Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-01-27

ana his recognltlon OF Matt WIS VI tue
scantiest.
"For heavens sake let us get out OF
this place." he said. smothering an ex-
pletive. "You might have had some
thought Of the horses even II you
hadn't for me- Come along"
"Oh, papa. wait. rye invited Mr..
Broughton to have tea with Us tomor-
row-about 4" Then she added to
Matt, "Please come. won't you"
''Shan look forward to it." snapped
the general. with the manner Of per.
son temporarily blocked In burning
building. Good night. good night"
And with that and the pressure OF
slender. gloved hand. Matt was left
alone-more alone. so 1t seemed to him.
than he had ever been before IN his life
CHAPTER v.
Heart Break Hill.
"a q rose the next day a very DIFF
III ferent man from the night be-
I'LL fore. A pitiless consideration
~ Of his circumstances, begun at
dawn, and carried to the bath hour,
had shown him facts as they were
the dismalest facts imaginable and as
gray as the first peep OF that gray
morning. Who was he, to be calling
on aristocratic young ladies and whis-
pering things in pretty pink ears? He
whose fortune amounted to less than
$500 and who had need to strive
very energetically to keep his own
somewhat large red ears above the en-
quilting waters. His business was In
dubitably mules-not to linger In fools
paradises, waste money and time, and
drift into the most heartbreaking OF
false positions.
He tried to put that sparkling face
out Of his mind; tried not to linger on
those girlish admissions that made his
pulses beat; called himself, oh. so many
times, a fool-a crazy, silly fool-and
vowed all sorts Of tremendous things
He would excuse himself from that
tea; would leave the next day for Ken
tucky; would get back to dry land ana
mules and sanity. But he did not wish
to appear rude. He would hate to have
his action misconstrued. He would go
at 4 after all, and II the occasion pre-
sented itself would tell her the truth
quite frankly-that he had hardly any
money, no profession, and long. up
hill fight In front of him. Though how
idiotic he was to take 1t all seriously
himself and her and the whole AFFAIR
as though 1t were any more than Il
passing Irritation. 1t was just the In
curable way he had Of exaggerating
eyerything-of making mountains out
of molehills. He laughed at himself
a little forlornly. What an ass he was.
to be sure. What IN ass!
After breakfast he made 1t up hand
somely with Daggancourt, eXpatiatlne
on mules with much ardor and enthu-
sIasm and gradually recovering the
mulatto's sorely shaken confidence.
He proved his sincerity by promising
TO leave for Kentucky on the morrow.
They shook hands on 1t, and any lurk-
ing grudge that Victor might still nave
felt disappeared in that hearty clasp
But there was still weight on the
mulatto's mind He stammered out
something about the San Francisco
money-hoped that it was all right
hoped that it had come.
Excuse my mentioning It" he said'
"but you know we'll be needing 1t
pretty soon, and I'd rather not sell the
garage till
"Oh. that's all right" returned Matt.
"It ought to be coming along soon, ana
II it doesn't I'll telegraph. Don't you
worry about that" he added reassur-
tngly. Its one Of those splendid jew
elry stores with diamond necklaces In
the window and is good for hundred
times the money"
But Victor's concern remained. lie
had kept better tally on the dates than
Matt. 1t was exactly twenty-four days
since the latter had written. a long
while surely. Victor asked for the re-
CENT and examined it closely. That's
all right as far as 1t goes" he said,
handing 1t back with relieved ex-
preston, Though they don't have to
buy the ring II they don't want to or
change their minds"
"If people like Snood & Hargreaves
offered $500 for the ring it's pretty
sure to be worth It," replied Matt.
Even II they backed out We could
sell It somewhere else"
'"Yes, that's true" said Victor, recov,
ering his cheerfulness, "and maybe for
better price, considering you took the
first bid they made. Depend upon It.
YOU could have raised them few hun.
dred dollars"
They fingered awhile longer, talking
about the $500 commission Victor
hoped to get on secondhand car and
as to the advisability Of taking $1,6O(
cash for the garage or a thousand
| down and another thousand on a nine
months note.
Perhaps Matt kept closer to the We
randa that morning than usual, for II
was warm and sunny and likely tf
tempt the presence Of Mrs. Sattan'
with her rocking chair. her darnint
and her interminable tongue. For onc'
Matt was eager for Mrs. Sattane, ant
when at length she appeared he wa
very agreeable and friendly. drawinl
up beside her, with his pipe, instead
Of dropping of the end rail, as he ordi
narily would have done. After few
false starts he got her on the subjec
Of the Marshalls. and, though as mar