, 1904-11-16
Miss Mitford's
Sacrifice
By KEITH GORDON
Copyright. 1904, by Keith Gordon

small square table sat a slight woman
whose dark eyes met young Barton's
exploring glance with a smile lurking
In their depths, and whom, with the
arrogance of youth, he promptly cata-
logued in his mind as odd" Around
the next corner and directly opposite
him the figure of a June.like young
creature appeared, silent and Impress
i've Is the facade of a handsome build
ing. At his left a dapper middle aged
man, whose hair showed a shameless
tendency to retreat by the back way,
was eating his soup in a severely bust
nesslike manner.
Neither the young lady nor the little
man showed the slightest ripple of in
terest in the stranger at the table, and
with the chagrin of a warm nature
whose open friendliness has been 81
lently declined his wandering glance
came back to Miss Milford.
The demure smile in her eyes seemed
to have deepened, and whether it
AlCaAlt . 6lPoLh1 VI doidoOLAOhb 40 liz
open question. At any rate Stuart
Barton reversed his decision and de-
cided that she was no very old after
all and that she undoubtedly under
stood.
He had heard of people SO congenial
that they were old friends before they
had time to become new %acquaint-
ances. Before the meal was over he
was convinced that Miss Milford and
he were persons of that description. To
be sure, they spoke only in platitudes,
but there was a raillery in her soft
eyes and in the smile that played about
her lips which seemed to answer his
keen but unexpressed derision of their
conventional companions.
When you are young, eager and I'M
bilious and have come to New York to
rise" you have an aching need of in
telligent, sympathetic companionship.
Before a week was past Stuart Barton
began to find Miss Mitford's society as
necessary to his comfort as sleep or
food.
She listened to his arrogant, boyiSh
views of men and things with an inter
est which had not always been accorded
them and which did not fail of its eff
feet. After the jaded, cynical opinions
of older men she really found them as
exhilarating as wine. Always they
parted with a grudging n Of break
ing off at the most interesting point,
with a parenthetical ITO be contin-
ued," like a serial story.
More than once she had surprised
amused chances on the faces of other
boarders, and she was far too acute
not to interpret their meaning accu-
rately. But she remained tranquil, too
happy and engrossed to care what the
common, conventional herd might
think.
az suppose you know that they are
saying all sorts of things about us?'
she said to him one evening when Miss
Selwyn's behavior at dinner had
amounted to nothing less than a repri-
mand.
Then she went on mercilessly: "They
probably say that 1 am leading you on,
that l am old enough to know better,
that l am a designing old maid and a
few more nice things of that sort. |
want you to know all about it, because
I am a lot older than you, sixteen long
years of 1865 days each"
She paused, with a queer, GREATNESS
feeling that was an unpleasant sur
prise to herself. She waited for his an
swer as if her life hung upon his
words.
Bother your age!" he laughed gayly.
"Your eyes are as young as-as'-he
hesitated, casting about for a simile-
"as Miss Selwyn's. Indeed they're a
good deal younger, and so is your
mind. Your age is just right. 1t is |
who am beastly young. Don't ever
mention it again, for l feel like a mere
kid when you talk like this"
Having disposed of the suggestion in
this summary manner, he began to
talk of other and ~pleasanter things,
and before long Miss Mitford's clear
laugh was ringing out like a girls.
Miss Selwyn was passing through the
hall, heard it and wondered in a vague
ly nettled way what Mr.. Barton saw in
that old maid. There were times when
she half regretted her hauteur to the
young stranger. His eyes certainly
were fine. Besides, it touched her
pride that a man should deliberately
turn to another woman when she was
at hand. The fact that the woman was
her senior and no beauty only made
the offense more heinous.
BY degrees, therefore, her manner
toward him changed, thawing slowly,
but surely, like ice before the spring
o,o Dat tho,0b chic maltod RartoD