Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1901-07-20

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resolve.
"Our dance, Miss Sergeant"
The girl looked up.
"Is it? No; don't want to dance.
Do you mind if we sit it out?"
"Do / mindp" repeated Dawnay,
with look in his blue eyes which
only amused the beautiful Miss
Sergeant. She had seen that look so
often that it made little or no i'm
preston OH her. Had she not danced
and flirted through some dozen sea-
sons and received more than her
share of attention. OF course, Ter
ence was a nice, dear boy, but as to
anything else-she laughed at the
mere idea. She was striving for a
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 thoroughly. He believed that
here was the lady of his dreams.
Have you any more dances to
spare me?" he pleaded. ~ know I
was late, but that was not my fault"
"Not one left" she said Indifferent
ly.
She talked to him in her low, sweet
voice, and he was quite content to
sit in the cool shadow and listen to
her.
"And when do you go on leave"'
she said, lazily.
That" he said, steadily, entirely
depends on circumstances"
Meaning the little girl you left in
Devonshire?" she said with a mock
ing smile. "Oh, l know all about
herl Lord Carruthers-you know
him?-told me he knew her people,
81 don't know what you mean?"
he said, hotly. "There is but one
woman in the world for me, and
She"
He broke off. A couple were pass
ing their retreat, talking in light,
laughing tones.
"Rhoda Sergeant? Oh, she will
end by marrying Carruthers, of
course. She is only playing her
usual little game with that nice boy,
Dawnay. She might spare such a
youngster. That sort of woman has
40 mercy"
The voices trailed away into 81
lence.
"You heard that?" said Dawnay in
hoarse accents; "but it is not true?
1t can't be true that you have been
playing with me all these weeks?"
The woman looked at him for
moment. Some good angel, a rare
enough visitor to her, urged her to
tell the truth for once. She did so
with curious feeling of pity. The
boy was in such earnest.
ut is quite true"
Dawnay staggered to his feet.
For few terrible minutes he look
ed at her in silence-a silence which
frightened her.
"Then Heaven help the man who
loves you'll" he said, and turned and
left her.
Terence Dawnay sat in his quar-
ters with his head buried in his
arms; the cool dawn crept in
through the windows on the motion
less figure; for hours after his re-
turn from the ball he had not moved.
Presently he raised his head and
looked about him with haggard
eyes; he got up stiffly and drew a
long breath.
His infatuation was dead. He had
called it love in his youthful igno-
rance, but the bewildering light of
truth had dispelled that idea forever.
What a fool he had been! He stood
for moment looking out on the still,
gray morning, and, with sudden
flood of renorse, remembered the
letter to which there had been no
answer; the letter which in mo-
ment OF his blind infatuation he had
written to his dear little girl. He
loved her-loved her. Dear Heaven!
had he thrown away the substance
only to find himself striving to grasp
a shadow?
Why had she never written to
him? Had she given him up with
out word, without even a strug-