Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1900-09-06
CHAPTER NII.-CoNTINUED.

Not word of affection had passed
between father and daughter; not a
caress had been interchanged. The re-
lations between this impassive man and
his charming daughter were those of
well-bred, if somewhat distant, rela-
tives. On the one hand there was the
uniform courtesy of the man of the
world toward woman; on the other,
the Difference of young girl of good
breeding toward person much older
than herself. But the note of cordial
and intimate affection between father
and child was absolutely missing.
And yet Agnes Murdoch was natural
ly of an affectionate and expansive ma
ture. During her mothers lifetime the
two women had been fnseparable com
panions, united by strong bond of
sympathy.
Mrs. Murdoch had been an invalid
for many years before her death, and
with Agnes had lived either abroad or
in the south during much of the time
in order to escape the rigors of the
northern climate. Thus the father, en-
crossed as he was with his occupations
and his scientific researches, had seen
but little of his daughter during her
childhood, and had been looked upon by
the child almost as a stranger.
When at last, after her mothers
death, Agnes, heartbroken at the loss
of her only friend, returned to the par
entail roof, she was a girl of 1G. In
the first loneliness of her bereavement,
when, hungering for human sympathy
and consolation, she turned to her ia
ther, she received patient and cour-
teouS attention, with an offer of all
the material comforts and luXuries
which wealth could procure; but she
failed to find the only thing she needed
"a responsive human heart.
And yet, behind the cold and selfish
exterior of the chemist, the young girl
had touched a chord which had never
vibrated before in this strange mans
being. 1t is probable that the feeling
awakened in him by his lovely daughter
was the nearest approach to an absorb
ing human affection of which his nature
was capable. Perhaps if the child had
been sufficiently experienced to read
her fathers heart she might have per-
sisted in her advances, and thus ulti-
mately have conquered the cold reserve
she had at first encountered. But she
was proud and impulsive, and. bitterly
disappointed in her first attempt to
win from her father a demonstration
of affection. she withdrew into her iso-
iation, and ever after met his calm cour-
tesy with an equally reserved defer
ence. The abnormal situation which
at first was maintained only by an eff
fort on the part of the young girl, lost
with time much of it's strangeness, and
ultimately crystallized under the po-
tent force of habit, so that it was ac-
cepted by the two as the natural out
come of their relationship.
In the first pang of her bereavement
and disappointment Agnes had turned
for consolation to her books; and, be-
ing left free to dispose of her life as
she saw fit, she had planned a course
of study, which had in due time re-
ccived its conservation at one of the
leading colleges for women.
Upon her return from college she
had, as far as she was permitted, take
charge Of her fathers household, and
had presided with charming dignity
and grace over the social functions for
which DR.. Murdock's house now be-
came famous. Up to the time of his
daughters advent the chemists rela-
tions with the world had been chiefly
through the clubs and scientific bodies
to which he belonged. He was well re-
ceived in the homes of the members of
New York society; but in the absence
of a woman to do the honors of his own
home he was unable to return the hos
ptality which he enjoyed. Now, how
ever, everything was changed. Agnes
was glad to find an outlet for her en-
ergiee in the task of receiving her fa-
ther's guests, and, being a girl of re-
markable intelligence and tact, she sue
ceedd in creating a salon, in the best
sense of the word. Many of the shin
ing lights of the world of art, litera.
ture science and fashion We're among
the regular devotees at the shrine OF
this superb young goddess.
Among the younger men more than
one gay moth, dazzled by the light ot
the girls beautiful eyes, had been
tempted to hover near the flame, only
to scorch his wings. Miss Murdoch
had already refused several of the