The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-11-21
lie, and the worpt Of me is We,

of trouble, M the worst OF me Is YET
to comet"
The old lady raised herself on her
arm. rnd gazed with a look of terror
into Prue's disturbed face. what
have you done. child? Let me hear
the worst at once!" rs
Ills nothing" interposed Peggie,
| putting her arm round her cousin, and
drawing her gently but forcibly away.
l"She is excited and oyerwrought, and
methinks she has quarreled with Sir
Godfrey"
rs that all2" CALCULATED Lady
that ended in a groan of pain. 'Tli
forgive that easily enough; he Is no
choice of mine, and now Prudence is
back at court, tits odd If she can not
do better than marry a bankrupt
%baronet."
Better or worse" cried Prue pas
sionately, 'Ill never marry him; I'd
rather marry "a highwayman,"
Peggie gave her arm a vicious pinch,
but the comparison was so monstrous-
ly improbable, that Lady Drumloch
did not deign to TAX any notice of it.
You were very much in love with
Sir Godfrey a week ago." she remark
ed austerely, but your flckleness ap-
pears to have no limit"
Dear grandmother" exclaimed
Prue, recovering her self control, ",tis
not fickleness, but simply the result of
sound reasoning. l owe certain quail
tiles. Inc while 1 believed Sir Geor-
rey possessed them, I loved him for
their sake. I am still faithful to the
thing l love; but. unfortunately, Sir
Geoffrey has 1t not. at least, not enough
or 1t for me. But let us not despair:
the, Duchess of Marlborough is deter
mined to marry me off, and has been
g~raciously pleased to select a husband
for me-"
Indeed. and who may he be?.
L know not. his name 10 still a co
cret. l have, indeed, a suspicion hat
1t maj be Lord Beachcombe's new
porn heir, for she remarked that by the
tlme her choice was ready for pre-
sentat1on to me, I might perhaps be
settled down, n sobered sufficiently
to make a tolerable wife-of-sorts!"
reggie, watching her cousin closely.
came to the conclusion that she was
taihlng nonsense to keep herself from
tnlnklng. and at the first opportunity,
coaXed her out of the room and away
from h danger Of betraying herself to
Lady Drumloch, whose keen wits and
close observation We're the more to be
readed, the less she displayed them.
AS a result of the report of Prue's
return to court, and her f1attering vel
come there, the shabby little drawing
rooms OF her grandmother's house were
crowded that evening and all next day.
by those who fastened to offer con-
gratulations and make excuses for ne
SAoI III WAS TOO ClOrOu2h a,
woman of the world to resent. The
throng Of courtiers found her, indeed.
most accessible. She had a Jest and a
compliment and a friendly word for
everyone. Arch glances and enchant-
ing smiles Tell alike on friend and foe;
perhaps more especially on the latter.
as Prue for once, ATTEMPTED to follow
her grandmother's Instructions and ha
wise. ~ -
Long after midnight, the tired girls
performed the last sweeping courtesies
to their parting guests, and leaving
the ,yowning James to extinguish the
lights. crawled YEARLY up the long.
narrow stairway to their attic he'd
rooms. Peggie, bursting with long
suppressed curiosity, offered her SER
stiff prison of whalebone and buck
ram In which her slender form had
been encased for so many hours and
nnp1n the luxuriant cvrls and puffs
rom the cushion upon which the hair
morning. Prue sighed with reliaf ae
reggie regardless of her own fatigue,
removed h monstrously high gheeIed
SHOES n flmy silken hose. and
ruoped her crarnped feet until they
r reaseaazto tingle and smart with the
was too tired to talk, n noreoyar
had nothing to tell but what Pepeie
already knew. 1essie
Wnat sald Robin, when we left vol,
aiohe!' reggie whispered. Did keen
Sir Godfrey long enough fndinr mo 3
chair? sent three away hefore T
could be satisfied that the chair vas
clean and the chairman sober" -
Long enough for all we had to sayn
said Prue, pettishly. "Do Won sin
pose we Were exchanging w..
of eternal fidelity, or arran IN; m
Tor u next meeting?" Then natbate
lcally, If you were as tired as T am
eggle, You you'd rather he In ha5
iaH Eosslplng, and tomorrow we are
gong to Lady Limerick's drum. and the
pay afterWard, and want to look orr
pretttest; SO kiss me, dear COZ and ~.
thee to bed" 49, az get
NOT was she more Tho
next day. From early morninr the
mouse was besieged by a procession nr
apologetic tradesfolk, eager to eynIain
away their threatening letters and dim.
ming messages, and placing themse1vaa
and their wares at the disposal az the
5retnstated fayortte. No talk now nr
the, fleet and the sponginr honsavnn
more writs and suits-nothinp h hit
dapper tailors and coquettish miIliner,s
assistants. suave jewellers and mystic
rlous. 1~li-shaven foreigners with dirty
parcels from which they extracted. I'M.
oer vows OF secrecy. laces from France
OF or embroideries from the
distant Indies, such as might have
tempted the most austere Of Eye,s
daughters to break at least one Of the
10 commandments.
HEsHeEEF Cnpf1n,,n MA 80 Ady nENt