Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-05-24

Master Frank. that they are out driv-
ing now"
But why must we wait four days"
asked Frank petulantly.
Because, my love lorn brother, In
the first place don't want to miss the
Saturday night hop, and then we are
booked for a blackboard ride tomorrow.
Another reason is l mean to pay you
Tor turning your back on us and going
off on the Gypsy" .
That afternoon Frank wrote Alice the
longest letter she had ever received,
nine full pages. 1t was received with
some pleasure and little vexation by
Alice.
"Mr. Mason and his sister are coming
here Monday" said she to Aunt Susan,
"and we must put on our best bib and
tucker, SUPPOSE. But how we can
contriye to entertain his sister is be-
yond me-" Nevertheless, she was
rather pleased at the prospective visi-
tation. Her school had been closed
for over a month and her daily life
was becoming decidedly monotonous.
When Albert had written regarding
the invitation the Nasons had extend
ed, she believed it was due solely to
Franks influence, and when that
young man tried to obtain her consent
to join yachting party, providing his
mother and sister decided to go, she
was morally sure of it. But it made
no difference, for If the supposedly
aristocratic Mrs. Mason had sent her
a written invitation she was the last
person in the world to accept it. To 80
20 out of her way for the possible op-
portunity Of allowing the only son OF
a rich family to pay court to her
was not characteristic Of Alice Page.
Rather q thousand times would she
teach school in single blessedness all
her life than be considered as putting
herself In the way Of q probable
suitor. OF her own feelings toward
Frank she was not at all sure. He
was q good looking young fellow and
no doubt stood we'll socially. At first
she had felt little contempt for him,
due to his complaints that he had hard
work to kill time. When she received
the letter announcing his determina-
ton to study law and become useful
man in the world she thought better
of him. When he came up in June
It became clear that he was In love
with her. So self evident were his
feelings that she at that time felt com.
PEELED to avoid giving him a chance
to express them. Her heart was and
always had been entirely free from the
pangs Of love, and while his devotion
was in a way quite flattering, the one
insurmountable barrier was his family.
Had he been more diplomatic he would
never have told her his mother
frowned at him when he danced twice
with poor girl.
81 am q poor girl" Alice thought,
when he made the admission, "but I'll
wear old clothes all my life before his
naughty mother shall read him lee
ture for dancing twice with me-"
Ever since the day Mrs. Mears had
related the village gossip to her she
had thought good many times about
the cause Of it, but to no one had she
mentioned the matter. Her only as
sociate, good natured Abby Miles, had
never dared to speak Of 1t, and Aunt
Susan was wise enough not to.
Now that Frank and his fashionable
sister were coming to Sandgate, Alice
felt a good deal worried. Firstly,
she knew her own stock Of gowns
was inadequate. While not vain Of
her looks, she yet felt his sister would
consider her countrified In dress or
else realize the truth that she was
painfully poor. She had made the
money her brother gave her go as far
as possible. Her own small salary
was not more than enough to pay cur
rent expenses. When the day and train
arrived, and she had ushered her two
guests to their rooms, her worry began.
A trunk had come, and as she busted
herself to help Aunt Susan get supper
under way before she changed her dress
she was morally sure Miss Mason
would appear in gown fit for state
dinner. But when she was dressed
and went out on the porch, where her
guests were, she found Miss BIanch at
tired in a white muslin, severe in its
simplicity. 1t was pleasant surprise,
and at no time during their stay did
Alice consider herself poorly clad.
During the conversation that evening
Blanch gave an interesting description
Of her life in the mountains, who were
there, what gowns the ladies wore, the
hops, drives. tennis, croquet and whist
games, and when that topic was ex-
hausted Alice turned to Frank and
said, "Now, tell us about your trip"
"There Is not much to tell" he an
swered in a disappointed tone. "The
fact is, my yachting trip was failure.
had two weeks trip all mapped out,
no end Of stores on board, and antici-
pated lots Of fun. but it didn't matert-
alize. The second day Bert got left or
the island, and we didn't find him un.
| til the next day. In the meantime he
had found a pretty girl and acted as II
he had become smitten with her. Then
we ran to Bar Harbor, and the rest OF
] the boys found some girls they knew