Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-12-27

81 am sure / do not know. That
was of course lie out of whole cloth.
He came to me with letters of recon-
mendation from good friends of mine,
and j therefore occasionally invited
him to the house; but that is all the
encouragement he ever got from me.
We live in the United States and at
the close of the nineteenth century
The selection of a husband is no long
er performed by stern parent but
is left entirely to the young girl her
self. That is certainly my way Of
looking at the matter. When you
find the man of your choice, my only
function will be to give you advice,
if you seek it. and my best assistance
in any event"
The turn of the conversation thus
suddenly brought to the surface the
topic which occupied the young girls
and which, for that very reason. had
been kept severely in the background
up to that point.
"That reminds me- said Agnes,
consciously, as charming flush suf-
fused her beautiful face that l have
not yet preached the principal object
of this interview"
Murdoch observed her closely and
waited for her to proceed. But Agnes
was once more laboring under u
strange embarrassment and could not
fms words in which to frame the con-
fidence she was SO reluctant to offer.
Perhaps this chemist OWNED same
thing of the nature of what she was
struggling to find expression for. At
any rate, he noticed her embarrass-
ment and endeavored to come to hel
assistance with few encouraging
words, spoken with unusual gentle,
ness. Agnes, engrossed with her OWL
was in his manner as near an ap
proach to tender usefulness as his
nature was capable of.
At last the young girl seemed tt
gather courage, and she was about IL
speak, when there was a knock upor
the door.
"Plaze, sur; there do be two gin
tlemin in the hall"
"Who are they, Mary?"
1Shure, thin, sir, L dunno, barrin
wan NV 'em do be polacemun."
Ibid they ask to seeme?"
'They did not, sur; shure they asked
if Mr.. Chapman was in"
"Mr. Chatham?"
"Yis, sur. And told EN- he wuz herr
this afthernoon, and l wud see WI;
he here now, fur amt seen him e.
yit."
well, Mary, you see he has gone
since he is no longer here, y said Muir
dock quietly. Take the gentlemen
, into the parloc. and tell them l shal
!, be with them ina minute
Albright, sur" i.,@.s
After the maid had left the room
the chemist rose from his chair an,
walked toward the door leading to tn
library.
ST you will excuse me for fey
minutes, Agnes, 1 shall see what thes
men want. Wait for me here, if yo
will. 1 shall be back directly"
So saying, he noiselessly opened TIL
: folding doors and passed into the l
: brary, closing the doors carefully be
hind him.
/, Freed from the presence of her fl
:, ther, Agnes almost instantly regaine
: her composure. She had not, how
ever, had much time to collect he
thoughts when she was suddenly star
:, led by loud, shrill whistle, whic
: brought her to her feet in alarm.
"Well?"
;, She asked the question in anxiou
: tones, as if realizing that life an
death were in the balance. Then sh
placed her ear to the mouthpiece.
AT first she could not make out tn
!. words spoken by her invisible il
= terlocutor. Then, gradually, they fe
upon her ear with terrible distinc
ness; and she stood spellbound, as
! horrible nightmare, with sudden tie.
: ror in her staring eyes, and with til
!, fearful sense of impotence in her tren
= bling limbs.