The Opelousas courier., 1905-07-01
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BNR MAE MARTINI.

Mallandaine, Struggling his should
ers. "on the veryNop of a load 0
hay, with a straw hat pulled dow,
over her eyes and aYpitchfork in he
hand!"
sense" )
"A man must believe his senses,
said Mallandaine.R 81 asked for Mis-
Fame, and the AMBIENT beldame wh'
was Smelling the pas bNothe kitchen
window pointed one' Skinny forefinge
across the fields, and answered
There she is, a-gettin' in the hay
They all stirs round lively in thes'
parts when there's a shower comm
up. You'll ind ner in the bayfield,
And your questioned Nellie.
Mr.. Mallandaine smiled ironically
"1?" said he. You must bear il
mind that I a looking for a young
lady, not for a farm-boy's assistant
so l just turned around and came
home again"
But there must be some mistaken
cried out impetuous Nellie. MY Flor
ence Fame is a princess among wo
men, tall and slender, and graceful
who plays the harp and writes delic
ious little essays, and"
There was neither harp MOI writ
ing desk on the top Of that load OF
hay" said Ted, very DECIDEDLY. "AnO
pray, Nell, don't be offended; but
| am rather disenchanted with your
rustic bellies, after my afternoons ex
%perience. Give me a cigar, please
and don't let anyone disturb me fol-
a while, there's a darling"
Nellie obeyed.
But while she found the cigar case,
handed the newspaper, and regulated
the exact fall of the curtain folds
which should be most agreeable to
her brothers optical partialities, she
puzzled her brain as to how, and why
and wherefore this little plan of hers
for an instant attachment between
Fred and Florence Fame had thus
come to an untimely standstill.
ITS the most unaccountable thing
in the world" said Nellie to herself.
II think I'll go over and see what it
all means"
Low and long, with gabled fronts
and bay windows, the Fane's farm
house stretched itself out under the
outrageous walnut trees, with For
ence's easy chair on the porch, and
Florence herself, posed like a wood
land nymph, all mauve muslin, curls
of pallid gold and fieecy folds Of Shet-
land shawl.
so glad to see you, dear!" said
Miss Fame with the princess air which
seemed to SIT so naturally on her.
Dear Florence" said Nellie, plung-
ing precipitately into her subject,
where nave you been ali the morn
Where have / been?" ..
Believe me, l am not asking for
mere curiosity" pleaded her vsaitor.
Il have a reason You will answer
me, / know
Certainly. Why shouldn't II" said
the serene one, lifting her golden
brows the sixteenth part of an inch.
Let me see-I was in the glen,
sketching the beautiful messy 5ould-
ers by the spring uf,il the shower
UP, and then I sat in my own
room and wrote a few letters"
Then it couldn't have been you,
after ALL" bluntly calculated Nellie.
What couldn't have been me?"
Tine girl with the pitcafork-on the
top of the load of hay.
ut must have been lsa," said Flor
ance Fame, with a slight shadow of
And then, laughing heartily at her
own blunder, Ellen Mallandaine relat-
I'd the morning adventure of ner
annoyance upon her smooth brow.
lisa! The little sister who has
Just returned from boarding SCHOOL,"
Miss Fame inclined her head.
There is no end to that child's
oranks," said she, impatlently. And
,apa INDUCES her in everything: Dear,
lear! hope your brother wasn't
1ery much shocked?"
Il am afraid he was" said truth
Ill Ellen. "He supposed it was you,
course. And he said you were a
Amazon, and that he didn't
ARE to make the acquaintance Of a
arm boys assistant"
Florence clasped her pink hands to-
in sylph-like despair.
Its enough to drive one frantic"
;aid she.
And in the same moment a brown
damsel, with chestnut curls
angled around her neck, and a pretty
,rown cambria dress, burst into the
DOM like a beam of sunshine.
1T isn't true!" said she, defiantly.
I'm not an Amazon, and nobody mas
Ins business to call me a farm boys
.ssistanta"
"Isa!" softly pleaded Florence, lat
ag her white palms, as If to ward off
his sudden gust Of breezy defiance.
And the hay would have. been
If I hadn't helped to ge. it
p; and poor cid John Knight would
ave been discharged for forgetting;
Ind. besides, wasn't Maud Muller, in
ne poem, o aaynaker? and did any
dare to eriticise hrs