The White Pine news. [volume] (Treasure City, Nev.) 1868-1906, 1904-02-04
FAIR OR DARK

Z tlit III 1haiSibk - ~ 49,
/ the pages of the Morning Post. she
/ treated her sister Celia to CLASSY
stare.
Gross and streaky:" she repeated,
slowly We'll, | suppose it takes
/ fair woman to look beaming by II
o'clock in the morning
Celia, on tiptoe before the fireplace,
smiled at her own pink and white re-
j Fiction in the mirror.
When a man does not propose"
she announced. apparently addressing
the coal box, 'ft is invariably the wom-
ans fault. Why did you manage SO
badly"
Silence.
Either proceeded Celia, "either
+ you snubbed him atrociously, or you
encouraged him indecently. Which
was IT."
/ Still silence.
Celia, though delighted with her
own eloguence, felt she had missed the
buls-eye.
Twisting round on the fender stool,
she faced her sister.
Margaret" in tragic whisper,
Margaret, were you mad enough to
laugh at him?'
The Morning Post rustled impa-
! tiently.
you think you know everything,
Celia, but you don't"
but l mean to-" replied the other,
significantly, land good intentions
count for something. It's no use Quib-
bling" she went on, you did or said
something to gag Godfrey Pelham.
/ What was it:
| Lady Margaret gave a mirthless
/ laugh.
"Oh, he proposed, right enough" she
! said.
/ The blue china eyes opened wider.
Proposed, did he? Then why on
earth"
Then Lady Margaret dropped the
Morning Post
Cecilia" she asked, you admire
dark men, don't your
The whilom inquisltor blushed.
Most awfully" she murmured,
but what Of that?'
Nothing, only don't; and last
night L"
Good heavens!" gasped Celia, 81 be-
! lleve you told him So
Silence.
Margaret (sternly), | give you up.
] Won toll thaf nnaaonE nf Cnnffpnv
! that you don't admire him, and then
weep inside the Morning Post because
he didn't propose
"oh, DEAR" moaned the culprt, ~
only said how queer it felt to find my
self accepting him when I'd loathed
dark men all my life
And, pray, what did he sayr in
| quired Celia, with the air of the kind
keeper to the prize imbecile.
"He-he jumped up, turned blacker
| than ever, and said since he was per-
sonally repugnant TO Inc he would re-
tract his unfortunate proposal"
Him." said Celia, In scornful pity,
/ Il should think you and Sidney Rendle
lad better marry each other"
sidney Rendle? Why"
"Why not? He's almost an Albino;
fair enough to please even you, l I'm
aginc, and he loves dark women"
"IIow do you know
He told me So
Told you so. When! Last night?"
"Yes; he was quite charming to me
II to y,d
and then-then thought he was going
20, but-but-'
But he didn't" supplied Lady Mar
garet Drying her eyes, she sat up.
when young man doesn't pro-
pose. she quoted, 1T Is Invariably the
woman's fault. Why did yon manage
so badly?"
at was not my fault" cried Celia.
II neither snubbed nor encouraged
him. l didn't laugh at him nor cen.
sure his appearance 1t was he who
said, all of a sudden and without any
warning, that he had an aversion to
fair women. Oh, it was awful.' and
Ce ia, too, produced her handkerchief
And what did you sayT'
81? l said it was pity he hadn't
! told me so before, and that l hated
Albinos myself, and glow-worms, and
balls, and"
IF you please, my lady, Sir Godfrey
Pelham is in the drawing-room and
begs you will see him for one mo-
ment."
The maid addressed Lady Margaret,
who, after hasty interview with the
mirror, glanced interrogatively at her
sister.
Eyes, of course" cried Celia, "go at
once, but don't forget to rave about
his Spanish profile she called out, as
Margaret fitted down the stairs.
"A note for you, my lady," said the
maid, re-entering, and Celia, CHANGING
at the salver, saw the well-known
handwriting.
"Falr lady," she read, you interrupt.
ed me last night In the middle of an
important sentence. MIsunderstand-
ing is costly, SO write to put one fact
beyond its reach. AS l tried to tell
you, l always felt an aversion to fair
women until met you. Since then
I am Indifferent to all women fair or