The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-09-07
IN A SPIRIT OF
MISCHIEF
By sHlELA ESTHER DUNN
Copyright. 1910, by American Press
Association.

Don't do it."
A young girl sat at the feet Of VOL
man of ninety. The tender curves in
the face of the one contrasted strongly
with the wrinkles Of the other, whoI
was her great-great-gra The
one was of the early twentieth cen
tury, the other of the early nineteenth.
when l was your age" the old wo-
man continued after pause, General
Jackson was president. He was a
great fighting man, and since he not
only fought the enemies of his coun-
try, but his own enemies, his example
affected every one. He fought duel
with and killed a young married man
who said something disagreeable about
his wife. 1 always thought she was
no saint, but the romance of 1t fired a
young friend of mine, Albert Steven..
son, and he was constantly looking fory
some girl on whom to practice Jack
sons knight errantry.
Il was accepting the attention Of
young Virginian, Fitz Hugh Fairfax.
He was remarkably handsome man
and full Of real chivalry, not the spuri-
Gus kind affected by many others. He
was devoted to me, and l loved him
desperately.
But our southern girls had the same
romantic ideas as the young man. We
thought 1t fine thing to fiirt with
two or three men and at last give our
selves to some suitor who was ready
to play Don Quixote In our defense.
l was at the time playing a game with
both Albert Stevenson and Fitz Hugh
Fairfax. l had one other string to my
bow, but l have forgotten his name.
And yet at one time thought should
marry him. Oh, dear, how ones mem-
ory fails after so many years!
Zone day 1 was walking in the gar
den with Fairfax. We sat down OIL
q bench under tree Stevenson called,
and they told him / was in the gar
den. | saw him leave the house andl
come toward us. Fairfax was turned
away from him. l am sure Fairfax
was about to propose to me. He was
bending over me with his face near to
mine. Suddenly l jumped up, assum-
Ing an offended appearance. At the
same time Stevenson Joined us.
HE asked Fitz Hugh what it all
meant. Very red in the face, he told
Stevenson to ask me. Stevenson turn
ed to me, and l, acting under the guild
ance Of the spirit of deviltry that was
in me, said never word, but walked
to the house.
Il was no sooner on the gallery than
1T occurred to me that some real trou-
BILE might come out Of my freak, and
returning to the young men, 1 told
them that there was nothing Of mo-
ment between Mr.. Fairfax and me
and they were to consider the matter
as not having happened. Then when
Fairfax gave me that cold, contemptu-
GUS look, which l can see at this very
moment, my blood ran cold. | knew
he had loved me, that loved him and
that had lost him.
Neither of the young men spoke As
l had nothing more to say and infu-
enced by the look Fitz Hugh had given
me, l went away, leaving them togeth-
er. made a second mistake in doing
this, but l couldn't remain where Fitz
Hugh was after that look. l wished
to go to my room and weep. There
was more to weep for than the loss Of
his respect, and no man can really love
woman without that 1t did not oc-
cur to me that after had exonerated
him there would be any trouble be-
tween him and Stevenson.
81 lay awake that night till dawn and
then fell asleep. / awoke late in the
morning and went downstairs into the
dining room.
LAS Il massy, Missy Imogen.' said
our table servant. have yo heerd de
news?
"'No,' I said. What is itP
"'Mars' Stevenson and Mars Fitz
Hugh fought duel dis mawnin' befO'
sunup, an Mars Fitz Hugh killed
Mars Stevenson
81 sank on the floor in swOon.
'It was long time before recover
ed from an attack of brain fever. re-
covered from the fever, but that's all
I have recovered from to this day.
"Fitz Hugh never came to see me on,
as far as | could learn, asked for me.
I knew that in my needless act and
its result l had fixed great gulf be-
tween him and me. He went back to
Virginia. He never married, nor did
I. But we never met again.
"a friend of both parties told me-
what had happened after l left the
two young men. Stevenson assumed
that l had exonerated Fitz Hugh be-
cause l was magnanimous and did, not
wish to make trouble. He posed as
my defender and sent challenge to
the man who had insulted me. In
}1lted me! In another moment he
would have asked me to be his wife.
They fought with pistols, and at the
first shot Fitz Hugh had fired in the
air. Stevenson then made some irri-
tating remark. whereupon Fitz Hugh
on the second shot had sought to wing
his opponent. BY this shot he unin-