The Washington times., 1905-10-01

when Alice Beldng was sitting beside |
her" 1t was pleasant to think, how
ever, that the secret of his unhappy |
love was safe. Nobody was gossiping !
about il. and using the name of his |
beloved in idle conjectures. That was
as 1t should be. His love was sacred
from rude comment. He could go and
st by Miss Dallas. so near his beloved
that ne could see every breath move
the lace on her bosom. He could watch
the color come and go on her young
cheek. He could hear every word her
sweet voice uttered, and nobody would !
know he was conscious of her exist
ence.
Full of this thought. he sat down by
Miss Dallas. who greeted him warmly
and turned her back upon her friends
By looking over her shining white shoul-
der. he could see the clear. pure pro-
file of Alice just beyond. so near that he
could have laid his hand on the crinkled
gold of her hair. He then gave himself
up TO that duplex act to which all un-
ayowed lovers are prone-the simIltan-
eous secret worship of one woman and
open devotion to another. 1t never oc-
Cured to him that there was anything
reprehensible to throw the name of
Miss Dallas into the arena of gossip
as that of Miss Belding That was not
his affair: there was only one person in
the universe to be considered by him.
And for Miss Dallas part, she was the
last person in the world to suspect any
one of being capable OF the treason
and bad taste OF looking over her shoul-
der at another woman. She was. by
common consent, the belle of Buff
land. Her father was a widowed cler-
Gyman, Of good estate, of literary ten
dencies. OF enormous personal vanity.
who had abandoned the pulpit in
quarrel with his session several years
before, and now occupied himself I'm
writing poems and sketches Of an amor
Gus and pietistic nature. which in his
opinion embodied in the best qualities OF
Swinburne and Chalmers combined, but
steadily refused to print.
! X "
He felt himself infinitely superior to
| the society of Buffland-with one excep-
| tion-and only remained there because
| his property was not easily negotiable
and required his personal care The
one exception was his daughter Euphra-
| sia. He had educated her after his
| own image. In fact, there was a re-
| markable physical likeness between
them. and he had impressed upon her
every trick Of speech and manner and
! thought which characterized himself.
This is the young lady who turns her
| bright. keen, beautiful face upon Farm
| ham, with eyes eager to criticise. a
| tongue quick TO fiatter and to condemn.
head stuffed full of poetry and arti-
1
all danger by it's idolatry of her father
| and herself
so glad 10 see you-one sees so little
of you-I can hardly believe my good
| fortune-how have 1 this honor?" All
this in hard, rapid sentences, with a
brilliant smile.
Farnham thought OF the last words
of Mrs. Adipson, and said. intrepidly,
well. you know the poets better than
| do. Miss Euphrasia, and there is some
body who says, Beauty draws us by
the simple way she does her hair'-or
something like It, That classic fillet
was the first thing 1 saw as / entered
the room. and me voiciI
| We have already said that the fault
of Farnham's conversation with women
was the soldiers fault of direct and
indiscriminate compliment. But this
was too much in Euphrasia's manner
for her to object TO IT, She laughed
and said, You deserve a pensum of
fifty lines for such misquotation. But.
dites-donc. monsleur'-for French was
one OF her favorite affectations, and
when she found man to speak il
with, she rode the occasion TO death
There had been a crisis in the French
ministry a few days before, and she
now began voluble conversation on
the subject. ostensibly desiring Farm
hams opinion on the crisis. but really
seizing the opportunity of displaying
! her familiarity with the names Of the
new cabinet She talked with great
spirit and animation. sometimes using
her fine eyes point-blank upon Farnham,
sometimes glancing about TO observe
} the effect she was creating; which gave
Farnham his opportunity to sigh his
soul away over her shoulder TO where