The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-06-06
MORTIMER. PRESUMED:
nut GrascIia Brought Matter tn =. =.
With True Feminine s,rase,x w
rtimer Jarvis, L hate your

Mortimer JARVIS; l. hate your
1t struck him squarely between q,
eyes, and he reeled as IL from an ac,a.,
blow.
The young woman who spoke tho.
words sat In a Gibson girl. attltus'
with her elbows. on the table ar
glared at the masculine person MI.
faced her from the opposite slde !,
the table.
"You-you hate meT'' lie said reco,
erlng his equilibrium with an eno,,
"A.nd hatred is akin to.-to--well nev,.
mind what it's akin to-" lie added =,
no available relationship seemed !.
suggest itself. "Is- this n new emotlo,
Grazella, or is it one you had left /,
stock when you invoiced lasty'
"Nfy name is Miss Twigg.'
"Yes;. Grazela Q. Twigg. OF cour,,
do"
"Do what. sir?"
"Twigg. Do you continue to hate N.
Miss TwiggT
The stony glare with which she stn
regarded him appeared to indicate tba,
she did.
"Do you hate me, Miss Grazella-
Twigg-as much as you did a mlnute
agoy'
The curling irony of her lip, 50 m
speak, was sufficient answer TO I'M,
question. likewise.
Il will ask you now, Miss 1wisen
he said, after the manner of young
Gibson lawyer conducting his first i'm.
portant case. 'why you detest. abom.
mate and regard with adherence the
individual who now presumes-"
"That is the reason, sir" she inter.
rupted. "You are presumptuous"
Pardon me. Miss Twigg. Remem.
Der -ou are not on cath. DO l under
stand you to say l am presumptuouse
81 think that is the word used. sir
81 will ask you now. Miss Twigg. Il
you are aware that 'presumptuous Is
derived from the Latin word prae
81 pr sumo it is"
"Ha! Then you yourself presumem
Hastily making 4 note of it on the
margin of n newspaper that lay on the
table, he proceeded
"Waiving that point for the moment,
however, may Iasllyou in what respect
have been cresumptuous. in the
sense of taking before"
"You take too much for granted
"For instance"
NI'pr in NTnrt;,,,r., To vn,
take it for granted that | Cont know
why you nave been devoting yourself
to me for the last three years"
ooh, do IT,
"Yes, sir; you do. You presume 10
think am ~oing to be surprised and do
the this is so sudden act when
you
"When 1 what?"
"Oh, you think you've been so sly
about it that l never suspected
Suspected what?"
"As if &ry girl didn't - didn't
know"
"Know what?"
Then, all at once, her felf-possesslOn
deserted her, and a horrible suspicion
took its place. Had she been undul:
presumptuous herself?
Her lips moved, but no sound came
from them.
The young man presently assumed
control of the situation.
"Grazella," he 1aid. in voice which
by every rule of accepted dramatic
art. should have had an accompanl.
ment of Glow. tremulous music. IL
plead not guilty to the main charge,
but l am going to take something for
granted now"
BY executing = rapid flank movement
he took possession of her hand.
In her agitation she had neglected to
place it out of the reach of possible
danger.
She tried to withdraw it, but it was
too late. Apparently it was there to
stay.
"And you thoughtm me presumptuousv
he continued. with desperate attempt
to pull out the flute stop in his vocal
organ. "Why, bless your dear little
heart, am the shyest, timidest, most
self-deprecatory mortal ON earth! Been
devoting myself to you for three years,
have I? Grazela-"
Here he thrust the table aside with
a mastery flank movement of his free
hand, as being easier than stepping
around 1t.
eff l hadn't been the biggest coward
alive l would have spoken two years,
eleven months and twenty-nine days
ago. That's the way they do nowadays
IN all the"
"Oh. Mortimer, what must you
think" she walled. still struggling hut
with less desperation. to withdraw her
hand.
II think you did perfectly right. dear,
to bring me to-I mean you did right
TO give me a chance-hold your head
still, will you'll 'Presumptuous'
-. Well. I like that and
that and that"
"That's just what you are" she
pouted. half an hour later.
But he took similar advantage oE
the pout.-Chicago Tribune.