Bad Hugh

There was a bright light in the sitting-room, and through the

half-closed shutters Hugh caught glimpses of a blazing fire. 'Lina had

evidently come home, and half wishing she had stayed a little longer,

Hugh entered the room.

Poor 'Lina! The party had proved a most unsatisfactory affair. She had

not made the sensation she expected to make. Harney had scarcely noticed

her at all, having neither eyes nor ears for any one save Ellen Tiffton,

who surely must have told that Hugh was not invited, for, in no other

way could 'Lina account for the remark she overheard touching her want

of heart in failing to resent a brother's insult. In the most unenviable

of moods, 'Lina left at a comparatively early hour. She bade Cæsar drive

carefully, as it was very dark, and the rain was almost blinding, so

rapidly it fell.

"Ye-es, mis-s, Cæs--he--done been to party fore now. Git 'long dar,

Sorrel," hiccoughed the negro, who, in Colonel Tiffton's kitchen had

indulged rather too freely to insure the safety of his mistress.

Still the horses knew the road, and kept it until they left the main

highway and turned into the fields. Even then they would probably have

made their way in safety, had not their drunken driver persisted in

turning them into a road which led directly through the deepest part of

the creek, swollen now by the melted snow and the vast amount of rain

which had fallen since the sunsetting. Not knowing they were wrong,

'Lina did not dream of danger until she heard Cæsar's cry of "Who'a dar,

Sorrel. Git up, Henry. Dat's nothin' but de creek," while a violent

lurch of the carriage sent her to the opposite side from where she had

been sitting.

A few mad plunges, another wrench, which pitched 'Lina headlong against

the window, and the steep, shelving bank was reached, but in endeavoring

to climb it the carriage was upset, and 'Lina found herself in pitchy

darkness. Perfectly sobered now, Cæsar extricated her as soon as

possible. The carriage was broken and there was no alternative save for

'Lina to walk the remaining distance home. It was not far, for the scene

of the disaster was within sight of Spring Bank, but to 'Lina,

bedraggled with mud and wet to the skin, it seemed an interminable

distance, and her strength was giving out just as she reached the

friendly piazza, and called on her mother for help, sobbing hysterically

as she repeated her story, but dwelling most upon her ruined dress.

"What will Hugh say? It was not paid for, either. Oh, dear, oh, dear, I

most wish I was dead!" she moaned, as her mother removed one by one the

saturated garments.

The sight of Hugh called forth her grief afresh, and forgetful of her

dishabille, she staggered toward him, and impulsively winding her arms

around his neck, sobbed out: "Oh, Hugh, Hugh! I've had such a doleful time. I've been in the creek,

the carriage is broken, the horses are lamed, Cæsar is drunk,

and--and--oh, Hugh, I've spoiled my dress!"