The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-04-21

"SlO " Y Joo' ~1Ao
mother is in great trouble already.
| Oh, don't speak to me here!"
"Do you mean you'll speak to me
in some other place? I'm we'll con-
tent if yeIl do that-some place
where we'll be more private, by our
selves. Ye may be sure that's what
I would like best"
II did not mean that" said Janet,
in great distress. AOh, Mr.. Charlie,
don't speak to me at all! I am very
unhappy-already."
at will not make you more un-
happy to speak to an old friend like
me? And who has made you un-
happy, my bonnie lady? I wish I
had The paying of him. It'll be that
loose of a brother of yours"
How dare you speak SO Of my
brother?" cried Janet with momen-
tary energy, and then she began to
cry, unable to restrain herself in her
agitation. "Oh, go away! II you
please, will you go away"
And do you want to hear no more
of the pony?" said Charlie Blackmore.
She's as bonny a little beast as ever
stepped, and fit to carry a Princess
and Miss Janet Torrance. I've kept
my word. She's just been bred like
a princess, without doing a days
work. I've kept her, as I said I
would, for you"
ooh, I hope you do not mean that"
cried Janet. "Oh, Mr.. Charlie, I hope
it was not my fault! I was very,
very young then, and I did not know
there was any harm in it. Oh, I hope
you have not kept her for mel"
What harm was there in it," he
said, putting his hand on her arm,
which Janet drew away as if his touch
had been fire. Come now, Miss
Janet, you must be reasonable. There
was no harm in it more than there
is a little crack by ourselves, be-
tween you and me-"
Janet shrank into the corner of the
seat away from him. There was
HARM" she said, "for I never told
mother; and there is harm now, for
if any one I knew were to come here
and see us I would die of shame"
"No, my bonnie lady, you would
not die; that's too strong" said
Blackmore. "And do you know it's
not civil to draw away like that?
When we met in the Easton road you
were not so frightened. You gave me
many a CLINT of your eyes then, and
many a pleasant word. And do you
mind the long rides we had, and you
as sorry when they were over as me?
And the miles that I rode to bring
you the pony and give you your pleas
ure, though you turn from me now?"
"You were very kind, Mr.. Charlie"
said Janet in a trembling voice.
II am not saying I was kind. /
would not have done it IL I had not
liked it. But you we're kind then,
Miss Janet, and you're not kind now"
81 was only a child" cried Janet;
II never thought. I know now it was
very silly-oh, more than silly. If I
beg your pardon, oh, Mr.. Charlie, will
you forgive me, and-and leave me
alone?"
And what if that was to break my
hearth" he said.
Break your heart? Why should it
do that? Oh, no, no, it would not do
that; you are only laughing"
me laughing! What If I had taken
a fancy, then, for a bit of a small girl,
and set my heart upon her, but kept
out of the way for years not to see
the bonnie little thing till now that
you're woman grown and under
stand? And all you say is to ask me
to leave you alone! Is that a kind
thing to say?"
"Mr. Charlie" said Janet desper-
ately, II can hear by your voice that
you're not in earnest; and as for TAX
ing a fancy, 1 was only a child, and
that would mean nothing. And the
whole of it was just-just sport to
you, and it is for a joke you're doing
it now"
Joke? It's no joke" he said. "I
know what you think; you think I
am not gentleman enough for you.
But III have plenty of money, and
your father, if he had lived, would
not have turned me from his door.
Halo! who's there?" he cried, start
ing up IS some n hit him sharply
on the shoulder. Janet, looking up in
fresh alarm, felt a mingled rush of
terror and relief when she saw over
Blackmore's head the lowering coun-
tenance of Tom.
Il say, Charlie, get out of that"
said Tom. I'm not going to stand
this sort of thing, you know. l may
be going to the dogs myself, but my
sister sha'n't. Be off, I tell you, and
leave her alone"
Am l the dogs, Mr.. Tom? No
such black dogs as you're going to,
my friend. Keep your good advice
for yourself, and don't intrude where
you're not wanted. We can manage
our affairs without you"
BY Jove!" cried Tom, "if you
speak another word to my sister, I'll
pitch you over the cliff"
Blackmore began to laugh with an
exasperating contempt - contempt
which exasperated Janet, though
Tom, too, had touched the anne note
of the intolerable. She sprang up
hastily, putting out her arm between
them. You are two men," she said,
but Tom is not much more than a
boy. and you are quarreling about me
that wants nothing. IN the world Sc