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vest in chocolate sweetmeats, vanilla
caramels, and cream cakes with puffy
ihells and delicious centers of sweet¬
ness. The little money-drawer grew
fat with coins, and Aunt Debby’s
dim eyes grew bright and hopeful
.again. day Herbert Valance,
And one
walking by with Medora May, stop¬
ped and looked in.
“Isn’t that your cousin Gn.ce,”
said he, “behind the counter.”
Medora turned crimson with vex¬
ation.
“My cousin Grace 1” she said.
“No, indeed ! We are not in—trade!”
What possessed her to utter this
deliberate falsehood Medora could
not afterward have told. Partly the
sting of false shame, partly a disclin
ation for Herbert Valance to know
that her relations were not, to use
her expression, “ladies and gentle¬
men.”
Mr. Valance looked up at the
sign over the door.
“The name is May,” he remarked,
indifferently.
“Yes.” said Medora, angry at her¬
self blushing so deeply, “but we are
no relation.”
Mr. Valance thought over the
matter; he afterward met Miss May
at a party given by a friend, where
pretty Grace Craxall was also pres¬
ent; he had taken rather a fancy to
the bright blue eyes and delicate
blonde beauty of the former, Val
ance hall, on the hill just out of the
city, was solitary enough now that
his sisters had all married and gone
away, and perhaps a man might find
a less attractive and graceful wife than
Medora May. But he could not be
mistaken, he thought, in Grace Crax
all's identity.
And so the next evening about the
same time, he sauntered into -the
shop. daintily
Grace was behind the
clean little counter, taking some
newly baked maple caramels off the
pan. She looked up with a smile:
“Good evening, Mr. Valance,”
she said.
“So,” he thought, “I wasn’t mis¬
taken after all. And the little blue¬
eyed seraph is mortal enough to tell
a lie in spite of her angelic appear¬
ance !”
But he looked serenely at Grace.
“I didn’t know you were in trade,”
said he.
“Didn’t you?” Well,” retorted
Grace, “I am my Aunt Deborah’s
shop-girl at present. I always come
here in the evening to help her, be¬
cause,” she added, with a sweet shade
of seriousness coming over her face,
“aunt was old and poor, and she
didn’t quite know how to maintain
herself in independence; and, unfor¬
tunately, my wages at the factory are
not enough for us both, So I ad
vised her to open this business and
she did, and she is doing well; and
she bakes the most delicious bread
and pies you ever ate, so,” with a
saucy twinkle under her eyelashes,
“if you know of any customers, will
you please recommend our firm ? ”
“To be sure I shall,” he answered
in the same spirit. “And I am very
glad, Miss Craxall, to see that you
are not ashamed of beir.g a working
girl.”
“Of course I am not,” said Grace.
“Why should I be ?”
“But your coasin Medora is.”
Grace gave a little shrug of her
shoulders.
“Very likely,” said she. “Medora
and I differ in many things.”
Mr. Valance bought a pound of
caramels and went away.
“She is a beauty,” he said to him¬
self; “and she is a sensible beauty
into the bargain. One of those rara
avises in our country, a thoroughly
well-balanced girl.”
He must have been well pleased
with his purchase, for he came again
the next evening, just in time to
walk home with Grace Craxall. And
they talked over Aunt Deborah’s af¬
fairs, and poncluded, as flour was low
just then, it would be a favorable
opportunity for the old lady to lay in
.her winter stock, through Mr. Val¬
ance, who was acquainted with one
of the great New York grain mer¬
chants.
Only a few weeks had elapsed
when Medora May was electrified to
learn that her cousin Grace was en
gaged.
“To some master baker or jour¬
neyman confectioner, I suppose,” she
said, contemptuously.
“No,” said Grace, with eyes ro¬
guishly sparkling; “to Mr. Herbert
Valance.”
“I—don’t—believe—it,” said Me
dora, growing red, then pale.
“But it’s really so,” said Grace.
“And we are to be married in three
months, and Aunt Debby is to come
to the hall and live with me as soon
as she can dispose of her business to
advantage. And, dear Medora, I
hope you will often come and visit
me there.”
Medora May did not answer. She
could not. But in her secret heart
she recognized how infinitely more
successful in life’s lists had been
Grace’s true, frank honesty than her
own subtle and devious course.
Like many another, however, the
lesson had come to her too late.—
Springfield Union.
B. L. S.
I have secured the agency for Dr.
Yongue’s Blood and Liver Syrup.
Try it and be cured.
Dr. Yongue’s Electric Oil—the
King of tain.
Dr. Yongue’s Woman’s Friend.
Give these medicines a fair trial and
you will be cured and be happy.
For sale by Dr. Riley only.
Something For the Baby#
What a terrible affliction about the
house is a cross, crying baby! A
yaung man on the very eddge of mat -
rirnony might easily be frightened
from his purpose by having too much
of that sort of music at the homes of
his married friends. Yet babies cry
commonly only when they are sick.
One teaspoonful of Parker’s Tonic,
given the little one will bring rest
and sleep to the baby and all in the
house. Only fifty cents, at druggists.
BtielsJeii’s Arnica Salve.
The Best Balve in the world for Cats,
Brnitee, S$res. UloeW, Salt Rheum,
Ter Sores, Vetter, Chapped Hands, Chil
br»itt8 and all Skin Eruptions and posi*
tivefy eures Pii«s or no payment, It is
guaranteed to give perfect satisfaction
or mosey refunded. Price 253 per bcx.
Cook Bros. *
For sale by -