The Press., 1905-02-08
WITLESS
| IL WILES
BY Martha McculIOch-wilIiams
coD,isha, 1904. " M.rlha Aeculoeh- william.


narrowly town held its breath,
watching the encounter of the Cars
and the Phillipses. Specifically, it
/ was u comedy; potentially, a tragedy.
/ After loftily ignoring each other for
thirty years. the rival houses were at
last forced to take intimate cognizance
| one of each other. 81 sa.4. rs
| 1t came about naturally enough. John
Carr and Luke Phillips, the present
/ heads of the families, had been in col
! lege days the chosen friends of Billy
Bluff, who now, as the famous Sena-
tor Bluff, was in narrowly on purpose
! to visit them. A great card was the
senator Neither of the enemies could
afford to give him up wholly to the
other. As he knew nothing of the I'M
\ friendliness, they did not choose to en-
| tighten him. Contrariwise, they made
tacit and temporary truce, sINaking
civilly to each other in his presence
and even sitting at each others boards
to do him cordial honor.
This was less awkward than 1t might
have been, since there had never been
| a violent breaeh-only drawing away
ana looking to the other side of the
street or over heads in casual en-
counters.
The quarrel was over the choice of Il
minister, and, of course, all the bitter
er for that. The Cars had been worst
ed, and, though they still came to st.
MfchaePs and duly supported all its
thing else. Therefore everybody felt
that their grudge was the greatest.
Luke Phillips pretty we'll ran the min
listers and quite ran the church.
A masterful man, with Il daughter of
his own stripe. he could not very well
help it. Oriana, the daughter, was in
deed so much Il chip off the old block
her fine name made part of the comedy.
She was twenty-five. tall and stout,
with dark eyes and fine carriage, to
say nothing of the way she wore her
clothes Almost every Sunday her
fingers fairly itched to get hold of
Louise Cars ribbons.
Louise was the younger by five years,
sweet faced and sunny tempered, but
woefully careless as to how she looked.
So she had clean clothes and whole it
never bothered her in the least what
else they were or were not. She GER
tainly did look odd in plain coat sleeves
When every other woman in church
had dangling. baggy puffs and frills
all over her arms.
Perhaps if he had not seen her first
in a party frock with no sleeves to
speak of Senator Bluff might not have
given her a second thought. He was a
bachelor and as rich as he was diStin-
guished. Gossip limited, too, that he
was looking for Il wife. Gossip said
also in a way not to be gainsaid he
would look Il long time before finding
anybody better suited to the position
than Oriana.
Oriana herself was quite of that
opinion, although of course she kept it
unspoken. Senator Bluff was certainly
impressed at their first meeting. He
insisted upon putting up at the hotel,
although dining or breakfasting every
day with his old college chums. Louise
was away at her grandmother's when
he came. Thus for a whole week ORR
ana had a clear field.
Then the Grays gave a party, and
Louise danced at it, a slim white
wrath moving ON winged feet, with
yellow hair tumbling all about her
rosy face and every fiber vibrant with
joy in the music and the rhythmic mo
ton.
Until he saw her Senator Bluff had
said staidly that his dancing days were
over. AT fifty one might we'll leave
such things to the new generation
Judge then Oriana's wrath when she
saw him waltzing with Louise and
waltzing extremely well. looking full
in his partners face the while and
smiling as he had not smiled since he
came to Harrowby.
Next day it was even worse. The !
senator breakfasted at the Cars and |
afterward took Louise and |
her mother for a long vagrant drive |
about the country. Gaping the climax, |
he brought them along with him to |
dine at the Phillips house, saying airily |
to Oriana, who was mistress of it: |
You see, / take your father at his |
word. He said the house was mine |
while stayed"
'You did quite right" Oriana said |
sweetly, treasured by glance ut Lou
Use. The girl had on a faded blue ging- |
ham two years out of date, and her |
hair was positively stringy. No doubt |
the senator thought of her as only a |
little girl in the awkward age, hence in |
need of special consideration. No man |
in his senses would look at her in COM |
parison with Oriana, stately vision |
in canary yellow gauze, with dark red |
roses nodding against her bare breast |
and nestled amid the darkness of her |
haiEs'
Louise gazed at her joyously. You
are always splendid, Miss Ana. To
night you are a queen" she said, then |
went to dinner. quite unconscious Of |
her own rumpled appearance.
She had smoothed her hair a bit and |
stuck a spray of sweet peas in the low
coil so the flowers dropped against her |
soft. white neck. Young Luke Phil |
lips. who took her out looked at her
and patronfzingly decided that she was
a dowdy.. Before dinner ended he :
his mind. Senator Bluff man.
aged somehow to set Louise telling
stories and acting them. She had the
rare and heavenly gift of losing her !
self entirely I'm whatever she did. So,
utterly neglecting her plate, she was
by turns the minister's wife making a
pseudo pastoral visit. her grandmoth-
er's companion. French Peter at the
tollgate or Miss Jane SOwell, the mil
liner, with Harrowby's hats on her
In vain her mother frowned, sighed, /
tried to stop her. A creature of within
md impulse, Louise would not be stay
ed. AS a consequence Luke Junior
vent back to the parlor pretty well en-.
shaved. Oriana saw 1t, with rejoicing,
,IfhonOh q forfnf1bf hool- Ohio xuo,,Id |