The doctor knew Maddy did not require his presence after the first

half hour, but he insisted upon her being sent to bed, and then went

frequently to her door until assured by Mrs. Noah that she was

sleeping soundly, and would, if let alone, be well as ever on the

morrow, a prediction which proved true, for when at a late hour next

morning the family met at the breakfast table, Maddy's was the

brightest, freshest face of the whole, not even excepting Jessie's.

Maddy, too, was delighted with the party, declaring that nothing but

pleasurable excitement and heat had made her faint, and then with all

the interest which young girls usually attach to fainting fits, she

Advertisement..

asked how she looked, how she acted, if she didn't appear very

ridiculous, and how she got out of the room, saying the only thing she

remembered after falling was a sensation as if she were being torn in

two.

"That's it," cried Jessie, who readily volunteered the desired

information, "Brother Guy was 'way off with Maria Cutler, and doctor

was with mamma, but both ran, oh, so fast, and both tried to take you

up. I think Miss Cutler real hateful, for she said, so meanlike, 'Do

you see them pull her, as if 'twas of the slightest consequence which

carried her out?'"

"Jessie," Guy interposed sternly, while the doctor looked

disapprovingly at the little girl, who subsided into silence after

saying, in an undertone, "I do think she's hateful, and that isn't all

she said either about Maddy."

It was rather uncomfortable at the table after that, and rather quiet,

too, as Maddy did not care to ask anything more concerning her faint,

while the others were not disposed to talk.

Breakfast over, the two young men repaired to the library, where Guy

indulged in his cigar, while the doctor fidgeted for a time, and then

broke out abruptly: "I say, Guy, have you said anything to her about--well, about me, you

know?"

"Why, no, I've hardly had a chance; and then, again, I concluded it

better for each one to speak for himself;" and carelessly knocking the

ashes from his half-smoked cigar, Guy leaned back in his chair, with

his eyes, and, to all appearance, thoughts, wholly intent upon the

curls of smoke rising above his head.

"Guy, if you were not engaged, I should be tempted to think you wanted

Maddy Clyde yourself," the doctor suddenly exclaimed, confronting Guy,

who, still watching the rings of smoke, answered with the most

provoking coolness, "You should?"




Most Popular