Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-04

|
Abroad longingly, ''it would be the
only kind of resistance the Bog Rat
would make.
He wouldn't stay for anything If
he knew it was really coming?" she
asked.
NO, the devil of it is he knows it
really can't" he answered.
| 1t was the night of the regimental
ball. A kaleidoscope Of gayly -olor-
ed people seethed about the doors of
the gymnasium engrossed in the alb
sorbing topic Of who should dance
with whom. The Coloners daughter
was looking radiant; beside her stood
| the Man from Abroad, scowling.
| Puppy" he muttered to himself;
then to her: Il can't understand how
you could do it?"
| well, he asked for them," she an
swered
"Deuced cheek" the man growled.
| You see, when he came up to
know If / had any dances left | told
him l had and which they were-6,
IA, l5-and he asked for the lot, :"
she explained sweetly.
This account was quite true but a
| little misleading. The Bog Rat had
| come up and asked her IL she had a
| dance left, and she had replied, mo.
g." While he was putting this down
| she added, Il also have No. IA and
No. 15," hint which even Bog Rat
| could not be rude enough to ignore,
though, coming as it did from the
Coloners daughter, 1t was in the ma
ture Of a compliment which he read
| lily attributed to the effect of his own
| Irresistible charms.
The band struck up the sixth tune
| of the evening, the Bog Rat rose
languidly from his chair in the smok
ing room, and saying, well, l sup
pose l must go and do my duty"
| strolled out.
The Man from Abroad, who was
poking the fire. broke the particular
piece of coal he was engaged upon
into several small fragments with
one well-aimed prod; he then sat
down.
AS a matter of fact, the Bog Rats
duties for the evening were quite
light Nobody had seemed to have any
| dances left when he asked them, so
| that he was really looking forward to
dancing with the Coloners daughter.
At any rate, he thought, she knew
how to pick her partners; she had
given him three dances. He smiled
| to himself as he remembered the way
| in which she had told him the num-
|
| ask for them.
The Bog Rat came back to the
| smokingroom after the sixth dance
| like a Roman emperor entering the
| capital after a conquest. The Colo
| ners daughter was undoubtedly In
| love with him; she had been quite un-
! able to conceal It, What guardian
angel prevented him from announc-
ing the fact, heaven knows (Warren
was sitting smoking In a corner;) 1t
| must have been some unwonted sense
Of chivalry. for his normal course un-
| der the circumstances would have
been to give to the room in general
an intimate account Of the different
| symptoms from which he had deduc-
ed his good fortune.
| The fifteenth dance came slowly
and luXuriously to a close, and the
Bog Rat led his blushing captive from
the room (the Colonel's daughters
color had been gradually rising since
the beginning of the fourteenth
| dance.)
Wen go to nice quiet spot, eh?"
the Bog Rat whispered to her as they
left the room.
She just perceptibly inclined her
head.
| He took her to a sofa that had been
put in a small dressing room, a de-
lightfully secluded sitting out place
for two. They sat down.
Not much wrong with this. eh?"
he said, drawing close to her.
| The Coloners daughter did not re-
ply; it was some while since she had
toward her and looked at her with a
melting eye. Enough light came
through the half open door for him
to see her clearly. She was gazing at
the ground, her hands folded in her
lap; she had grown a little pale.
| He was enchanted by her discompo-
sure. AS he put it to himself, he
rather liked them when they took 1t
this way; then he thought he would
| help her out a bit.
| Just one" he said, suddenly put
ting his arm around her waist and
leaning forward till his lips nearly
brushed her cheek.
| oh" cried the Colonel's daughter,
springing to her feet, turning round
on him. her eyes blazing with fury.
"Oh, how dare you?"
His past experience of the feminine
nature was not Of much use to him
on this occasion, but 1t was all he had
to go by, so he acted on It, He deft-
| ly kicked the door to with his foot, at
the same time catching her by the
wrists.
| "Please!" he entreated. Come,
come. you must! l won't let you CO."
he continued with an air of would be
playful banter.
She kept perfectly calm, merely
stiffening the imprisoned arms.
1T may interest you to know" she
said. that | am engaged to marry
Capt. Warren"
Her captor let go her wrists and
stepped back, or, to be quite accurate,
leaped back to the door, from which
loss for words with which to express
his feelings. Then, because he was a
Bog Rat, he stammered out what
came to him most naturally
'You-you won't tell him." he
pleaded
The Coloners daughter gazed at
him frigidly.
II keep nothing from him." she
said
The Bog Rat squirmed
| Especially in this case" she con-
tinued; 'how could 1. with you in the
same regiment; 1t would haunt me all
my life"
She scrutiniZed him calmly. He had
opened the door, letting the light fall
upon his face. He was not a pretty
sight.
| "Possibly." she said, half relent-
ing-"possibly, If I was never going
to see you again."
Perhaps you won't" whimpered
the Bog Rat.
well. in that case it might be diff
'erent." she concluded, as she left
him.
That night he locked himself into
his room and pondered. There were
all sorts Of stories about the Man
from Abroad when he was reused:
| they said something or other had up
set him when he got the V. G.
| BY the morning the Bog Rat had
| evidently come to a definite conclI-
sion. 1or he went down to the Ordcl ly
Room with two applications; one vas
| for leave to resign his commission
the other was for a months leave
pending acceptance of his resignation.
The Colonel was surprised out
| granted both requests without qies-
| ton.
The Man from Abroad very rarely
| speaks to the COlonel's daughter Of
| the Bog Rat When he does she