The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-11-07
A FIT OF TEMPER.
BY CECIL HAYTER.

BY CECIL HAYTER.
Miss Anstruther was in a very bad
temper.
The previous evening she and Dick
\andeleur had had furious quarrel at
the Dysarts' dance. It was most i'm
portant quarrel, though it's origin was
hazy and indistinct, and Miss Anstruther
had spent a sleepless night in conse-
quence.
Under the circumstances. it was nat
ural, therefore, that fate condemned her
to sit next him at Mrs. Barclays dinner
table. 1t was large party, and they
were all going on to dance at the Graf
ton later.
Miss Anstruther had very properly
started dressing with the determination of
thoroughly snubbing the Vandeleur youth
throughout the evening, of being Jelly
dignitied, and in neartlessly good spirits
whenever she noticed him watching her
from afar. There is nothing SO invigorat-
ing or so conducive to self-respect as
snnhbing some one else.
But "the best laid schemes of mice and
men aft gang etc. never could spell
Scotch dialect. In pursuance of which
proverb, when she came to put OH her
Lew frock fresh from the dressmaker's
and which was to form such an impor-
tant item in the Jelly digniied part of
the programme, it was an abominablc
misit. The skirt hung all wrong, and,
as for the bodice, it was-well, there,
no words are adequate, or, at least, none
of Miss Anstruther's was equal to the
occasion.
She grew hot and angry, and the maid,
with her mouth full of pins, and her
head bewildered maze of contradictory
orders, grew hot and flustered. BY the
time the frock had been made presentable
it was already late, so poor Daisy An
struther, instead of arriving, according
to the aforesaid alluring pictures, frigid,
self-possessed and statuesque, bundled
out of the carriage good ten minutes
late, was asked by her hostess if she had
met with an accident, and felt painfully
conscious that something was amiss with
her hair at the back
Miss Anstruther succeeded in ignoring
the Vandeleur youth throughout the SOUP
and the fish, and half way through the
first entree, devoting herself entirely to
the extremely dull and pompous young
man on her right, who conversed of
Browning and himself-principally him
self.
But during a sudden lull in the con-
versation, the pompous Dung man hav.
ing been temporarily annexed by his
| neighbor on the far side, a voice muir
INJURED in her ear:
Il say, Daisy, excuse me, but you've
got couple of hairpins sticking out at
the back"
Involuntarily her hand went up to her
head, and a judicious pat made things all
right.
She murmured chilly "Thank YOU
without even turning toward him, and
stared blankly across the table. But in.
wardly she was seething with rage.
II say, don't glare like that" said the
| voice again presently. I'm awfully sor-
ry, you know"
This time she did look at him.
'Sorry! What on earth for?" she
asked, raising her eyebrows.
''For being such an idiot last night, you
know, and
II really don't know what in the world
you are talking about. You seemed tc
me much the same last night as any
other night. Of course, your description
of yourself may be accurate, for all that
MIR. Vanleleu:"
Il say, Daisy, don't be so down OF
mol" said the voice penitentIy. "Tn
really most awfully sorry! l didn't
know it was your dance I cut; and you
you were down at supper the whole time
yourself, so I don't see why you shout;
be in such a temper
"I'm not in temper, Mr.. Vande;>r
and really must ask you not to call m,
Daisy"
Vandeleur was about to make reply
but Miss Anstruther turned away ant
took refuge in the conversation of tn,
pompous young man, so he devoted him
self savagely to the entree instead.
Presently, however, he seized another
opportunity. "What do you mean by
that, Dais-I beg your pardon, Mis-!
Anstruther Do you mean you want m,
to 60 away-to give you up?"
II wish you wouldn't speak so loud. >
said Miss Anstruther, people might hear
As for giving me up, should like to re-
mind you that we were never formal,
engaged. And as to any ideas there ma,
have been on the subject, I've changed
my mind, that's ALL"
Il suppose there's some one else," sale
poor Dick, gloomily, helping himself t.
salt for the third time.
Il suppose there isl" snapped Miss An
struther. And for the remainder of thu
dinner she devoted herself exclusively t.
the pompous young man, who was after
ward heard to admit that she was q most
intelligent girl.