Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1901-03-13
7 ADY LESTER was at her wits


Jk end. That was the way she put
~ 1t In her colloquial dialect. Also,
she did not know which way to turn,
but this was owing to the lack of
routes rather than any indecision In Sc
lection.
the popular proyerbial method Of risk
ing all on u single throw of the dice,
and 1t had turned up aces. Reduced
to prose, this meant that she had
strained land indeed overstrained) ev-
cry nerve In order to present thor
oughly smart appearance and give her
daughter Il complete London season, In
hope that that damsel would make a
good catch, settle herself comfortably
In life, and be off her mothers hands
for the future. Alice Lester had In
sisted on this till her mother, with
much misgiving,. consented. In conse-
quence Lady Lester had spent the
greater part of her yearly income in
two months, and run into debt as well.
The end Of the season was approach
Ing, and the catch had not been secur-
ed. 1t seemed that the effort had been
fruitless, and the consequences would
have to be faced.
Lady Lester knew as well as possible
that the only way to pay her debts
was to sell capital. This would reduce
her already slender income. Besides,
how she and Alice were going to live
and preserve decent appearance on
the small amount of income left for the
remaining five months or so Of the year
was a question which made her inclin-
ed to scream whenever she thought
Of It,
She was q handsome woman, tall,
stately, fortunate In the possession of
a figure that did not age, clever and
discreet in repairing the raxages of
time. She usually wore black, partly
because 1t was intensely becoming to
her, partly for economy's sake. She
presented marked contrast to her
daughter, who was petite piquant,
dainty, with retrousse features. TAX
ing the pair together, they We're as at
tractive a mother and daughter as one
could hope to see, if it had not been for
the eternal discomfort written on their
features.
Her troubles had not improved Lady
Testers temper.
''If you had only" she said peevish-
ly to her daughter, "giyen half the en-
couragement to Lord Wimberley that
you have to that wretched Anderson
you might be Lady Wimberley, Off my
hands, and able to help me little out
of this scrape."
ITS no fault of mine," said Alice
sullenly. 81 did all I could to encour-
age the stick, wasted no end of dances
on him. wore myself out with endeav-
orlng to talk to him and make him
talk, next to asked him for his box seal
at the meet of the Coaching Club
"Well, you got It," interposed her
mother.
"Yes, and everybody, of course
l knew better. am quite sure that he
never intended to offer 1t to me, and
that my Offering myself was not agree
able"
"Then why didn't he say that he had
given II away lareadyT'
"Thats mystery to me. But know
perfectly well that he did not give II
to me for love of me, and also that he
obviously thought before taking my
very plain hint
T am sure that he was most nice
"Nice! cried the girl shrlly. ''IIt
always Is nlce-in kind, aggravating
brotherly way. Hope you are enjoy
Ing yourself like a good little girl
Can l helpr Don't mind me If you
don't want me- That's what he al
ways seems to be saying. Could any
one make anything out of thaty'
"But he comes here a good deal
"Yes, ard Is just as pleased to tall
to any of your old frumps as to me
Why, l believe he is just as pleased tC
talk to you as to me-"
"Then why does he conner sait
Lady Lester, who was too much accus
toned to her daughters rudeness tt
notice 1t.
"Oh, don't know. Why does anyone
do anything? One must do something
He is not man of deep reasons. H'
finds us pleasant; he meets pleasan
people here; we are kinder to him thar
many. But there is one thing that II
quite certaln-that | have tried to give
him every kind of opportunity, and HI
has never taken advantage OF one O
them. On the contrary, his one desire
has always seemed to get away
"Your foolish encouragement OF An
dprSOn-"