The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1901-10-04

could come near.
The last day Of the stay Of the thre
friends arrived. and they made on
despairing attempt to bid her good-b,
Clifford had preserved his reticenc
concerning the girl. but the other tw
more than suspected him. Willie ha
softened in his views Of the myster
GUS affair. and 1t was now only Cony
beare who persisted In q harsh juds
ment Of the innkeeper's niece.
She was just the sort Of girl. he said
to attract young fools and make then
lose their wits and their money. He
however. was as anxious for a fare
well peep at the mysterious beauty a.
his companions.
This time they were fortunate. wher
they had gone past the inn, they
caught sight Of the pretty figure whom
they all had In their thoughts, and
they all pretended to view Il with In
difference. Willie was the first to break
down In this assumption.
There she isr' he said, In quite q
tremulous voice. Its no use pre-
tending we don't see her. Do You
think she'll run away II we get over
the fenceT
Clifford had already made the expert.
ment.
To the great relief Of the whole
party. Nell turned slowly and waited
for their approach without q smile,
with. indeed. q sort Of quiet defiance.
Il suppose" she said to Clifford, as
soon as he came up, you have come
to say good-by. you and your friends,
before you 90 back to town."
She had remembered the date he had
given her for that event, then. This
was a ray Of consolation, but she
gave him no other. She was cold, re-
served. almost hard. He felt SO an
CRY with her for her contemptuous dis
regard Of his feelings that he thought
for the moment that his passion was
extinguished by 1t. However, she un-
bent SO far as to invite them all in to
tea, and the three young men were
much puzzled as to which Of them II
was who had procured them this fay.
or. Conybeare seemed to be, on the
whole. the one to whom she talked
The most; Clifford was. without any
1oubt, the one Of whom she took the |
east notice.
The meal. on the whole, was a
pleasant one, although Claris himself
vas more taciturn than he had been
N that unlucky day when he and Nell
md Clifford had spent such a merry
lour In the little sitting-room.
Now the weather had changed; the
utumn winds were whistllng about
be little INN. and the blue sea had
ecome q dark-gray line, fecked with
White crests. There was q fire In the
tile crate. and 1t was when Otto
onybeare moved quickly forward to
oke It for Nell that the incident &C.
urred which was to throw a shadow
yer the meeting.
In passing Q side-table upon which
tood q wicker work basket Otto
ragged the cloth OF. and brought the
asket and all the rest of the things
the table with q crash to the floor.
lille. who was near him, went down
his knees with apologies for Otto's
umeiness. Ic
He thinks It's manly, you know. to .
low . contemptuous indifference to y
ch feminine tribes. A sure sign of
Mus. you know. Miss Claris, and .,
u must excuse It. a. it's the only
q he's got o.. and Just look at .,
. pretty things he's been trampline =
der his great intellectual feetr' =,
And Willie held up to the astonished :,
e OF the rest q glittering Jewel -
1ich sparkled In the freight. H.,
For moment there was an oppres.
% s1ence Then Nell. pale and agi. "
ed. snatched Il from him with an.
q % unsteady that the trinket fell 70
the door again. It was Clifford who q
ked II up this time and gave II 10 ~
giri without q word. Nell would ~
re put It back into her basket but y
orge Claris. ON whom the appalled, ne
nee Of the young men had not been
I told his niece In . rough tone ~
give It to him. In
What b the thingr he asked. 10
rply. tn
Only one Of pair Of old-fashioned n
rings. uncle" answered Nell. with
'tion. which no efforts on her part -,
Id hide. pi'
Earrings! didn't know you had ~
:! Where did you get them? Who -,
e them to your .,
or one moment the girl fenced with tn.
J, trying to treat the matter lightly. An
me got upon chair and placed the II ,
k-oasket at the top Of the high "
board BY the fireplace. But George "a
- was not man to be trified with. wo
ing the girl by the shoulder 80 e.
Ihly that he almost dragged her ant
be ground. he tore the work basket INV
OF her hands. flung back the LID. II
turned out the contents upon tie lor,
E. the chairs. anywhere, until be isf,,
found both she earrings. n,
len he held <hem up to the light for