The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-07-05
HIS DEAR LITTLE GIRL.

always called her. ever since they haE
met and loved each other. He was in
Ireland now with his regiment, but he
wrote very regularly to his dear little
girl, and though there was no question
Of any formal engagement between them,
ne had assured her that their under
standing was as sacred a bond to him as
any public betrothal, and of course she
believed him-tor she was young, and
she loved him. Z,
She was thinking OF him as she walked
down the path to meet the postman; this
was her letter day. and Irish letters al
ways came by the midday mail to the
Devonshire village where~she lived with
IN sight and sound Of the moaning sea.
wind tossed her pretty hair against the
checks. which were soft and flushed like
a peach. The postman was coming up
the hill; smile crossed his weather
beaten face as he caught sight of the
waiting figure.
said, as he sorted them from his bundle:
that's all, miss"
Two letters!
She went out on the cliff side with
them; one was, of course, from Terence;
how well she knew his dear. unt;dy writ.
ing! She smiled as she put it in her
pocket; that must be kept as a bonnie
bouche.
The other one was in quite strange
handwriting, and she tore it open, look
ing at its contents with bewilderment.
A blank sheet of paper inclosing a small
newspaper cutting met her eyes. What
could it mean? The color faded from
her cheeks.
I'VE understand that an interesting en-
gagement will be announced before the
end Of the summer. and we may safely
offer our good wishes to the beauty OF
the year. Miss Sergeant. at the same
time congratulating the gallant tiance on
his luck. Mr.. .Dawnay is we'll known in
Dublin, where his regiment is at present
The little bit of paper fell to the
ground. OF course it was not true! 1t
could not be true. Someone was trying
to make mischief between them. That
was all. Why, he was hers-he had
been hers from the very first day that
know what it was talking about; she
eyed the envelope with disgust; who had
done this thing? And who was Miss
Sergeant? Terence had never men
toned her.
She pulled his letter, out of Der pocket
and opened it, reading it with . sudden
chill which quenched the happiness in
her pretty eyes.
My Dear Little Girl: / have hardly
moment for letter, so am afraid
this will be very short, but there is so
much to be done here just now. what
with polo and goodness knows what else
besides. that / have enough to do to get
down to stay near Cork next week with
some people called Sargeant-jolly house
and no end Of gaieties. Of course;
wish there was something scratched
OUT II could have managed to run over
to you, dear, but it is quite impossible.
You see, there are our maneuvers COM
ing on, and l must be within easy reach
there is anything Of interest to tell you.
have been thinking lately that it's bit
rough on you to be kept hanging on for
such an interInina BILE time-not that I've
altered, you know that-but, you see,
things are not looking very bright for us,
are they? It's awfu]ly late, must stop.
Goodnight dear little gil. .:pR E TTl! yS1rs'
The sun was hidden by thick cloud.
the sea oaned on the rocks below, and
light wind ruf1ed the waves. 1t looked
like a change in the weather. But the
girl did not notice the signs Of change.
Her eyes were fixed unseeingly on the
letters in her hand. She stopped and
picked up the little paper, which she had
ed. No need to read it again. 1t was
imprinted on her memory for all time.
She wondered what there was for her to
do. Must it be remuneration?
That was question to be answered at
once, and before she turned her steps
homeward she had made her resolve.
"Our dance, Miss Sergeant"
The girl looked up.
us it? No, don t want to dance. Do
you mind if we sit it out?"
DO mind?" repeated Dawnay, with
a look in his blue eyes which only amused
the beautiful Miss Sergeant. She had
seen that look so often that it made lit
tie or no impression on her. Had she not
danced and flirted through some dozen
seasons, and received more than her
share Of attention? OF course, Terence
was nice, dear boy, but as to anything
else-she laughed at the mere idea. She
was striving for higher destiny than
that, in, spite of all the society papers
and their rumors.
Dawnay looked at her as she lay back
in low chair waving great feather fan
to and fro. He believed in her thorough
". He believed that here was the lady
of his dreams.
Have you any more dances to spare
me?' he pleaded. Il know I was late.
but that was not my fault"