Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-12-17

bee?"
Swift confusion leaped into Cor.
don's face. and his hand sought his
beard nervously.
"Ah, Miss Taylor-beg pardon, I'm
sure. | did not know" he began.
turning longing eyes on his frien
But Grayson, ignoring the plead.
| look, refused to come to his aid. With
a low bow and a mocking smile he
moved away, saying: "l'll leave you to
make your peace, old man, as bes.
you can!"
Gordon turned to meet the unwaver
ing gaze of two merry brown eyes.
Il did not know" he began
again, awkwardly.
THAT | was near" she interrupted
brightly. "Of course not-you never
would have been SO uncomplimentary
to our sex in general if you had known
that one of its representatives was
close by. So you are going to doom
us to silk butterfiies?" she went on,
cheerfully
Don't" he objected, almost cross.
| ly; you know very we'll what | mean.
| think the ordinary woman should
| should remain in her own sphere" he
finished, with some pomposity.
And that is-?"
"Why-er-home, of course" he
! supplemented; home and-er-all
that sort of thing" he concluded
vaguely.
Miss Taylor nodded her head slowly
several times.
MINI see," she mused, aloud.
Pots and pans we'll scrubbed,
corners carefully looked to, and all
the eyes dug out of the potatoes"
You are pleased to jest, Miss Tay.
lor," he remarked, stiffly. You know
very we'll | did not refer to household
drudgery. 1t is the real home instinct
that, to my mind, seems to be lacking
in the modern woman"
Very good, Mr.. Gordon" she said
with ominous sweetness. Then you
regard woman as home-maker,
merely, do you?"
Nest certainly he returned, un.
easily, but with conviction.
Before the winter had passed Cor.
don ruefully acknowledged to himself
that he was "absurdly and disastrous,
| ly in love-" as he expressed it. To
him the name Birdie" gave the thing
a touch of absurdity, and the fact that
| Miss Taylor was an illustrator, and in
| probable pursuit of a career, made it
| disastrous.
From boyhood his dream of a wife
had drawn the picture of a sweetly
gracious, dignified, angelic being, far
| removed from a restless, energetic,
self-sutficient creature, his only cen.
| ception of a career-seeking woman.
And yet the dearest thing in the world
| to Gordon had come to be this ambi,
tious brown-eyed maid with the baby
ish name.
For a time the man refused to think
cf the future. He drifted along in a
blissful paradise of his own fancy un-
| til the announcement that Miss Taylor
was soon to leave the city for an ex-
tended trip brought him sharply back
| to earth.
| 1t was then that he seated himself
| at his desk to write once more to her.
| This time it was a straightforward
avowal of fervent love and an earnest
plea for speedy reply that he dis.
patched some time later addressed to
MISS b. TAYLOR.
| No. 64 Howard Avenue.
At five o'clock he received from the
hand of a messenger note which
ran:
,h,I lNa % ,f,or~
will you Gomez"
There was no signature. Gordon
was sure he needed none, and yet-it
was bit strange, after all.
She met him with luminous eyes
and face so unmistakable in its shy
loveliness that he would have taken
her in his arms at once had she not
suddenly drawn back with a startled
cry.
Mono! II forgot. have con
fession to make. II am not
Birdie"
Gordon's arms fell Imply to his
side.
Not Birdie!" he exclaimed.
She shook her head.
But how-what-I don't under
stand! Why did you tell me you were
Birdie?"
She laughed softly.
Il didn't-and you wouldn't even lei
me tell you that | was not Birdie,
she retorted
At his blank look she laughed again
1T is the old story of family resem
blance," she explained. Birdie Tay
lor, the illustrator, is my cousin; we
look alike and are often mistaken for
each other, hence Mrs. Morton's intro
Guction. | knew about the letter you
wrote to Birdie, and when you apollo
gized to me for it l tried to tell you
was not the guilty one, but you would
MT let me even speak. After that
forgot all about 1t until-until that
afternoon at the art exhibition, and
then-then l wouldn't tell,' she fin