The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-09-12

|
that he and she were made for each
other" The basis Of that view, so far
as he could discover was that she was
tall and dark, while he was tall and
light, and that both of them had the
reputation of being very cold, reserved
and hard to approach In friendship
or filtration.
AS rule he did not like girls who
were cold and reserved Suffering
| from chronic embarrassment him
| self, he found 1t hard enough to get
along with girls who were jolly, talk
ative and open hearted Moreover. to
be slated as n girls admrer before
fellow has met her Is enough to kill
all chance Of liking her. Gaines was
glad when Natalie went abroad with
her mother, instead OF coming to New
York. Within two weeks he had heard
that she was home again. And now 1t
| seemed he must meet her.
There she is" whispered Jessie
Bingham. isn't she perfectly love-
ly?"
Gaines glanced across the room, and
his blood became ice water He had
always regarded himself as a peculiar
ly uniucky man. but that Natalie Clair,
Of all people in the world, should
prove to be the heroine Of the Twenty
third street adventure struck him as q
little the worst blow in even his ex-
perience.
"Of course should be greatly pleas
ed to meet her." said he. and his
voice sounded in his own ears as II it
were being ground out or phono-
graph. But there's no hurry. Any
| time will do"
what nonsense!' exclaimed Jessie
"Of course you want to meet her this
minute. And they're bringing her right
| over here!'
Gaines perceived that Jessie spoke
truly. A half dozen young people, with
the most obvious intentions, were gen.
| tly steering Miss Clair In his direction.
She, however, seemed to be wholly un-
aware of their purpose until she was
within six feet OF him. THEN she start
ed as prettjly as Il frightened deer.
Gaines looked anXiously into her
face, and when he saw that he was
| recognized he felt as one upon whose
shoulder the hand of the sheriff is laid.
1t was all over in moment. EARLY
| to Boston east wind, and once, when
boy, he had been locked In an Ice
house as Joke, but Miss Clair gave
him new sensation. No one else ap-
peared to notice the chill, though 1t
seemed to him that all New York must
be shivering.
He dared not say anything to the
point among so many people, and so he
mumbled the ordinary nonsense while
waiting for chance to escape. That
was not to be, however. He saw Miss
Bingham going one way and Miss
Somebody Else going another way, and
there was no way at all for him. He
simply got left In the corner with Ma
talie Clair, and If 1t had been done on
purpose it couldn't have been done bet
ter.
man of tact and assurance would
have found no difficulty In saying the
right thing, but Gaines lacked those
qualities, and his faculties were in
panic.
"The situation Is somewhat difficult,
Miss Clair" he said. you must be
strongly preJudiced against me, but
but
What utter nonsensel Why couldn't
he say straight out, II saw you on
Twenty third street today and mistook
you for my cousin" He knew as well
as anybody could that that was the
right thing to say. But the words didn't
| come to him.
you can't help It," said she; mel
ther Of us can help it now. Let us for
get everything that happened before
we met tonight"
And then she looked around with a
| frightened eye for somebody to come
| and take her away.
Gaines felt as II the black cap had
been drawn over his face. He had had
his chance to speak, and 1t bad passed.
Evidently Miss Clair, knowing the cir
| Gle In which he moved, had decided to-
tolerate him, perhaps even to be silent
about what she believed to be his black
| disgrace.
If Jane were only there, he could
| have pointed to tho resemblance and
| have told his story with n good grace.
He had heard that she was expected
later in the evening He would reserve
his defense till then.
Somehow he escaped from Miss
| Glare, and Immediately, to fortify his
soul, he mentioned to number Of per-
sons that, in his opinion, Miss Clair
strongly resembled his Cousin Jane.
The first two or three had never no.
dced It. Gaines began to be alarmed.
He ran from one to another. Appar-
emily there was not n human creature
present who had the eye to see n trace
Of that likeness upon which his fate
depended. So 1t seemed that James
coming would only helghten the i'm
probability of his tale, already weaken
ed by delay.
Many of the people whom he ques-
toned spoke Of strong resemblance
between Miss Clair and Olive Trask, a
young lady whom Goiues had met sew
eral years before. Would 1t be possible
to substitute her In this story? His ac-
quaintance was just sufficient to war
rant him In addressing her. He
couldn't call her little GIRL" but prob
ably the fact that he had used those
words would not come out in the ex.
planation.
A sudden resolution seized him. He
lwould take the risk. Fearing that his