The Opelousas courier., 1905-07-01
81 am sure" mildly commenced

III TIC al, III WV leu opoIo III LIN
cheeks. And tell your brother, Miss
Nellie, that I am as little anxious t
make his acquaintance as he is mine
!. And exit lisa, not without some
slight emphasis on the closing of the
door.
Fred laughed a little when the
younger Miss Fane's defiant message
was brought to him.
She need not be alarmed" he said
There is no sort of probability that
we shall be brought into contact with
| each other
But Man proposes and God dis
posas!" says the sparkling proverb;
and the week was not out before Mr.
Frederick Mallandaine, strolling
among the picturesque woods which
surrounded the old house which the
paterfamilias had taken for the sum
mer, found himself in a ruined saw
mill, where tall, sweet fern bushes
grew through the yawning %creyic2s
Of the moldering floor, and the sun
beams sifted like misty lines Of gold
between the cracks in the roof above.
There must be a view from that
peak" said Fred to himself; and
spripging up a slight ladder, which
feared itself from beam to beam, he
picked his way across the perilous
flooring to the window, which looked
out I'VE a breezy stretch Of vale and
upland, where the blue windings of a
river flashed in the, sunshine, and the
uRdulations of a distant mountain
chain seemed to close up the horizon
with its purple %gateWays.
AS he stood there, feasting his eyes
upon the prospect, a slight noise be-
low attracted his ear; he hurried to
the edge of the floor, only in time TO
discover that the ladder, mis- sole
means of escape, vas walking off upon
the shoulders of a stout, silver-haired
old man, who whistled cheerfully as
he went.
"Halloa!" he shouted. Hold on
there, my man! Where are you going
with that ladder?"
No answer-no response of any ma
ture.
rs the man deaf?' cried Fred, in a
sort of frenzy.
That was precisely what old John
knight was. AS deaf as the pToverb-
ial post!
Pretty lisa Fame was waiting for him
on the edge of the ruins, holding up
n pretty finger.
Huh, john" said she. Don't you
hear some one calling?'
Il didn't mind anybody" said old
John, whoe dull ears could catch Isa's
clear, sReet voice, when all the shout
ing of the farmhandS was inaudible
to him.
ut must be the owls, or some n
shooting squirrels in the glen, may
be-"
No. said lisa, crisply; sits a voice
calling. Stay mere, John, until l come
back"
John stood still, contentedly, with
the ladder on his shoulder, while his
young mistress hurried up the steep
bank as fast as she could.
who is it?" she cried, in a voice
sweet and slrill as a thrush's warbla.
1T is T." responded Mr.. Fred Nal
landaine, plaintively. Il climbed up
here, and now meon has taken
the ladder away and l can't get back"
lisa stood there, tall, slight, brown
checked, with her hands clasped be-
hind her back, and the wind blowing
her chestnut curls about, while a mis-
chevious light scintillated under her
long, dalk eyelashes.
oh" said she, Il understand. You
are Mr.. M%allandaine?"
And you are Miss lisa Fane?" said
ae &C ing and biting his lip.
"E; ~" responded the girl.
And here is an excellent opportunity
for me to be avenged. You nave call
ed me an Amazon, a farm-boy's assist
ant-all n of names; and you
are at my mercy now.
Yes" confessed Mr.. Mallandaine,
penintently. It's all true"
Don't you think it would serve you
went on lisa, severely, IF I
sent old John home with the ladder,
instead of recalling him to your as
sistance?'
IF course it would" said 'Mallan-
dame.
so do l." said lisa; "but I mean
to be magnaminous. John-John.'
Clear and iute-like her voice sound
ed down the glen, and old Johns
husky accents replied:
Yes, yes! I'm coming!"
lisa Fame in the meantime stood
at Mr.. Mallandaine as cody
as if he were a sphinx or an obelisk,
Or some such marvel of the universe.
Mr.. Mallandaine regarded her OF
MS part with a sort of meek propitia-
ton; and when at last he had de-
Scendad, and stood on the green turf
beside his fair rescuer ne held out
MS hand.
Il hope We are friends?" said he.
"Oh, certainly" !
lisa forgave him his London preju-
Ices and he began to e things
the medium of clear and bril-
liant eyes. They had called her a
child, but she was such a bright, orig
nal sort of child!
And one evening, about a fortnight
subsequently, Mr.. Mallandaine aston
shed his sister by saying abruptly:
We'll, Nell'-the name he always
lsed when he was in an especially