Indiana State Sentinel, Indianapolis, Marion County, 3 January 1894 — Page 11

THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 3, 1894 TWELVE PAGES.

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' "After all, I'm not surprised." said th Buchess, -with an expressive glance at Capt. Ives, her companion in the billiard room at Appleford. "Ills father well, of course, I needn't tell you; young men know everything nowadays but it is easy to see that poor Noel's weakness is hereditary; and I must Fay," she added abruptly, restoring the chalk to it3 receptacle under the table with a little jerk. hls taste Is certainly better than his father's. At least this girl is not a creature who dresses in who appears In burlesques. But I dare say eh will jivhen she gets a chance." While the duchess of Qdershire Achieved a small break, playing with an absence of judgment which In itself betrayed her state of mind, her cousin fcthe kinship existed, although he was considerably her Junior and the degree rremote) permitted himself a little inward laughter at the lady's discreetly Indiscreet allusion to her husband's escapades. He has so often wondered hew ;inuoh the duchess knew of the duke's iyouthful vagaries, which even now had 3iardly ceased to form topics for vagrant discussion in boudoirs and smokingirooms. If there was anything in heredity certainly Lord Noel Ciderton's infatuation for Sylvia Faunthorpe. the charming ingenue of the Imperial theater, was quite adequately accounted for; but his friends, and especially his parents, were none the less disposed 10 view the case with the keenest disapproval. The fact that Miss Faunthori (no one ever called her Mrs. Hibbard, even biore her divorce) had acquired a certain celebrity (some people might have said jiotoriety) did not improve matters; the duchess, in particular, complained that .n ingenue had no business to be celebrated; it involved somehow a conrtadiction in terms. And. as regards the paternal precedent, it was true that the duke had shown himself on more than one occasion a remarkably easy victim, but his liberality had never extended so far as a perious offer of marriaere to an actress. If would cheerfully have Fhared his fort i; no with any ornament of the stage who had won his admiration, but hp was more scrupulous when it came to choosing a partner in th earJnsr of his title. It was hard on Lord Noel, Capt. Ives reflected, that his more honorahle intentions should assrAvate the enormity of his aberration; but after all on could sympathize with his family, especially if (and this was the captain's enviable position) one was eng.ied to marry Lady Hilda, Lord Noel's twin Bister, a girl with a kng neck and a fine air. who could talk for hours about politics, and phagocytes, and knew thirteen variations of the barn dance. The duke had called his son a fool a peculiarly qualified fool, expressing himself with more ardor than elegance; r.nd lrfrd Noel, after receiving from his mother, in sorrow hat politer language, an assurance thai her estimate of his conduct was practically identical with that of his other parent, had packed his portmanteau, tunv-d his hak on the pheasants which were waiting- in the -...rts to be shot, aud retreated t town. The position was therefore desperate, and Capt. Ives, deftly accomplishing a difficult cannon, could not wonder that his opponent's nerve was shaken. In spite of her curious passion for the pnstnnc (she had taken it up originally because the billiard-room was the nicest room in the house, and the game afforded such opportunities for the display of a pretty hand and -wrist, which had never deserved th epiCW betttr than now. although she wtjs frankly middle-aged) In spite of hr enthusiasm, and the fact that the nil hall lay blushing in a coyly invitiig position, over the rihthand middle pocket, the duchess paused abstractedly wh it was her turn to play. "Then you will make one more effort?" she said half apologetically, glancing across the tatle at Ives. "You will go up to town tomorrow and remonstrate with that wretched boy? There is no time to be lost tre talked of marrying her at once! And and don't you think you might see the creature?" Capt. Ives raist-d his eyebrows. "Of course I will do anything I can. I will eee Noel, though I can't say I think it will be of much use. But ." "But?" echoed the duchess as he paused. "Are you afraid of the actress ?" Capt. Ives laughed uneasily, brushing A chalk mark off the- sleeve of his coat. "Well, what on earth could I say to her? You don't want me to ask her to let hirn off?""Oh," said the duchess hopelessly, "tell her that I'm a perfect fiend that I should lead her a life; that Noel hasn't any money he hasn't much, you know. Tell her that that she wouldn't be received." "Much she would mind that!" commented the captain candidly. "I don't Fuppos she exieets it. And, you know, the isn't really such a bad sort: she's very pretty, and I've never heard much "I llie your 'much'! Hasn't she been divorced?" "Yes on her own petition." "Oh. well," cried the duchess, "I've no doubt she's an angel for a mountebank! Uut as Lady Noel Ciderton, as my daughter-in-law! Ugh! 1 should like to thake them both." She made a vicious stroke, driving the red ball against the shoulder o the cushion instead of into the pockjt, and left an easy cannon for her opp-onrnt, who finished the game with a Uilliant break of Heventeen. Just then the dreseing-gong sounded, but the duchess did not Immediately obey its resonant summons. She watched Capt. Ivies while he replaced the cues and rests.- in the rack and lowered the lights; then, under cover, as it seemed to her ecanpanion, of the comparative darkness, the returned to the attack. "Tell me, Philip." she asked softly; "is 6he really very pretty?" "Haven't you seen h-r?" replied the ether, with a glance faintly indicative cf surprise. "Oh. I suppose so on the stage. Rut any one can look pretty in paint and things, on the stage." "Well, I haven't met her in private life." said the captain Impartially. "Rut I'm toll that she's uncommonly pretty and extremely amusiyp. Tlls awfully pood stories. I believe. In fact, I've heard some of them." "Yes," said the duchess dryly, "no doubt:" After a pause she continued: "Thn you might perhaps you wouldn't mind " . "Wouldn't mir.d." echoes Ives. "Well, if she's so pretty, and entertaining, and all that. ferhaps you could tnake love to her without boring yourself very muh." "My dear duchess! Forgive me if I don't quite follow you. Io you really mean to suggest And what about Hilda?" The lady gave a little start. "Gracious. I had forgotten Hilda! No, I didn't mean to suggest anything; I was talking nonsense. Rother! Well, anyhow you will talk to Noel? I know he looks up to you, and, as my oldest son Is in Canada, who else Is there? Young men will generally listen to a Iriend. even if they won't obey their parents, especially If the friend has the reputation of being one of the safest and cleverest men In his regiment." This compliment was delivered with a smile which illuminated the charming little lady's perplexity like a ripple passing over a woodland pool; and Capt

Ives was immediately impelled to promise that he would do his very utmost to reclaim the wanderer. He was not sorry to effect his escape from Appleford next morning. The atmosphere of the place was somewhat too heavily laden for comfort; and his betrothed, the Lady Hilda, wore an air which rendered her society a little depressing even for a lover who did not make too great demands, whose attitude was one of complacent rather than of rapturous satisfaction. But If he was able to glance back at the stately gates of the ducal deer-park with equanimity, and even with a feeling of relief, Capt. Ives was less able to congratulate himself upon the prospect of the business which menaced the other end of his Journey. His companion in the smoking compartment of the express train, observing the young man's puckered brow and neglected cigar, concluded that he had been crossed in love, or had dropped a small fortune over the Tsesarevitch an inference which in the face of the eminently successful issue of the captain's wooing and the fact that the seasonable demise of an elderly aunt had recently made him master of an income running well into four figures, presented a striking example of the folly which Jumps to conclusions. At the end of half an hour Capt. Ives gave utterance to a sigh which if it had been more audible might have expressed a mild phase of despair, carefully filled and lighted a pipe, and buried himself in the perusal of his newspaper, his lean, sunburned face resuming meanwhile the good-natured expression which seemed to harmonize so well with his fair moustache and hair, his straight nose, and his kind, shrewd, gray eyes. When he had conscientiously exhausted the pages of his journal he knocked the ashes out of hU pipe, refilled that companion of his solitude, and abandoned himself to dreamy meditation, wondering what the deuce Letty (it pleased his Pimple mind to refer to the duchess thus familiarly) what the deuce she meant by suggesting that he should make love to Miss Faunthorpe. Entering Ird Noel Ciderton's chambers soon after midday, he found that perversely amorous young gentleman (whose smooth, pink cheeks and somewhat ugly boyish features showed no trace of the recent conflict with parental authority) engaged in the leisurely discussion of an apparently early luncheon, which was in fact his breakfast in disguise. "Sit down, old man," said Lord Noel hospitably. "I thought you were at Appleford. Have they chucked you out too? What have you done?" Capt. Ives smiled uneasily, murmuring a reply which struck him as diplomatic, that he had been obliged to come up to town oil business. "Ry the way. you're a precious young ass!" he added solemnly when the servant had left the room. "Oh. shut up. Ivy!" rejoined the other happily. "I'vp heard all that before. The governor said I was a d d fool. I don't cae; I know what I'm doing. Have some caviare?-' Capt. Ives shrugged his shoulders and helped himself to another piece of toast. "You you don't really think I'm an ass. do u?" his host inquired presently in a slightly less rebellious tone. "You've been got at, haven't you. Ivy?" "I do. straight! I think you're an everlasting vomit? idiot." "Rut why?" "Oh. well, there are heaps of reasons. Er people don't do these things." Oh, people; put in the other scornfully. "That's all skittles! People are fools; I'm not people; and it isn't even true It's done every luv! I tell you what; you'd do exactly the si me thing if ynu were in my shoos, and you can't deny it." Capt. Ives smiled loftily. "I think not. I can't quite imagine the case. You see.

J I've never made a fool of myself with an actress. "Well. I have." admitted Lord Noel frankly. "And 1 like her all the better for being an actress. Not that 1 wouldn't marry her, even if she was only an ordinary woman; I shouldn't care what she was." "Does she er like you?" asked the other abruptly. Lord Noel glanced at Mm suspiciously, blushing and frowning a little. "Oh. I think so. she says she does, pretty well; and anyway, isn't she going to marry me as soon " "As soon as what?" "As soon as her decre what's-his-name hr.s been made absolute. She certainly Isn't marrying me for my money, if that's what you mean. I've told her I'm a Hessel pauper. She makes a pot of money at the Imperial, a good bit more than my income. Look here." he added, with a burst of magnanimity. "Come round to the club, or somewhere, for an hour or two. and then I'll take you to have tea with her. You will see for yourself how awfully nice she Is. and I'll bet you a fiver that in a week's time you'll con arratu lite me!" Capt. Ives protested feebly, but his loyalty to the duehe:-s and a sense of his present failure led him to consent. To confess the truth, it was only at the expense of large drafts upon his loyalty that he was able to maintain the contest. Ives was no fool, in spite of the simplicity which somewhat obtrusively colored his words and deeds; nor was he a victim to Mind prejudices. His heart was not In this crusade: he already found it a difficult task to fix the allegiance of h!s sympathies with the lady who had despatched him upon it. II.Alighting a few hours later at the door of a retiring brown house which nestled, clad in the ivy of antiquity, among the trees of th older part of suburban llampstead. Lord Noel and his friend were ushered into an empty drawingroom, from the windows of which, however, they could see Miss Faunthorpe. who, closely wrapped in furs, was pacing rapidly (It struck Ives that there was something of th tiger In her walk) up and down the gravel terrace which lay between the back of the house and a rather desolate expanse of empty autumnal flower b"ds and neerlected lawn. She started when Lord Noel tapped the window, looking up from her tattered ! acting copy and darting a flashing glance or Inquiry in the direction of the intruders, a glanc? which was quickly merged in a smile as she hastened to join them. At first Miss Faunthorpe seemed to ignore the presence of Capt. Ives, though her eyes wandered to him now and again while fhe overwhelmed Lord NoeJ with a rippling stream of words and laughter. She hnd thrown off her fur clonk on entering the room, and Cant. Ives rl-,r-,.o,l j that her figure w.is slight and glrllrh; that she was as pretty as she had ever looked on the stage, and that her tawny copper-colored hair, slightly disarranged, was magnificent, particularly in conJunction with her wonderful eyes, whleh were blue, of the color of lapis lazuli. He found himself wondering a little at her beauty, which was as candid as her manner. He had seldom considered actresses apart from their native boards, and he had always entertained a vague idea of two types; , the buxom, blonde person, with straw-colored hair and a conspicuous complexion, who played virtuous heroines and flirtatious school girls; and the dark-haired, melancholy r.'.alden, with hollow eyes and pale cheeks who was so Intimately associated with black clinging draperies and injured Innocence. Ho had seen Miss Faunthorpe on the stsge more than once, but tyet it was something of a surprise to him to find that she did not come under either of these categories. He began to form an extremely depreciated estimate of the discernment and taste of the divorced husband; he had to remind himself that even if he envied his cousin it would never do to tell him so. Lord Noel took advantage of the first break In the flow of the lady's eloquence to Introduce his friend with due cere

mony. Miss Faunthorpe bowed very graciously, sinking into a low chair and inviting the gentlemen to seat themselves on either side, near the tea table. For awhile their conversation, to which Miss Faunthorpe ( was the chief contributor, ran free'y enouprh over a rather conventional line. They discussed the new plays, the new theaters, Ibsen and the home rule bill. The actress spoke with enthusiasm of the part which she had been studying in the garden when they arrived, even reading them fragments from her dog's-eared type-written copy. Presently, however, it leaked out from some chance allusion which Lord Noel made that his cousin had just come up from Appleford ; and this intelligence seemed to impose a certain restraint on Miss Faunthorpe. who became forthwith more sparing of her pleasant laughter, and neglected her little musk-scented cigarette. When her guests rose to take their leave she hesitated for a moment while they fumbled with their gloves, glancing askance at Capt. Ives, who somewhat prided himself on his detection of her mental attitude. Then she turned to Lord Noel brightly, laying one hand upon his arm. "Rut you mustn't go without seeing my poor Romeo! It was understood when you gave him to me that you were to be responsible for his health, and he's not at all well. I'm afraid it's nerves and you know he is to appear in the new show. Do go and look at the poor doggie: he's in the library, in front of the fire." Lord Noel smiled tolerantly, nodding at his cousin. "I expect Romeo has overeaten himself! I shall be back in a minute. Or will you come too? It's only across the passagt." Rut Miss Faunthorpe interposed, reminding the younger man of Romeo's aversion to strangers. "He's the sweetest thing!" she continued as the door closed, bestowing one of her brilliant glances upon Capt. Ives. "He'll make a great hit, even if I don't." Ives imagined for an instant that the lady was referring to Lord Noel, and his face (which was less adapted than his language to conceal his thoughts) betrayed his quain misconception. "Yes," Miss Faunthorpe added, smiling a little; "he really is a most angelic poodle!" Her guest uttered some vague, polite remark, and a brief silence followed. Miss Faunthorpe rose and walked toward the window; when she reached it, she turned almost immediately, and confronted Ives with a kind of challenge in her pose and expression which struck him. in spite of his embarrassment, as something extraordinarily fine. "Well." she said quickly, "and what are you going to tell his people the duchess?" Capt. Ives gazed at her, at first with surprise, and then with a dumb appeal in hi? candid eyes. She continued with a flash of scorn, "Ah, you don't deny it; that is what you came fur!" The man clasped and unclasped his large, neatly-gloved hands helplessly, avoiding her eyes. "My dear Miss Faunthorpe! 1 came, simply because Lord Noel asked me." "The duchess hates the very idea of me! Will you deny that? Fh hien. pince she sent you to report, what shall you say?" He glanced at her boldly. "I shall say that you are all that is most charming!" She made him a little mocking courtesy. "Much good that will do! Hasn't her son told her so? And you will add that I am impossible, that I smoke cigarettes. that I " She paused. shrugging her pretty shoulders Impa

tiently. "And this is jwiple can do! Pray, duke and duchess say my sister (I would if what your great what would the if I were to send I had fine) down to Applford they behave done? Oh, 1 to inspect any better them? Would than I have dare say you think I'm dreadful!" Lord Nori entered the room at this point and paused open-eyed at the sound of her voice. "I say, I say!" he exclaimed, gazing at them vacantly. Miss Faunthorpe broke into a laugh. "I declare, I had forgotten all about you! You have interrupted one of my best scenes." Capt. Ives maintained a descreet silence while she went on to question Ix)rd Noel about the invalid Romeo, admiring immensely the tact with which she had retrieved the situation. As they parted a few minutes later, she gave him an Indefinable glance, murmuring, "What a dreadful creature you must think me! Rut you may tell her what you like. I assure you, I don't care." "Well," said Lord Noel, when the two friends had regained Piccadilly, after a somewhat silent drive, "how about that fiver?"' Ives followed the course of their departing hansome with absent eyes, smiling gravely. He admitted vaguely that Miss Faunthorpe was nil that his amorous cousin had painted her; inwardly, his thoughts were dwelling upon other aspects of the lady than the charm of her radiant beauty. He permitted himself to cat a speculative, retrospective glance at the visitor who had arrived, dismounting from n exceedingly smart phaeton. Just when they were taking their leave a middle-aged man with the stamp of the stock exchange upon him, to whom I.ord Noel had referred as Mr. Nettleton, who often came on business; also, he wondered whether his cousin, too, had suspected that when Miss Faunthorpe said gnod-by to them there were tears in her beautiful blue eyes. III. A fortnight later the duchess of Cldershlre received a brief note from Lord Noel; he was not going to marry Miss Faunthorpe, he wrote, so he supposed he might as well come down for the shooting. It may be imagined that this communication on the part of the errant son restored to the parental breakfasttable a degree of geniality, a sense of ease, which for some days past had been conspicuously wanting. The duke murmured unemotionally from behind his Times that Noel was not such a fool as he looked; he added presently that he didn't mind going so far as five hundred, but Miss Faunthorpe would have to sue for bieach of promise before he would give her a penny more. "That dear Philip!' cried the duchess rapturously, turning to her daughter Hilda. "How clever he Is! How well he must have managed! Noel must positively bring him down with 1 im; I will telegraph at once." The duchess felt. In fact, that, in addition to a heavy debt of maternal gratitude, she owed Ives- some honorable amend". For several days she had been blaming him for his omission to write more explicltely. Since his departure she had received from him only a line to say that there was no Immediate danger; the decree nisi couldn't be made absolute for some weeks, and as the duchess complained, if the dreaded event was to happen. It mls:ht as well happen now as a month later. Rut she pardoned his silence now, remarking to her daughter that this was always Philip's way to do things without making a fuss; she even quoted his reticence as another instance of his phenomenal discretion the less one wrote about one's own, or even other people's love affairs, the better. A disappointment was in store for the ladles, for, notwithstanding the injunction laid upon him by the telegram. Lord Noel arrived at Appleford unaccompanied by Capt. Ives; nor was he able to arsure his inquiring mother that her successful ambassador would followby a later train. "You haven't quarreled, I hope?" asked the duchess anxiously. "Oh, I don't know! No, not exactly. I suppose, after all, it wasn't his fault." "His fault! My dear boy! You don't mean to imply that you are sorry you have been so nice and sensible; that you regret having given her up?" "I never said I had given her up," declared the other, blushing. "I didn't; she gave me up." The duchess lifted her eyebrows with a little ripple of laughter. "That clever

Philip! Then then there won't be a breach of promise suit after all! He really is an angel! But do you mean " "This isn't very pleasant for me." put in Lord Noel impatiently. "The long and short of it is that ever since Miss Faunthorpe saw Ives she has declined to look at me. He's cut me out; and If you are pleased well, I don't think you ought to be." "Rut good gracious!" cried the duchess, growing suddenly grave. "Are you sure? Do you know what you are saying?" Lord Noel shrugged his shoulders. "I took him to see her I suppose that was rather foolish and next day she declined to receive me when I called; and I got a letter from her to say that she was very' sorry, and all that, but she couldn't think of marrying into a family which evidently didn't want hor!" "Dear me," said the duchess thoughtfully. "That wasn't at all In accordance with one's ideas of an actress. Rut it proves that the creature didn't love you, Noel; surely you must feel glad that you got out of it!" "She never said that she did," murmured her son. "I didn't bother myself about that. She said she was tired of love-making on the stage." "And off:" put in the lady shrewdly. "T dare jay she is tired of pretending. But the real thing the real thing!" "Ah:" sid Lord Noel bitterly. "No doubt that's where Ives comes in." The duchess looked out of the window for a few minutes, frowning intently. The vague hint which she had intended to convey to Ives, that he should get up a flirtation with Miss Faunthorpe with a view to showing Lord Noel how trivial a person she was, suddenly flashed across her mind. She felt sure that she had withdrawn the sueestion; indeed, phe remembered that Ives had spontaneously objected, reminding her of his position as a man under bonds to her daughter. But if Lord Noel's evident suspicion was based on solid ground, her cousin had apparently carried out this plan of campaign after all, doubtless in default of a. better. She felt uneasy, in spite of her reliance on Ives. Her son had escaped from the frying-pan; but it was not pleasant to think that it was Just possible that Lord Noel's escape had been effected at his sister's expense that poor Hilda had fallen into the fire. "Tell me," she said, turning suddenly to her silent son; "you have seen Philip since you received your dismissal?" He nodded sullenly. "Of course; I told him all about it as soon us I had made sure that he meant it. He behaved very queerly about it." "Oh," murmured the duchess, "and the wretch didn't write to me! What makes you think that he cut you out, as you express it?" "Everything." answered Lord Noel. "Doesn't he go to see her every day? And after ali. it's natural," he added miserably; "he is much better looking, and .cleverer, and all that." "The wretch!" cried the duchess breathlessly. "And he's comparatively rich, too! How do you know that he goes to seo her? Did he tell you?" "Not in so many words, but he didn't conceal it. I've simply avoided him since Another man told me, a friend of hers, a fellow called Nettleton." "Miss Faunthorpe appears to be Intimate with a good msny gentlemen," commented his mother dryly. "This is awful, if there's anything "in it. Rut there can't be. And yet why does he go on seeing her after Oh, Philip, Philip! I must see him at once. And that poor Hilda! Didn't you think of that, Noel? Didn't it occur to you that you ought to interfere?" Lord Noel shrugged his shoulders again. "I thought there had been quite enough of interference," he said with something of his mother's tone. "What could I do?" The duchess was silop.t for a minute. "I don't believe It!" she said doubtfully. "I can't! I must write to Philip!" Then a. she left the room she turned to add: "Mind, not a word of this to your father or Hilda. Remember, it's your fault, anyhow." "Oh, I leave it to you!" said the other morosely. "I'm sick of the whole business. I shall go to the Rockies or the north pole. Call it my fault if you like; it's all tho same to me."

IV. The letter which the duchess dispatched to her cousin was artfully artless, the outcome of much deliberation; and Philip Ives, accumtomed as he was to read between the lines of his cousin's epistles, did not dream, as he pushed it into a drawer of his writing table, that he was an object of suspicion, or that the writer's mind was budrened with anything beyond her extrem gratitude for his skillful rescue of her son. If she had any notion as to the true position of affairs, he argued, she would hardly have expatiated on so trivial a subject as the merits of the new cue which had Just bfon made for her in London. At the same time he was perturbed; the letter, conveying as it did, in urgent terms, an entreaty that he would come down to Appleford, demanded an answer. He had already, more than once, reproached himself on the score of his silence as regards his infatuation (it amounted to that) for Miss Faunthorpe, and he felt that to write to the duchess without alluding to it would be a piece of cowardice, a reticence touched strongly with the taint cf duplicity. The longer he pondered the situation over his solitary breakfast table, the less it pleased him; but h.? decided at last that he might as well oe hanged for a sheep as for a lamb, and that before writing the Inevitable reply he would offer himself in due form to Miss Faunthorpe, so that, when he wrote, his cousin might understand that his apostasy was a thing irrevocable and complete. He felt little doubt as to what Miss' Faunthorpe's answer would be, though he had seen enough of her to realize dimly that she was not an ordinary woman, that she was capricious, a charming enigma, fantastic, bewildering; he could not accuse himself of presumption In concluding that he had unchangingly encouraged the passion which he had taken no pains to disguise. The signs, he assured himself as his cab drew up at the door of the now familiar ivy-clad house in Hamstead, were almost uncountable, and not one of them adverse. It was early in the afternoon (he had chosen the hour with intention), but he was not fortunate enough to find Miss Faunthorpe alone, ller other visitor Ives recognized him as Mr. Nettleton, the aggressively amiable and opulent nonentity whom he had encountered there before did not hasten his dejiarture. or spare his stock of facetious stories; and it was only when Ives had begun to despair of accomplishing: his object that this interloper (so Ives had ended by regarding hlni) glanced at his corpulent gold watch. and presently took his leave. Ives resumed his chair with a sigh expressive of unqualified relief. "At last!" he said softly, glancing at Miss Faunthorpe, whose eyes, when his encountered them. seemed troubled, lacking their wonted charm of frankness. "At lat!" she echoed lightly, bending over a vase of flowers. "I'm afraid you don't appreciate Mr. Nettleton; I'm very sorry, fi r " "I've no doubt lie's an excellent man in his place." "Poor Mr. Nettleton!" exclaimed the other with a cut ions smile. "Did you regard him as de trop?" "Ah, precisely! When I have been longing all the time to tell you that you have never looked so charming that I adore you!" ' She raised her eyebrows, smiling faintly, adjusting a featherly golden brown chrysanthemum in the bosom of her dress. "Thanks; but ouht you to say it? Aren't you afraid that the duchess will hear you?" "That is my affair,", he said with the shadow of a frown. "AU I care for,

what I have been waiting for. is to hear you say that you love me that you will marry me!" He had risen now. and stood facing her. gazing directly Into her eyes. She drew back, and he noticed that her face was pale and irresponsive; its expression baffled him; it suggested an embarrassment of which he had imagined her incapable. "Don't keep me

1 n ßiBru.ncö'" he pleaded gently. "Surely '" "Walt!" she cried quickly, a sudden flush of color suffusing her cheeks. "I told you that I was a dreadful creature, and now you will believe me. And yet, goodness knows, I meant to stop you before! Oh, didn't yoü see that I hated you?" Ives stared at her with a blank face. "You hated me!" he murmured slowly. "At first, when you came from her! I don't quite hate you now; I wish I did. It would be easier to tell you " "But if you don't hate me! Why, what have you to tell?" "That that I have treated you shamefully!" she murmured. "And after all, didn't you deserve it? How have you treated your cousin, his sister?" "You you have l-en playing with me:" he put in quickly, reading her expression now in a Hash of inspiration. "You have been so cruel?" She bowed her head silently. "It semed a fair revenge. I never thought you would take it so seriously." Th'ii she broke into a nervous laugh. "After all. you knew that I was an actress! Can I help niy nature? Forgive me! Forget our little comedy:" "Comedy! You can call It that? And Lord Noel? Why?. I don't understand." "Why I dismissed him. broke it off? Ah, for that I have to thank you; you gave me tue cue, the occasion. Rut I should have done it anyhow," she added in a minute. "It was only because he wouldn't take 'no.' He was a nice boy, but he bored me; it would never have done!" He took a step toward the window and gazed out at the dreary garden, where the rain pattered forlornly on the fallen leaves; recovering his self-possession slowly, proving himself, as a man rallying from a stunning, physical shock proves his limbs in fear of broken bones. When he turned, a revulsion of feeling, a healthy reaction had already set in; he was even calm enough to appreciate dimly the tine irony of his punishment. Miss Faunthorpe anticipated him when he was about to break the silence. "I have a further confession to make, there is no end to my enormities! You may as well know the worst of me. I have today engaged mvself to marry Mr. Nettleton." She raised her eyes for an instant as she spoke, courageously, but Ivee fancied that their radiance was dimmed by tears. "You have been making a fool of me all the time?" he asked gently. "Excuse the question; it will make it easier for me." She nodded silently, with lowered gaze. "Well, you have succeeded; I admit it freely. You have taught me a lesson for which 1 can even guess that I ought to be grateful. And it seems to me that if I say that I forgive you. that I bear you no malice, accounts will be square between us." Miss Faunthorpe blushed. "You are generous: you make, me feel more than ever ashamed." He held out his hand as If to say goodby, and she took it frankly, holding It for an instant. "Y'ou did come to break it off?" she asked timidly as they parted. "My engagement with Lord Noel, I mean though you didn't I cared for him? Yes? makes it easier for me! know whether Ah. then that Ciood-by forgive me. and forget!" He still hesitated "You were acting all tho time?" he asked. MisS Faunthorpe nodded. "All the time! After ali," she added as he left the room, "I didn't know for certain what you Intended; I didn't mean that you should go so far." As Ives fared on his homeward way across Regent's park he congratulated himself more than nce in that he had not written to the duchess that he had not burned his ships. Strangely enough, ho felt relieved and even elated; if he had not won, it seemed to him that he had at lea.st saved his stake; and he was happier than he would have been if he had not found the courage to risk it. He was able to contemplate the prosiect of his return to Appleford, and all that it Implied, with a resignation which was at least a very tolerable imitation cf equanimity. He found himself appreciating from a new point of view the immense propriety, the fitness and security of his match with his cousin. Lady Hilda. Macmillan's Magazine. Artlettft Childhood. One of the artless and attrm-live f haracteristics of children Is their easy initmacy with heaven and the deity. When a little mite at Sunday school, or out of it Indeed, is asked a question whose answer is bey end him, he is very apt to fall back uion the Maker of heaven and earth, often with most amusing incongruity. A little girl who wanted to go out and piny one Sunday recently was told she might pit on the stoop, but could not go to the street. She trundled her little chair out accordingly, but at the end of a few minutes trundled it back again. "There is nobody out there but Dod," she announced, "and I tan't see him. so I tummed in." Another little girl, a six-year-old, who couldn't play a note, sa'ed herself at the piano to entertain a caller waiting for her mother. "Shall I play for you?" she inquired, with much aliectation of manner. "Would you like to hear a waltz?" "res," replied the visitor, "very much. What one can you play?" "Well," was the answer, with a complacent toss of the head, "I can play two or three, but my favorite waltz is the kingdom of heaven." N. Y. Times. Enameled Iron. Among the interesting points to be noted in iron manufacturing processes and products of late, mention may be made of the enameled iron of various colors which is being so extensively introduced, and which according to a French industrial paper, is produced by dipping the iron plates into an enameling liquid composed of twenty-four parts, by weight, of bo rar, six of soda salts, fifteen of boric acid, twenty-five of washed sand, twelve five-tenths of feldspar, three five-tenths of faltpeter. and three parts of fluor spar. The plates are dried and fired, end the coloring is imparted by adding metallic oxides as preferred. N. Y. Sun. eien'ttfio nrevitle. The Eiffel tower is to be "put to sleep." Near London there is in process of construction a gigantic tower which Is to overtop the Eiffel by 17,) feet, and which, with its base l(i5 feet aove the level of the sea, will reach 1,300 feet above sea level. A gaseous compound of oxygen and hydrogen Is the remarkable discovery reported from a Herman laboratory. This new substance is said to dissolve metal and to form powerful explosives with silver and mercury. An advocate of electrical cooking claims that of evefy 100 tons of coal used in a cooking stove ninety-six tons go to waste. A IIo)'m Idcn. Little Girl "Why is those little wheel bicycles called safeties?" Little Roy "Cause w'en you're goin so fast you can't stop, you bend down an' dodge under a horse's legs without gettln hurt." Street & Smith's Good News. I. Iked Comfort. Housekeeper "Goodness me! Do you mean to pay you walked to the world's fair and back?" Tramp "Yes. mum. I thought it ud be more cornfertable than travelin' on a cheap excursion." N. Y. Weekly. The Heat IMnoe to l.iind. Friend "Suppose there should be an earthquake here. Your new sky-scraping building would be the first to fall." Builder "Y-e-s; but we'd land on top." N. Y. Weekly.

THIS IS A GIRL OF PLUCK

MISS ADA CtRM'TT IS A TERROR TO THE OKLAHOMA OUTLAWS. Act a a Deputy Mnralml A Woninn Clerk, of the District Court nt Norin nil Who Doe the Work of Criminal Caleher Heller Than n ManShe Carrie Mo Wraponi, Hut Her Nerve Appnll the Touffheat CharaoterM, and She Takes Her Prisoner! Without Much Trouble. Extraordinary conditions often force the women of the West into extraordinary positions, says the Peoria Herald. Miss Ada Curnutt of Oklahoma holds the position of deputy United States marshal in a country where the public peace is in the hands of the federal government. The territory of Oklahoma, hardly four yeans old, is the home of numbers of desjerate men who have become outlawed from the peaceful states of the North and Fast, and who here find at least tolerance. When the country was opened to settlement it was overrun with "sooners." The claims thus "soonered" were at once contested, and hundreds of cases were thrown into the courts, when they had not been more speedily settled with the Winchester or revolver. These contests developed hundreds of cases of perjury, and over one hundred men, and in a few instances women, are now serving sentences in the territorial prison at Lansing, in Kansas. There devioped many professional perjurers, who were known to be desperate men, or, in the vernacular of the cout try, "killers," who could be hired to testify to anything. The United States prosecuting attorney, Horace Speed, an utterly fearless man. took these men in hand and determined to crush- out flagrant perjury and the perjurers. Aocordlngly the grand jury indicted about thirty of these men, and warrants for their arrest were placed in the hards of the deputy marshals. The men who were wanted were scattered through the country in hiding, some of them In the Indian reservations among the Indians. The Indians, wMle they fear, at the same tim. cordially hate the deputy mershals, and wercfclad to hide the miscreants. Miss Curnutt, who is also the clerk of the district court at Norman, received a telegram one day not long ago from the United States marshal that two wellknown desperate characters and perjurers who were badly wanted were at Oklahoma City, and to send an experienced deputy there at once to arrest them. As it happone-J. all cf the deputies were at that time out on the "scout" with warrants, but the men must be arrested, and the plucky little woman took the train herself to Oklahoma City. When she arrived there she learned that the nn were in a gambling ho-ise and saloon, and going there she sent a man to tell them that a lady wanted to see them outside. When they came out sh was for a moment appalled. They were "toughs" of the toughest character, heavily armed and under the influence of liqour, but. nothing daunted, she read them the warrants and placed them under arrest. The toughs considered it quite a joke and refused to accompany her. The plucky little deputy marshal was not calculated to inspire terror. She is a slender woman, about twenty years of a.e, well dressed, modest, but with determined-looking gray eyes and unflinching courage. Although she was entirely unarmed, in a locality where the only thing that commands thorough re?iect is the Winchester and the revolver, she told them that they must go witlf her and that she could instantly summon every man on the street as her posse man to assist her. The perjurers allowed her to fasten them together with handcuffs. She marched them to the railway station and telegraphed the marshal at Guthrie: "Meet me at the train. 1 have Reagan and Dolezel. "ADA CURNUTT." Miss Curnutt. as clerk of the district court, has survived several administrations. Her work Is conducted with and in the presence of men of tb roughest character, who, however, yield her the greatest respect. The force of her character and self-reliance necessary to conduct the office in a new country and under the circumstance arising in such a community are very great, but this young woman lias won the admiration and respect of all the judges and officer., as well as of the characters who find themselves before the courts. Miss Curnutt came to this country just after its opening to settlement, with her sifter and brother-in-law, ami her ability soon won her a place in the court clerk's office. She knows nor cares nothing for politics, but she understands her business and sticks to it. She Is the daughter of a metr.odist clergyman, and was born in Illinois. She devotes most of her spare time to china painting. Changing Plumnge. All birds change their plumage with the seasons, a process which we term endysis or ecdysis, a putting on or taking off of plumage, popularly known as molting. Now, let us understand that a feather is merely a modified scale, or better yet. a modification of the skin growth, possessed only by birds, and all birds have them. The hair and fur of mammals, the scales of fishes and reptiles are merely modifications of the same substance. And even the horny coverings of the beak and claws and the scales of the legs are the same, but very differently developed. These feathers, in common with all the different forms of epidermic growths, grow from a little sac formed from the substance of the epidermis and are composed first of a matrix, from which emerges a little five-rayed tuft of hair. This is what we call a pin feather. By growth the conjunction of th-.e hairs in the matrix evolves into a shaft, bearing two webs or vanes, variously modified in form to suit the special purpose, whether of flight or covering or attractive quality by reason of coloration. These feathers, full grown, must necessarily be exposed to the wear and tear of the weather and contact with the ground an 1 vegetation among which the bird is compelled to travel In search of food or to escape attack. And as the feather, when it reaches its full growth, takes on a more solid consistency to belter withstand such contact, and in so doing ceases its growth, it becomes necessary to renew these feathers. Boston Commonwealth. Where l'upiiee Slone Comes From. We often hoar it remarked, and particularly after the eruption of a volcano, that pumice stone ought to be plentiful and cheap as quantities must have been ejected during the volcanic disturbances. As a matter of fact, however, none of the white stone in general use is obtained from active volcanoes. It conies from deiosits of the article discovered in one or two quarters of the Tyrrhenian sea. The island is mountainous in character and consists of tuffa and lavas and highly silicious volcanic products. The district where the stone is found is called Campo Rlanco or Monte I'etalo (1,500 feet above the level of the sea). An Interesting Fael. The name of God is ppelled with four letters in almost every known language. In Arabian it is Alia; East Indian, Zcul or Fsgi; Kgyptlan, Zeut or Auma; Fiench, Dieu: Vaudois, Diou; Tahitian, Atua; Hebrew. Adon; Irish. Dich; Japanese, Zaln; Latin, Deus; German, Gott; Malayan, Eesl; Persian, Ryra; Peruvian, Llan; Tartarian, Tgan; Turkish. Addl.;Scandlnavian, Odin; Spanish. Dios; Swedish, Oodd; Syriac, Adad; Wallachian, Seue.

C to)

READY RELIEF The most certain and safe fain Remedf in the world that Instantly stops the noit excruciating pains. It is truly the great CONQUEROR OF PAIN and has done more good than any Unowa eFOR' PAINS. BRUISES. PArKACMR, PAIN IN Til" CHKST CR SIDES, HEAOACTIE. TOOTH ACHE c il ANT OTMER EXTERNAL PAIN, a few orr'b oatiens rubbed or by the han i act lik magic, ceuslng the pain to in-ntly slop. CURES AND PREVENTS Sqf3 II, itloi, tails. MM life Rheumatism, f.'sura'nia. Sciatica. Lumbago, Swelling of the Joints, Fains in Back, C'hsst or Limbs. The application of the READT -RELIEF to the part or parts where uie difnculty of pain evl(t will aUord ee and Comfort. ALL INTERNAL PAlN.S. PAINS IN BOWELS or STOMACH. CRAMPS. SOUR STOMACH. PPAS.MS. NAUSEA. VOMIT1NO. llRAKTHCK.V. NERVOUSNESS. SLEEPLESSNESS. SICK HEADACHE. DIARRHOEA. COLIC. FLATULENCY. JTAINTLVC SPELLS ar reüevej Instantly and quickly cirei by fikinc Internally a half to a teaspoon? cl of lUaay Ilelief ia half a tKtabl-r of water. m A L A R I A, Fever and Ague, RADVAY'S READY RELIEF. There Is rot a medial sgent In tfca world tbt will enre fever enl atme and all ihr maiaiioue. bl'.lcu and other fevers, aided by Radwy"s rilla, bo quickly S Kadway'a Ready Eelief. 50 cenfs per bottle. Sold by Druggists. ii-.-.-r; il Sars2paril!ian Resn!vpnt. THE GREAT BLOOD FURIFIER, A remedy i-omposed of lnRt-fdlents of x traordlnaj-.- medical properties, essential to purify, eal. repair and invigorate th oroken-down and wasted body, tjuick. pleasant, safe and permanent ia its treatment and cure. For the Cure of Cfirnnx Disease. Scrofuout. HereJfjry or Contagious. Not only doe the Sarsa pa rilla Resolvent excel all remedial agt-au in the cure ct Chronic, Scrofulous, eonultutlonal anl Skin Diseases, tut it Is the only positiv cure for KIDNEY USD BLADDER COMPLAINTS, Urinary and Womb Lisea5s. Gravel. Diabetes. Dropsy, SStoupaRe of Wat.-r, Incontinence c Lruie. linirht's Dis-ase. Albuminuria, and all cases where there ar brick dust deposits, or th? water is thick, clouuy. mixed with EJb.ta:iCf3 liKe ths white of an erg. or threads lik whit Bilk, or there is a rr.orb.d. dark, bilious appearance, end white bone-dust deposit a, and when there Is a ruckling, burning, sensation when p:ssins water, and pain in the null of the bacV ml alon?.tn lolna. Sold by dniggista. Price, One Dollar. l i I a s4 w J iu Li 'w' Always Reliable, Purely Vegetable. Die Great Liver anl StosaclBeiacly AX EXCBLLKNT AND MILD CATHARTICS. PERFECTLY TASTELESS. Over Forty Years In Use and Mever Known to Fail. Posea properties the most extraordinary in restoring health. Tlir stimulate to healthy acticu the various organs. th natural conditions of which are so necessary for health. Grap7 with and neutralize the Impurities, driving thcra com pietelv out of the eystem. Radway's is a Compound Pill. One of their Ingredients will attack th lazy LIVEit. another will rouse up th liOWELS, another will attack the SKIN, and ''till another will hurry up the KIDNEYS This is the br.nuty of their effective cperation; whilst they have a speclSa action on the Liver, they have a reflex or reflective Ci.on on this same organ by their other Fpeclfic effects on the or pans of the bvstem: whilst they forc with the one r.and they persuade with th other, till all the crp-.ms are brought to harmonious actiou and perform their rQuired functions. RADVAY'S PILLS Driv cut e.11 diseases, from whatever cause thty may naKin? inroads on -your Kvstem; delur no mnqtr; the rcmrty Is at hand; a dya or two will con vine you cf the truth. To thousanos now fMScrlr.g we say, you have the ,emedv in ynw ot n hnds. Hal. way' 'S is a well-Kiiown Pi'.l. containing- tha Choicest extracts taken from the Vegetable Kingdom only, compounded in the most scie.it'ho proportions, which were found tv Dr Kadway to T.e the best ndap!-d to stimulate and restore m healthy action the disordered organs. They contain ni mineral oi metal or thnr salts nothing poisonous enters Inio thlr composition, and thev are perfectly safe to take. To those who are looking for a Health Restorer we cannot too strongly recommend well-tried, safe and ef.icier.t remedy ucli as Is presented ia Radway's l'lils. FOR Sick Headache, Female Complaints, Indigestion, Diliousncss. Constipation, Dyspepsia AND All Disorders of the Liver. Full printed directions In euch box; S cents a box. Sold by all drugg.t. Radway & Co. Hew York

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