Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1905-10-26

y
| and onc-haIf years, regarded her new
| treasure with slow. contcmplative
| gaze. brief past. checkered by the
| speedy demise Of various cherished
| chickens. goldfish and birds. had rem
dered her somewhat skeptieal rs to the
value of birds, but this puppy looked
| encouragingly healthy.
| Il expect you might live as long as
| ten years" she speculated, land by
| then | shall probably be married and
not miss you II anything did happen"
| At which satisfactory conclusion size
| yielded to her surging affection ana
| Rugged the puppy close. an attention
which he returned by a series Of damp
| kisses from a small red tongue
But there was still Aunt lillian to he
| reckoned with. Aunt lillian did not
| like dogs In fact, Belinda was not
sure that she had discovered what
| Aunt Lillian did like. and Miss Fer.
| rars herself was beginning to have
doubts on the subject. When her sis
! ter's health had necessitated n sudden
| trip to Europe Miss Ferrars had eager
| ~ offered to take charge of Belinda
The results had been startling Miss
| Forrars, filled with conscientious en-
| thusiasn. set herself to the task of in.
| culcatlng the precepts Of wisdom into
| the Youthful mind, but Belinda, placid,
| unmoved pursued an unimpressed
course Miss Fcrrars sighed She
| had imagined children as clean faced,
| curly haired infalis with gentle, obedi-
| ent ways. Belinda was rarely clean:
| no amount of twisting could persuade
| curl into those unruly locks. Miss
| Fcrrars began to wonder whether she
| had been wise to assume this respon-
slbility. She admitted to herself that
| she did not in the least understand the
| child, but she loved her, which helped
| lot, even IL Miss Fcrrars did not
know IT,
| Now. daintily fresh and sweet in the
| crispest of white muslins. Miss Ferrars
| sat on the wide. cool verandn embroid-
| erlng some pretty trlfie The sudden
appariton Of shaggy, painting puppy
| IN her lap caused her to emit a little
shrek Then her eyes met Belinda's
earnest face
'It's my new ,uppy," exclaimed Be
linda. 81 love him lot, and he loves
me He viii love you, too" she added
generously Miss Ferrars hesitated
but, Beliuda"-- Bellnda's lip began
to tremble; misty film crept over her
eyes. Miss Ferrars' heart softened.
well" she relented, "if he Is kept
in the stable, perhaps Why, Belin-
da"--strucs by new thoughtI-"where
did you get him."
Belinda waved vague arm. "Over
there" she observed Importantly. "a
man gave him to me. He said his
name was Frank, so that's the puppy's
name named him for him"
what" cried Miss Ferrars, She
had flushed deep, lovely pink; then
the color had faded. Frank! He was
back, then. With a quick movement
she pushed the puppy from her lap.
How had he dared speak to the child?
OF course she must not allow Belinda
to keep his dog Yet, to break her
worda thing against all Der theories
of INFRINGING. \ troubled frown puck
cred her white forehead
You may keep the puppy" she de-
clared reluctantly. but he must not
come near the house. Do You under
stand, Bclinda?"
And Belinda nodded a bliSsful Yes"
From that day the two were insep-
| arabic. If Miss Ferrars had hoped
| that Belinda might grow tired of her
| acquisition. the hope faded. Wherever
the chubby little legs wandered, close
| behind stumbled the faithful puppy,
1t soon became impossible to enforce
the stable order: Belinda insisted upon
the constant companionshIp OF her
| treasure.
Miss Ferrars grew restless. The
| pretty soft pink of her cheeks began
| to pale. Why had Frank Halstcad come
home? Did he mean to stay? This
possibility of running across him made
her nervous. She fell into the habit OF
taking long walks in the country, linz
gering along the shady woodland paths
She wished TO be out il he called, she
! told herself.
But he did not call. and Miss Fer
rars' eyes began 10 have tired, I'M
happy look If only he would 20 away
| And this constant hearing of his name,
"Fwank. Fwank, bwank." all day long,
| Miss Fcryars felt sometimes as If she
hated the dog
Belinda. vaguely conscious of some
thing wrong watched her aunt with
childish, wistful anxiety. Did auntle
| really not like Frank She said she
did not. but once Belinda had come
upon her patting the rough little back
and Belinda had seen that there We're
! tears. really tears. m arntie's eyes
Belinda was sorclv puzzled She logged
for Solue ONE with whom she ,)uld
| consult. But mamma was away off
across the ocean, and Frank, though
| striving his best to console was no
use as adviser. Aud then suddenly
Belir N gasped under the force of q
daring inspiration,
If she could find that nice young man
who had given her Frank-if she could
talk things over with him! The mem
DRY Of the merry blue eyes, the kindly
| smile. still dwCit in the childS grateful
little heart though since that day she
had been forbidden TO 80 nea- the