two crystal wells
That drink the blue complexion Of the
skies.
These latter laughed back as il in
mocking merriment to the hard gray
ones which were looking down on
them. sob of anguish broke in a
groan from Ord's lips. He tried to
lealize that those dancing eyes were
closed forever. Tried-tried as many
and many bereaved one has striven
in vain to do-to grasp the fact that
the dear lips would never speak again;
that no more until the day of resur-
rection would so much as the fantest
color tinge the still white face. The