Waterbury Democrat., 1901-03-29
CHAPTER XIII,


 most content.
 CHAPTER XIII.
 Raymond Holbin had found it diff cult to advance his cause with Frances, if for no other reason than that few opportunities for seeing her alone presented themselves. He had sought interviews repeatedly and offered the many little courtesies which the male resident of a house may extend to those of the other sex, but they had been declined with q persistence that only added fuel to the flames which were consuming him. The girl seldom dined with the family; she had during her fathers long illness instituted little house keeping plan of her own and took her meals in her apartments, mat ter very conveniently arranged by reason of the position of the apart Ments and the constant attendance of mammy. Occasionally, yielding to the insistence of her stepmother, she joined the family upstairs, but on such occasions she carefully avoided a tete-a-tete with Raymond, with drawing always with the elder wom- an. On such occasions, the inevitable topic had been the war. it's vicissi- tudes. and the responsibilities it. in- yOlved. In these meetings and the presence of great events she after awhile learned, if not to like her step mother, at least to suspend judgment upon her; indeed, sometimes she had been tempted to doubt the correct ness of her former judgment, for when the city began to be crowded with wounded Mrs. BroolSin threw open her house to them and gave much of her time to their care. The gentIeness with which the elder wom- an entered into this work, her gen. erosity and her universal courtesy were bound to impress such girl as Frances. Once, as though yielding to noble impulse, she placed her arm about the girl and said:
 My child, you have surprised and gratitied me of late. If l had known you years ago We should never have been less than friends. Try to forget the days when l seemed unllind, please, and do not cherish anger towards an old woman" Frances tried to forget, but always in the presence of Mrs. Brookin she felt constraint. She seemed ever to have entered an atmos phere that had been stripped of its cleo. tricity. Try as she mi ght, it had been impossible to respond unreservedly tc her advdnces; the best she could do was to meet them with courtesy. The presence of wounded men in the house gave Raymond for a short time an opportunity to see something of Frances, and he, too, became famous nurse. But one day Frances assured him that if he should prove as good a fighter as he was a nurse promotion would follow; then he came less often | Twice before she had been unable tc | resist the temptation to touch the raw | place; once she had asked him directly | how it was that a man could keep out o1 | war in which other men were win ming fame; and once, in reply to his | question:: Twill you ever like me | Frances?" she said: "A Virginia 1 woman should not be expected to like civilians, overmuch when Virginia soil is invaded At length, to avoid him she gave more of her time to the hos. | pital, yielding the care of those in the home to her stepmother and the l trained, nurses. Mrs: Brookin won golden opinions in those days. A week seldom passed without the appearance of her name in print coupled with lav ish commendation.
 | Dr. Brodnar, busy every hour of the | twenty-four in which his gian1 strength could sustain him awake, hae but little time to spare for Frances; but one day in the hospital he got 8 brief report of the girls new eNperi ence.
 ''If I had not discovered that l am better at saving off legs than fighting scheming women, my child, should say that you have never been in se l much danger as now; but l have re tired as an adviser of young women By the way, have you decided that you will come out and keep company al home? My wife sends an invitation moi less than once week."
 ''No," she said, ''it would seem ikt running. But tell Mrs. Brodnar an very grateful for her kindness" 1 ..All right. Come when you please l and, Frances, call me fool as often as you wish, but be careful what you ca in your stepmother's house-and take no medicine there! How have you sat l isfied them about the night when friend of ours got his wound?" ..They have never been satisfied, think They tell me am full o' thims- and perhaps they class th21