Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1907-12-26

"Maddy," he said again blushing guilt.
lily, II have said l liked you, and SC
l hope will someone else | have written
of you to her"
Up to this point Maddy had a vague
idea that he meant the DOCTOR but the
her" dispelled that thought, and a most
inexplicable feeling of numbness crept
over her as she asked family:
Written to whom?"
ITO Miss Atherstone-Mis Lucy Ath-
erstone. Have you never heard of her?"
No. Maddy never had, and with that
same numbness she could not understand,
she listened while Guy told her who Lucy
Atherstone was, and why she was not at
that moment the mistress of Aikenside.
Would you like to see her picture?"
asked Guy.
Yes" came family from the parted
er as she put up her hand to take the
case Guy drew from his bosom.
Turning it to the light, she gazed silent
ly upon the sweet young face, which SEEM
ed to return her gaze with look as life
like as her own.
What do you think of her-of my
Lucy? Is she not pretty?" Guy asked,
bending down so that his dark hair swept
against Maddy's, while his warm breath
touched her burning cheeks.
Yes. she's beautiful, oh so beautiful,
and happy. too. wish l had been like
her. | wish" And Maddy burst into
a most uncomfortable fit of weeping. ter
tears dropping like rain upon the inani-
mate features of Lucy Atherstone.
Guy looked at her amazed, his own
heart throbbing with keen pang of some
thing undetinable as he listened 10 her
stormy weeping. What did all her? he
wondered. Could it be that the evil against
which he was providing had really come
upon her? Guy asked her why she cried.
Child as she was. the real cause of her
tears never entered her brain, and she an
swered:
II cant tell why, unless l was think
ing how different Miss Atherstone is from
me. She's rich and handsome. am poor
and homely, and"
No, Maddy. you are not" AMI Guy
interrupted her.
Gently lifting up her head, he smooth
ed back her hair, and keeping a hand
on each side of her face, said. pleasantly:
You are not homely. | think you
quite as pretty as Lucy; l do, really" he
continued, as her eyes kindled at the
compliment. Il am going to write to her
tonight, and shall tell her more about
you. | want you to like each other very
much when she comes, so that you may
live with us. Aikenside would not be
Aikenside without you, Maddy."
In all his wooings of Lucy Atherstone,
Guys voice had never been tenderer in
its tone than when he said this to Mad
dy, whose lip quivered again, and who
involuntarily laid her head now upon his
knee, as she cried a second time, not
noisily, but quietly, softly. as if this cry
ing did her good. For several minutes
they sat there thus until Maddy, half
ashamed of her emotions, lifted up her
head and said:
Il do not know what made me cry,
only I'd been so happy here that I guess
I'd come to think that you only liked
Jessie and me. OF course | knew that
some time you would see and think all
the world of somebody else, but l did not
expect it so soon. | am afraid Miss
Atherstone will not fancy me, and |
know most | shall not feel as free here,
after she comes, as | do now. Then
your being so good, sending me to school,
helped me to cry more, and so | was very
foolish. Don't tell Miss Atherstone that
| cried. Tell her, though, how beautiful
she is. and how glad | am that she loves
you, and is going to be your wife"
Maddys voice was very steady in its
tone She evidently meant what she said
but Guy. the bad man, did not feel as
graciously as he ought to have felt in
knowing that Maddy Clyde was glad
Lucy loved him, and was to be his
wife,"
Guy was rather uncomfortable, and as
Maddy was in some way associated with
his discomfort, he did not oppose her when
she arose to leave.
Had Maddy been more a woman, or less
a child she would have seen that it was
we'll for her to know of Lucy Atherstone
before her feelings for Guy Remington
had assumed definite form. and she mar
veled at that little round spot of pain of
which was burning at her heart or why
she should wish that Guy would not speak
Of her in his letter to Lucy Atherstone.
But Guy did speak of her. frankly con-
Tossing the interest he felt in her, telling
just how people were beginning to talk,
and asking Lucy if she cared, declaring
that if she did. he would not see Maddy
Clyde any more than was necessary. In
a little less than four weeks there came
an answer from Lucy, who, with health
somewhat improved, had returned to Eng
land, and wrote to Guy from Brighton,
where she expected to spend the summer,
lalf hoping that Guy might join her there,
though she could not urge it, as mamma
still insisted that she was not able to
take upon herself the duties of a wife.
Then she spoke Of Maddy Clyde, saying
she was not one bit jealous of her dear
Guy. OF course, ignorant, meddling peo-
pie, of whom she feared there were a
great number in America, would gossip,
but he was not to mind them" Then
she said that if Maddy were willing, she
would like 80 much her picture, as she
had a curiosity to know just how she
looked, and If Maddy pleased, would she
write a few lines, so as not to seem so
much a stranger"
Lucy Atherstone had been educated to |
think great deal Of birth, and blood, and |
family. and Guy never did a wiser thing |
than when he told her that, according to
English views, Maddy was lady. Lucy |