The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-12-14

right: bUt il is always the same. I have
the strong feeling that L. is there. waiting
for me. :nv sister"
Bat Viii YOU have reason. silly child
cried thu sister.
1t i reasonable, my sister. TO have the
strong G--ir- 10 find my dear father Re
piled Z.ph-rine.
At any rate, il seemed reasonable TO the
Eirl: ami. AS she was tn go away from the
convent and out into the world In any event.
the mother superior decided 10 take the
matter into her own hands.
So she wrote to Father Martin. making
such inquiries as TO the nature OF the cas-.
as her strong interest in the girl called for.
Father Martin knew the Cloptons we'll.
and h. lost no time in placing in the moth
er superIur's hands such information as
was calculated to set her mind at rest.
So, at last. after considerable correspond
en'". I'll" matter was arranged definitely.
ana tn" ycung girl came South TO begin,
az she Thought, the search for her father.
1t wa the beginning OF summer when
Zepherin" reached SHADY Dale.
As Toy Erph-rin". -he felt she WAS taking
a long step in the direction of her father.
amt there VAS n"yer u moment when she
regretted II. saI- during tn. last hour Of
her journey. when depression seized her.
asd all sorts of DOUBTS and fears and grim
foreb"Iire= took possession If her mind.
Ent. after all. matters fell out Very We'll.
Who could have dreamed that Sarah
clOpton would take the girl in her arms a,
the first moment o: their meeting:
The little French Canadi.uHe. shy as Il
wood blossom. very quickly made u place
| Tor herself in the hearts OF those who came
10 know her well.
She was ttmi.l and sensitive to a degree.
and vt had Il certain form of p!!de that
stood her in good stead.
! For one thing, this pride compelled her
10 learn English very rapidly. and there
was a certain daintin-ss in her way OF
| SieaEilig ;h= difficult tongue that tt,kl-d
! Mr- Billy Sanders immensely.
b jigg-d. IF she don't know the dc
! tivnary b. heart" lie declared on one &c
! c4>iuu.
Shes like thu gal in the candy store
that guer+es what you want by the way
Your mouth dribblss. This French girl
| picks "ut the pur,iest words You ever heard
in all You: Tom days
And there was Il good deal OF truth in
what Mr. Sanders said. and lie was partly
responsible for II. With no particular
knowledge Of literary English. Mr.. San
d-rs. nevertheless. had a very keen ear for
the veTracular. and d broad smile used to
spread over his benevolent countenance
when Zepherine tripped In her English.
There We're times when she thought she
hated Mr.. Sanders, but his smiles spurred
her on until she came to handle the yer
nacular much more correctly than any OF
her acqr~!afntanCes-but always with a
quaint accent. which Nan Darlington
thought the most beautiful sound her ears
had ever heard.
Mr. Sanders used 10 contend that he had
but three weakneSse-Nan. Z-pherin. and
John Barleycorn. Nan. who was Only l..
spent more than two-thirds of her waking
thoughts in the land of romance.
To her. Iephe:ine was a beautiful girl.
~" was the victim Of some malicious fairy.
She would find her father, and then the
spell would b. broken.
Il she didn't become , Princess she would
at least marry some handsome young man
and be happy forever after.
As for Mr. Sanders. Nan regarded him as
q man who could work magic.
L he had turned into a beautiful Prince
right before her eyes she would not have
been IN thu least surprised.
She knew perfectly we'll tina: he could
find Iepherln-'s father. or tell her how to
ind him. whenever he thought the proper
-. wa ~ ia
III" powers Of Mr.. Sanders that she used to
say 1" him when they We're alone to-
sether: Don't lets find Miss Johns's IA
ther TO" soon: she might go away"
Ir. Sanders always hurnoreG Mans ro-
names. When her mischievousness became
unend"Table. Mr.. Sanders had a way of
making a very demure young woman of
the child ;
Don't b" such a rowdy. Nan" he would
say Frank BetnEne yves y0u a whip
pin. an I'll make him pay you off eff you
don't behave"
The mention of Bethune's name always
had a SOLDERING effect on Nan.
Tit two were supposed to be sworn enc |
mics. AID were not even on speaking terms.
After the advent OF Zepherine the old
Ci"pton homestead no longer had an empty |
appearance" |
Nan came every day. and. in fact. spent ;
more than half of her time there. :
Mr. Sanders took a great fancy to the \
stranger from the first. |