The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-06-27

do 10 less than invite her 20 every
thing. More than haIf the time see
stayed away. or rather went home
after seeing everything Was as Eooo
m n could be made But 90 one att
ernoon company rather early In the
zane she stayed What she saw de-
tsrnined her % do several things
She ordered In haste. from the city.
two frocks quite eclipsing anything
IN Highvssw NEXT she waved her
hair. and after that she took her
grsndmoth~r's silver and teweiry out
OF the bank, filled Ter house with
towers. lights and people. and gave
q Anal party for the advocate Of
suffrage. "A blow oat" was her own
phrase for II. she being OF the sort
that speaks straight a. II thinks All
this meant. Of course. that she would
be very busy.
Mrs. AusteIl was charmed at the
thought Of coming. The other wom-
ans name was vanmere. her home .
true colonial house, full OF antiques.
Moreover. Edith vanmere herself had
| appeared very receptive 1t would be
| only q less triumph for the cause TO
convert her than 10 take Harleth cap
tive for life.
It annoyed her q trife to find that
Miss vanmers laid heavy commands
ca Harleth; also. that he obeysd
them meekly. even when obedience
took him from her presence.
ED thinks she owns me-and
reckon she does come near It." he
explained to the visitor. who did her
best to mask discontinue with an en-
gaging smile. The smile might have
faded had she been able to read the
vanmsrs mind. Edith had seen
through her-Edith would have none
Of her sort in the family. Moreover.
IL William Harleth was by way OF
being a fool IN some things. he was
a gentleman, also hslpless-being q
man. Edith must save him. She
was nearly as much interested In
doing 1t as In the entirely new plum
cake she was evolving for the party.
Many schemes came to her. One
by one she turned them over In her
mind and dismissed them as imprac-
teal Then all in q fash the solu-
ton came-so simple 1t made her
blush to think she had overlooked 1t.
Two bodies cannot occupy the same
space, not even when the bodies are
ringers, the space Q wedding ring.
The only real salvation for William
Harleth, now that women were grown
80 bold, was a wedding ring, set fast
by law and gospel upon the right
finger.
Harleth was hidden to dine with
her before the party. Notwithstand-
ing it's imminence, Notwithstanding
Edith's labors for it, the dinner was
as perfect as a dinner could be. At
the end there were samples Of the
delectable plum cake. The response
it evoked from Harleth was a. suff1-
cient reward.
Later when the crowd had gathered,
a crowd that held the best of all
Highview, it gasped a bit to see Edith
in trailing cloth of silver, softened
| with illusion and old lace, jewels
cleaning upon a neck that was sim
gularly smooth and white, and nod
ding above hair pulled in wavy masses
above a smooth brow. She looked
what she was, grande dame. But
underneath the grandeur there was
the same bubbling good humor, and
sharp, clean-cut speech. Finery was
no bar to her special ministrations
when it came to serving supper. She
made three of the richest men pres
emit wait upon Mrs. Austell under her
own direct supervision. When it
came to the plum cake Mrs. Austell
exclaimed:
"This is not food-nectar. or maybe
ambrosia, rather! Dear Miss Van
mere, life owes you something for it.
I feel you are going to be one of us.
Pray, pray tell me, what we shall de-
mand for you when we come to our
own in reward for anything 50
heavenly"
ooh, nothing" Edith said. laughing
softly.
"Nothing!" Mrs. Austell echoed.
"You are unjust to yourself"
81 think not-you see I have my re
ward" Edith answered saucily, though
her color mounted.
"You see, told Billy-Mr. Harleth
tonight, I shouldn't ever make any
more of this cake until made 1t for
my husband-and he proposed at
once"