Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations
in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other
spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Italics are represented thus _italic_.
[Illustration]
NEW EAGLE SERIES No. 1078
THE SHADOW
BETWEEN THEM
By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
POPULAR COPYRIGHTS
New Eagle Series
PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS
Carefully Selected Love Stories
_Note the Authors!_
There is such a profusion of good books in this list, that it is an
impossibility to urge you to select any particular title or author’s
work. All that we can say is that any line that contains the complete
works of Mrs. Georgie Sheldon, Charles Garvice, Mrs. Harriet Lewis,
May Agnes Fleming, Wenona Gilman, Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller, and other
writers of the same type, is worthy of your attention, especially when
the price has been set at 15 cents the volume.
These books range from 256 to 320 pages. They are printed from good
type, and are readable from start to finish.
If you are looking for clean-cut, honest value, then we state most
emphatically that you will find it in this line.
_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_
* * * * *
1--Queen Bess By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
2--Ruby’s Reward By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
7--Two Keys By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
9--The Virginia Heiress By May Agnes Fleming
12--Edrie’s Legacy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
17--Leslie’s Loyalty By Charles Garvice
(His Love So True)
22--Elaine By Charles Garvice
24--A Wasted Love By Charles Garvice
(On Love’s Altar)
41--Her Heart’s Desire By Charles Garvice
(An Innocent Girl)
44--That Dowdy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
50--Her Ransom By Charles Garvice
(Paid For)
55--Thrice Wedded By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
66--Witch Hazel By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
70--Sydney By Charles Garvice
(A Wilful Young Woman)
73--The Marquis By Charles Garvice
77--Tina By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
79--Out of the Past By Charles Garvice
(Marjorie)
84--Imogene By Charles Garvice
(Dumaresq’s Temptation)
250--A Woman’s Soul By Charles Garvice
(Doris; or, Behind the Footlights)
255--The Little Marplot By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
257--A Martyred Love By Charles Garvice
(Iris; or, Under the Shadows)
266--The Welfleet Mystery By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
267--Jeanne By Charles Garvice
(Barriers Between)
268--Olivia; or, It Was for Her Sake By Charles Garvice
272--So Fair, So False By Charles Garvice
(The Beauty of the Season)
276--So Nearly Lost By Charles Garvice
(The Springtime of Love)
277--Brownie’s Triumph By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
280--Love’s Dilemma By Charles Garvice
(For an Earldom)
282--The Forsaken Bride By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
283--My Lady Pride By Charles Garvice
287--The Lady of Darracourt By Charles Garvice
(Floris)
288--Sibyl’s Influence By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
291--A Mysterious Wedding Ring By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
292--For Her Only By Charles Garvice
(Diana)
296--The Heir of Vering By Charles Garvice
299--Little Miss Whirlwind By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
300--The Spider and the Fly By Charles Garvice
(Violet)
303--The Queen of the Isle By May Agnes Fleming
304--Stanch as a Woman By Charles Garvice
(A Maiden’s Sacrifice)
305--Led by Love By Charles Garvice
Sequel to “Stanch as a Woman”
309--The Heiress of Castle Cliffs By May Agnes Fleming
312--Woven on Fate’s Loom, and The Snowdrift By Charles Garvice
315--The Dark Secret By May Agnes Fleming
317--Ione By Laura Jean Libbey
(Adrien Le Roy)
318--Stanch of Heart By Charles Garvice
322--Mildred By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
326--Parted by Fate By Laura Jean Libbey
327--He Loves Me By Charles Garvice
328--He Loves Me Not By Charles Garvice
330--Aikenside By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
333--Stella’s Fortune By Charles Garvice
(The Sculptor’s Wooing)
334--Miss McDonald By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
339--His Heart’s Queen By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
340--Bad Hugh. Vol. I. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
341--Bad Hugh. Vol. II. By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
344--Tresillian Court By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
345--The Scorned Wife By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
346--Guy Tresillian’s Fate By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
347--The Eyes of Love By Charles Garvice
348--The Hearts of Youth By Charles Garvice
351--The Churchyard Betrothal By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
352--Family Pride. Vol. I. By Mary J. Holmes
353--Family Pride. Vol. II. By Mary J. Holmes
354--A Love Comedy By Charles Garvice
360--The Ashes of Love By Charles Garvice
361--A Heart Triumphant By Charles Garvice
362--Stella Rosevelt By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
367--The Pride of Her Life By Charles Garvice
368--Won By Love’s Valor By Charles Garvice
372--A Girl in a Thousand By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
373--A Thorn Among Roses By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “A Girl in a Thousand”
380--Her Double Life By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
381--The Sunshine of Love By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “Her Double Life”
382--Mona By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
391--Marguerite’s Heritage By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
399--Betsey’s Transformation By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
407--Esther, the Fright By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
415--Trixy By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
440--Edna’s Secret Marriage By Charles Garvice
449--The Bailiff’s Scheme By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
450--Rosamond’s Love By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Bailiff’s Scheme”
451--Helen’s Victory By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
456--A Vixen’s Treachery By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
457--Adrift in the World By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “A Vixen’s Treachery”
458--When Love Meets Love By Charles Garvice
464--The Old Life’s Shadows By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
465--Outside Her Eden By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Old Life’s Shadows”
474--The Belle of the Season By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
475--Love Before Pride By Mrs. Harriet Lewis
Sequel to “The Belle of the Season”
481--Wedded, Yet No Wife By May Agnes Fleming
489--Lucy Harding By Mrs. Mary J. Holmes
495--Norine’s Revenge By May Agnes Fleming
511--The Golden Key By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
512--A Heritage of Love By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “The Golden Key”
519--The Magic Cameo By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
520--The Heatherford Fortune By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
Sequel to “The Magic Cameo”
525--Sweet Kitty Clover By Laura Jean Libbey
531--Better Than Life By Charles Garvice
534--Lotta, the Cloak Model By Laura Jean Libbey
542--Once in a Life By Charles Garvice
543--The Veiled Bride By Laura Jean Libbey
548--’Twas Love’s Fault By Charles Garvice
553--Queen Kate By Charles Garvice
554--Step by Step By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
557--In Cupid’s Chains By Charles Garvice
630--The Verdict of the Heart By Charles Garvice
635--A Coronet of Shame. By Charles Garvice
640--A Girl of Spirit By Charles Garvice
645--A Jest of Fate By Charles Garvice
648--Gertrude Elliott’s Crucible By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
650--Diana’s Destiny By Charles Garvice
655--Linked by Fate By Charles Garvice
663--Creatures of Destiny By Charles Garvice
671--When Love Is Young By Charles Garvice
676--My Lady Beth By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
679--Gold in the Gutter By Charles Garvice
712--Love and a Lie By Charles Garvice
721--A Girl from the South By Charles Garvice
730--John Hungerford’s Redemption By Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
741--The Fatal Ruby By Charles Garvice
749--The Heart of a Maid By Charles Garvice
758--The Woman in It By Charles Garvice
774--Love in a Snare By Charles Garvice
775--My Love Kitty By Charles Garvice
776--That Strange Girl By Charles Garvice
777--Nellie By Charles Garvice
778--Miss Estcourt; or Olive By Charles Garvice
818--The Girl Who Was True By Charles Garvice
826--The Irony of Love By Charles Garvice
896--A Terrible Secret By May Agnes Fleming
897--When To-morrow Came By May Agnes Fleming
904--A Mad Marriage By May Agnes Fleming
905--A Woman Without Mercy By May Agnes Fleming
912--One Night’s Mystery By May Agnes Fleming
913--The Cost of a Lie By May Agnes Fleming
920--Silent and True By May Agnes Fleming
921--A Treasure Lost By May Agnes Fleming
925--Forrest House By Mary J. Holmes
926--He Loved Her Once By Mary J. Holmes
930--Kate Danton By May Agnes Fleming
931--Proud as a Queen By May Agnes Fleming
935--Queenie Hetherton By Mary J. Holmes
936--Mightier Than Pride By Mary J. Holmes
940--The Heir of Charlton By May Agnes Fleming
941--While Love Stood Waiting By May Agnes Fleming
945--Gretchen By Mary J. Holmes
946--Beauty That Faded By Mary J. Holmes
950--Carried by Storm By May Agnes Fleming
951--Love’s Dazzling Glitter By May Agnes Fleming
954--Marguerite By Mary J. Holmes
955--When Love Spurs Onward By Mary J. Holmes
960--Lost for a Woman By May Agnes Fleming
961--His to Love or Hate By May Agnes Fleming
964--Paul Ralston’s First Love By Mary J. Holmes
965--Where Love’s Shadows Lie Deep By Mary J. Holmes
968--The Tracy Diamonds By Mary J. Holmes
969--She Loved Another By Mary J. Holmes
972--The Cromptons By Mary J. Holmes
973--Her Husband Was a Scamp By Mary J. Holmes
975--The Merivale Banks By Mary J. Holmes
978--The One Girl in the World By Charles Garvice
979--His Priceless Jewel By Charles Garvice
982--The Millionaire’s Daughter and Other Stories By Charles Garvice
983--Doctor Hathern’s Daughters By Mary J. Holmes
984--The Colonel’s Bride By Mary J. Holmes
988--Her Ladyship’s Diamonds, and Other Stories By Charles Garvice
998--Sharing Her Crime By May Agnes Fleming
999--The Heiress of Sunset Hall By May Agnes Fleming
1004--Maude Percy’s Secret By May Agnes Fleming
1005--The Adopted Daughter By May Agnes Fleming
1010--The Sisters of Torwood By May Agnes Fleming
1015--A Changed Heart By May Agnes Fleming
1016--Enchanted By May Agnes Fleming
1025--A Wife’s Tragedy By May Agnes Fleming
1026--Brought to Reckoning By May Agnes Fleming
1027--A Madcap Sweetheart By Emma Garrison Jones
1028--An Unhappy Bargain By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1029--Only a Working Girl By Geraldine Fleming
1030--The Unbidden Guest By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1031--The Man and His Millions By Ida Reade Allen
1032--Mabel’s Sacrifice By Charlotte M. Stanley
1033--Was He Worth It? By Geraldine Fleming
1034--Her Two Suitors By Wenona Gilman
1035--Edith Percival By May Agnes Fleming
1036--Caught in the Snare By May Agnes Fleming
1037--A Love Concealed By Emma Garrison Jones
1038--The Price of Happiness By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1039--The Lucky Man By Geraldine Fleming
1040--A Forced Promise By Ida Reade Allen
1041--The Crime of Love By Barbara Howard
1042--The Bride’s Opals By Emma Garrison Jones
1043--Love That Was Cursed By Geraldine Fleming
1044--Thorns of Regret By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1045--Love Will Find the Way By Wenona Gilman
1046--Bitterly Atoned By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
1047--Told in the Twilight By Ida Reade Allen
1048--A Little Barbarian By Charlotte Kingsley
1049--Love’s Golden Spell By Geraldine Fleming
1050--Married in Error By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1051--If It Were True By Wenona Gilman
1052--Vivian’s Love Story By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
1053--From Tears to Smiles By Ida Reade Allen
1054--When Love Dawns By Adelaide Stirling
1055--Love’s Earnest Prayer By Geraldine Fleming
1056--The Strength of Love By Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller
1057--A Lost Love By Wenona Gilman
1058--The Stronger Passion By Lillian R. Drayton
1059--What Love Can Cost By Evelyn Malcolm
1060--At Another’s Bidding By Ida Reade Allen
1061--Above All Things By Adelaide Stirling
1062--The Curse of Beauty By Geraldine Fleming
1063--Her Sister’s Secret By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1064--Married in Haste By Wenona Gilman
1065--Fair Maid Marian By Emma Garrison Jones
1066--No Man’s Wife By Ida Reade Allen
1067--A Sacrifice to Love By Adelaide Stirling
1068--Her Fatal Gift By Geraldine Fleming
1069--Her Life’s Burden By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1070--Evelyn, the Actress By Wenona Gilman
1071--Married for Money By Lucy Randall Comfort
1072--A Lost Sweetheart By Ida Reade Allen
1073--A Golden Sorrow By Charlotte M. Stanley
1074--Her Heart’s Challenge By Barbara Howard
1075--His Willing Slave By Lillian R. Drayton
1076--A Freak of Fate By Emma Garrison Jones
1077--Her Punishment By Laura Jean Libbey
1078--The Shadow Between Them By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1079--No Time for Penitence By Wenona Gilman
1080--Norna’s Black Fortune By Ida Reade Allen
1081--A Wilful Girl By Lucy Randall Comfort
1082--Love’s First Kiss By Emma Garrison Jones
1083--Lola Dunbar’s Crime By Barbara Howard
1084--Ethel’s Secret By Charlotte M. Stanley
1085--Lynette’s Wedding By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1086--A Fair Enchantress By Ida Reade Allen
1087--The Tide of Fate By Wenona Gilman
1088--Her Husband’s Other Wife By Emma Garrison Jones
1089--Hearts of Stone By Geraldine Fleming
1090--In Love’s Springtime By Laura Jean Libbey
1091--Love at the Loom By Geraldine Fleming
1092--What Was She to Him? By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1093--For Another’s Fault By Charlotte M. Stanley
1094--Hearts and Dollars Ida Reade Allen
1095--A Wife’s Triumph Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1096--A Bachelor Girl Lucy May Russell
1097--Love and Spite Adelaide Stirling
1098--Leola’s Heart Charlotte M. Stanley
1099--The Power of Love Geraldine Fleming
1100--An Angel of Evil Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1101--True to His Bride Emma Garrison Jones
1102--The Lady of Beaufort Park Wenona Gilman
1103--A Daughter of Darkness Ida Reade Allen
1104--My Pretty Maid Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1105--Master of Her Fate Geraldine Fleming
1106--A Shadowed Happiness Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1107--John Elliott’s Flirtation Lucy May Russell
1108--A Forgotten Love Adelaide Stirling
1109--Sylvia, The Forsaken Charlotte M. Stanley
1110--Her Dearest Love Geraldine Fleming
1111--Love’s Greatest Gift Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1112--Mischievous Maid Faynie Laura Jean Libbey
1113--In Love’s Name Emma Garrison Jones
1114--Love’s Clouded Dawn Wenona Gilman
1115--A Blue Grass Heroine Ida Reade Allen
1116--Only a Kiss Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1117--Virgie Talcott’s Mission Lucy May Russell
1118--Her Evil Genius Adelaide Stirling
1119--In Love’s Paradise Charlotte M. Stanley
1120--Sold for Gold Geraldine Fleming
1121--Andrew Leicester’s Love Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1122--Taken by Storm Emma Garrison Jones
1123--The Mills of the Gods Wenona Gilman
1124--The Breath of Slander Ida Reade Allen
1125--Loyal Unto Death Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1126--A Spurned Proposal Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1127--Daredevil Betty Evelyn Malcolm
1128--Her Life’s Dark Cloud Lillian R. Drayton
1129--True Love Endures Ida Reade Allen
1130--The Battle of Hearts Geraldine Fleming
1131--Better Than Riches Wenona Gilman
1132--Tempted By Love Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1133--Between Good and Evil Charlotte M. Stanley
1134--A Southern Princess Emma Garrison Jones
1135--The Thorns of Love Evelyn Malcolm
1136--A Married Flirt Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1137--Her Priceless Love Geraldine Fleming
1138--My Own Sweetheart Wenona Gilman
1139--Love’s Harvest Adelaide Fox Robinson
1140--His Two Loves Ida Reade Allen
1141--The Love He Sought Lillian R. Drayton
1142--A Fateful Promise Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1143--Love Surely Triumphs Charlotte May Kingsley
1144--The Haunting Past By Evelyn Malcolm
1145--Sorely Tried By Emma Garrison Jones
1146--Falsely Accused By Geraldine Fleming
1147--Love Given in Vain By Adelaide Fox Robinson
1148--No One to Help Her By Ida Reade Allen
1149--Her Golden Secret By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1150--Saved From Herself By Adelaide Stirling
1151--The Gypsy’s Warning By Emma Garrison Jones
1152--Caught in Love’s Net By Ida Reade Allen
1153--The Pride of My Heart By Laura Jean Libbey
1154--A Vagabond Heiress By Charlotte May Kingsley
1155--That Terrible Tomboy By Geraldine Fleming
1156--The Man She Hated By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1157--Her Fateful Choice By Charlotte M. Stanley
1158--A Hero For Love’s Sake By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1159--A Penniless Princess By Emma Garrison Jones
1160--Love’s Rugged Pathway By Ida Reade Allen
1161--Had She Loved Him Less By Laura Jean Libbey
1162--The Serpent and the Dove By Charlotte May Kingsley
1163--What Love Made Her By Geraldine Fleming
1164--Love Conquers Pride By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1165--His Unbounded Faith By Charlotte M. Stanley
1166--A Heart’s Triumph By Effie Adelaide Rowlands
1167--Stronger than Fate By Emma Garrison Jones
1168--A Virginia Goddess By Ida Reade Allen
1169--Love’s Young Dream By Laura Jean Libbey
1170--When Fate Decrees By Adelaide Fox Robinson
1171--For a Flirt’s Love By Geraldine Fleming
1172--All For Love By Mrs. Alex McVeigh Miller
1173--Could He Have Known By Charlotte May Stanley
1174--The Girl He Loved By Adelaide Stirling
1175--They Met By Chance By Ida Reade Allen
1176--The Lovely Constance By Laura Jean Libbey
1177--The Love That Prevailed By Mrs. E. Burke Collins
In order that there may be no confusion, we desire to say that the
books listed below will be issued during the respective months in New
York City and vicinity. They may not reach the readers at a distance
promptly, on account of delays in transportation.
To be published in January, 1925.
1178--Trixie’s Honor By Geraldine Fleming
1179--Driven from Home By Wenona Gilman
To be published in February, 1925.
1180--The Arm of the Law By Evelyn Malcolm
1181--A Will of Her Own By Ida Reade Allen
The Shadow Between Them
OR,
A BLIGHTED NAME
BY
MRS. ALEX. McVEIGH MILLER
AUTHOR OF
“Her Life’s Burden,” “The Strength of Love,”
“Married in Error,” etc.
[Illustration]
STREET & SMITH CORPORATION
PUBLISHERS
79-89 Seventh Avenue, New York
Copyright, 1900
By NORMAN L. MUNRO
The Shadow Between Them
(Printed in the United States of America)
THE SHADOW BETWEEN THEM.
CHAPTER I.
“I LOVE HIM WHOEVER HE IS!”
“Fly around there, little Eva, and pack the lunch basket while me an’
the other girls get ready for the hay ride an’ the party. Put in the
half o’ thet caramel cake, an’ the thickest punkin pie, a big hunk o’
home-made cheese, a loaf of salt-risen bread, a glass o’ plum jelly,
an’ some cucumber pickles. They got to find room in the hay wagon for
that basket o’ pervisions, even if they do have to pack themselves like
sardines, for I beant going to starve on a Hallowe’en party till after
midnight!”
This was the rather long-winded pronunciamento of Miss Tabitha
Ruttencutter, spinster, as she flounced around and snatched a hot
flatiron from the top of the big stove, then turned back to the board
where she was ironing handkerchiefs and piles of white ruffled lingerie.
The scene was in the clean, roomy kitchen of a West Virginia farmhouse
up in the oil regions, where fortunes were made and lost in a day in
rash speculations almost as quickly as in Wall Street.
The roomy old farmhouse was going fast to ruin for lack of means to
repair it, for the thirty-acre farm was rocky and sterile, and only
afforded a support to its owner by reason of being within the famous
oil belt. He eked out a frugal subsistence by leasing part of the
ground to the oil men, who were numerous in that section, reaping rich
rewards from their speculations.
Some of the neighbors had got rich by oil, and Gran’ther Groves, as his
neighbors called him, expected prosperity, too, if the lessees ever put
down oil wells on his place, so that he could get some royalties on the
yield. But they were “dretful slow,” he complained, adding that he was
like to be dead and in his grave before luck struck the family.
Grandfather Groves, indeed, had been in hard luck many years, having
four orphan grandchildren to rear and support in his old age.
His son and his son’s wife had died in Kansas in their youth, leaving
one boy, Terry, and twin girls, Patty and Lydia. Sympathizing
neighbors, not wishing them to come upon the town for support, had
promptly raised a purse and sent the orphans, tagged, by express to
their Grandfather Groves, in West Virginia.
Pretty Nell, his daughter, had eloped with a fine young Northerner, who
was on a hunting trip in the neighborhood, and for three years little
was known or heard of her, till she returned one stormy winter night,
ill and faded and heartbroken, coming home to die, she said.
She had quarreled with her husband and left him forever. His family,
the grand, rich Somervilles, had disliked her and were always coming
between them, so she would never go back.
She had had one child, but it died at a year old and was buried in the
Somerville vault at Greenwood.
Nell died when her second child was born, though she lived long enough
to kiss the pictured face of her husband, and say:
“You may write to him when I am dead. He can have little Eva if he
wishes.”
But the father and mother, loath to part with all that was left of
their bonny Nell, never wrote. They resented the coldness that had kept
the husband from following his wife and suing for a reconciliation.
They kept the child for their own.
“We will bring her up with Fred’s little orphans, and her cold, proud
kin in New York need never be troubled with poor Nell’s child,” they
said, and devoted themselves to their grandchildren.
But when Terry was eighteen, the twins sixteen, and Eva barely
fourteen, dear old grandma died of a fever. Then Miss Tabitha
Ruttencutter, a distant cousin, rising forty, and “homely as sin,” came
to reign over the farm, substituting an iron sway for the loving rule
of the one who was gone.
As she soon announced frankly to the neighbors, she “never took to
Eva Somerville.” All natures like Miss Ruttencutter’s must have a
scapegoat. The youngest girl served the spinster in that capacity.
At the time of the opening of this story the twins were nineteen years
old, handsome brunettes both of them, and Eva seventeen, a radiant
young beauty of medium height, exquisite form, and combining her
mother’s starry dark eyes with the golden locks of her Northern father,
forming that fascinating type of loveliness, a dark-eyed blonde.
All four of the young women were invited to go on a Hallowe’en hay
ride, but, as usual, Miss Tabby tabooed Eva’s going.
“She must stay at home with Gran’ther Groves. He might take one o’ them
fits he’s subject to, and die if he was left alone,” she said bluntly.
Eva’s starry dark eyes suddenly brimmed over with rebellious tears, and
she protested with tremulous red lips:
“I think you might stay with gran’ther yourself, to-night, Cousin Tab,
and let me go and have some fun.”
“And who pays you for thinking about what I ought to do, Miss Smarty?
Ain’t I one o’ the chappyrones, and in a manner ’bleeged to go?” was
the tart rejoinder.
“There’s a-plenty chaperones without you, Cousin Tab. Indeed, I never
could see why all the frisky widows and cranky old maids in the country
must go poking along with every little frolic the young folks have, as
if one settled old woman wasn’t enough to keep them straight! I believe
the hateful old things go just to have a good time themselves, thinking
to cut the girls out and get a young husband!” ejaculated Eva angrily,
in her disappointment, so that Gran’ther Groves, from his corner seat,
where he was patting the big dog’s head between his knees, looked
around and chuckled:
“Good for you, Eva, my honey; you hit the nail square on the head!
I’m thinking, too, that the boys and girls could be trusted together
without so many old women to keep ’em from sparking; eh, Pat and Lydia?”
The twins, deprecating the spinster’s wrath, wisely made him no reply,
but little Eva flew to his side and, clasping her soft arms about his
neck, cried, with her rosy cheek pressed against his dear, white head:
“Dear old gran’ther, please make her let me go on the hay ride if I can
persuade Dan to stay with you.”
“Sartain, sartain, child,” the old man answered soothingly.
Dan was the chore boy, a stout, stupid fellow, fond in his way of
little Eva, but he had his own plans to go out with the boys on
Hallowe’en larks to-night, so he resisted all the little beauty’s
blandishments, and would neither be coaxed nor bribed to stay.
Then Gran’ther Groves, pained at his darling’s disappointment,
valiantly announced he would stay alone.
Pooh! what was he afraid of, he who had shouldered a musket four long
years in the Civil War and marched with Sherman through Georgia.
But, alas, that wound he had got in the last battle had impaired his
health for life. He was never able to till the soil any more, and he
had never been left alone again since the day he had fallen with
his face in the creek in a dreadful fit and been saved by a passing
fisherman, who dragged him out just in the nick of time.
The old doctor had said the fit resulted from his wound, and that he
must never be suffered to go about alone, lest he should come to grief.
For a while Terry had been his companion, but he was gone away to the
university, at Morgantown, to study law, so the duty fell by common
consent on Eva.
At his cheerful little speech she hushed her sobs and exclaimed
tenderly:
“Say no more about it, for I will never leave you alone, gran’ther,
dear.”
“Then quit your fooling and pack the lunch basket for us,” interpolated
Patty, who was sewing a new red ribbon into the neck of her waist.
“Yes, do,” added Lydia lazily, from her rocking-chair and novel.
“I won’t, so there!” declared Eva pettishly. “You may wait on
yourselves, Pat and Lyd, since you like so well to leave me at home
like a poor little ashcat, and go off and have all the fun yourselves.
I won’t even help Dan to milk Spots and Dapple! I’m going to sit down
and rest and read my love letter over again!” throwing herself into a
chair and drawing a large, square, white envelope from her apron pocket
and unfolding a closely written sheet, which she began to read with
demure interest.
“A letter? Where on airth would that child get a letter?” demanded the
spinster, while the twins faced about with equal wonder.
A letter! Why, little Eva had never received a letter in her life, they
were sure.
Yet there she sat, demurely rustling the large, satiny white sheets of
paper, while its delicate scent of violets exhaled into the room above
the kitchen odors of pumpkin pie, caramel cake, and the homely white
loaf of salt-risen bread dear to the West Virginian’s heart--the bread
his mother made.
“Humph, it smells mighty sweet! Is it from your beau? You don’t mean to
say Terry has written you?” demanded Patty sharply.
Eva’s starry eyes flashed angrily at the question, and she answered,
with subtle scorn:
“Terry? Why, if Terry had written me this letter I’d take hold of it
with the tongs and lay it on the fire.”
The luckless Terry had aroused her ire on a recent visit by too free
lovemaking, and had gotten in return a tingling cheek from a rough
contact with a little white hand.
“Don’t you ever dare kiss me again against my will, you brute!” she had
stormed, rubbing her offended lips till they burned in her rage to be
rid of the hated caress.
Bitterly had the twins resented their brother’s repulse, cruelly had
they punished her, working through Cousin Tabby, for her daring.
They darted angry looks at her now, and Patty taunted sharply:
“You ought to be grateful to Terry for life. He’s the only fool I ever
saw that wanted to be your lover.”
“I should have had dozens before now if you three jealous old maids had
not kept me from the chance of knowing any young men,” retorted Eva
maliciously, adding, with keen triumph: “But I have a splendid lover,
in spite of all your arts.”
“Bah, you are fibbing, Miss Vanity,” cried Lydia mockingly, but at the
same moment she made a rush behind Eva’s chair and pinioned her arms to
her side, shouting gayly to her sister:
“Snatch the letter, and see who wrote it.”
There was a sharp little scuffle, and Patty came off victor, seizing
the letter and springing upon the kitchen table.
Lydia cheered her on:
“Read it aloud, while I hold her down, and we’ll soon know all about
that boasted lover!”
Little Eva was like wax in the grasp of her stronger cousin. She
wriggled and twisted, but escape was impossible, so, at length, she
drooped her head with a dejected sob, while Gran’ther Groves looked on
benignly, thinking it was all just a girlish frolic between the girls.
His honest mind never suspected their secret malignity toward his pet.
“Why, it’s poetry! What weak rot! It makes me feel sick!” ejaculated
Patty.
“I want to know! But read it, anyway. I’ll listen if it makes us all
sick,” put in the spinster curiously, so Patty cleared her throat and
read with an air of fine disdain:
“WHEN EVA LAUGHS.”
“When Eva laughs the dimples play
At hide-and-seek upon her cheek,
Like butterflies ’mong roses gay,
While twinkling, starry eyes bespeak
A mirthful mind, a nature kind,
A heart all true and warm and pure,
And music floating down the wind
No sweeter than her laughter’s lure!
“When Eva laughs I seem to hear
Glad echoes of the joyous spring;
The lilting birds, the humming bees,
The skylark on its soaring wing;
The murmur of the rippling stream,
The minor chords of ocean’s tone;
The lover’s sigh, the maiden’s prayer,
The rustling leaves, the wind’s low moan!
“When Eva laughs it drives away
Life’s shadows as the golden dawn
Dispels upon its rosy way
The darkness of the night time born.
As though the azure slipped aside
From heaven and let a sweet song through,
Her happy laugh can thrill the heart
Till fainting hope springs up anew!”
Gran’ther Groves slapped his knee a resounding blow and chuckled with
delight.
“I swan, it’s true as the Gospel--every word on’t! Now, what smart
young man writ that pretty verse, honey?”
“Who writ it, indeed?” echoed Miss Ruttencutter, with open scorn and
secret envy.
But Eva could only blush up to the edge of her curly hair and falter:
“I--I--don’t know!”
They could not believe her; they plied her with curious questions
until, in self-defense, to get rid of their importunities, she
confessed all she knew.
“I found the verses on my window sill one morning in September--and
afterward others just as pretty. And sometimes flowers, and now and
then boxes of candy--real chocolates!”
“Chocolates--oh!” breathed Lydia, with upturned eyes of ecstasy.
“And you have devoured all the heavenly things by yourself, greedy
little pig!” groaned Patty, jumping down from the table in disgust.
“Oh, no; I’ll give you all some if you like,” cried Eva, running
upstairs, followed by gran’ther’s entreaty:
“Bring some more of that spark’s pretty rhymes!”
All blushing and smiling, she returned with a large box of candy, and
passed the plump, brown dainties all around.
“Ain’t it nice, gran’ther?” she cried.
“Best chocolate drops I ever ate,” he agreed, adding: “Did you bring
some more poetry?”
“Just one little piece. I didn’t want to make Patty sick again,”
laughed Eva archly, and she handed it to Lydia, whose curiosity led
her to follow Patty’s example, and read this aloud:
“LOVE’S MESSENGERS.”
“My heart is on each wind that blows
Toward you, dearest, in the spring--
I send a message by the rose,
My love, by every bird that goes
Your casement near to lift and sing.
“My heart is in the sun that shines
Upon the ripples of your hair,
The moonlight’s kisses bring you mine,
Dream kisses upon lips divine,
Love’s messengers are everywhere!”
“Just as pretty as t’other piece; but I wonder who on airth writ it
to you, Eva?” exclaimed gran’ther in admiring wonder at his pet’s
mysterious lover.
“I don’t know, gran’ther, but I feel sure I could find out if Cousin
Tab would let me go out like other girls, and meet the young gentlemen
of the neighborhood. It must be one of them, surely, and I do not
believe he could keep his secret if we were face to face. His eyes must
surely betray the love in his heart, and then I should know him for my
heart’s choice, for I love him, whoever he is, and I am not ashamed to
own it. I will never marry any one but my poet-lover!” declared Eva,
with a willful toss of her bright curly head.
“You are a silly little love-sick goose!” commented the spinster, with
frank disapprobation.