THE' BEAR, THE BELLE, AND THE BLACKBERRIES. 



FRANCES WEBSTER. 



If any apology is needed for the second- 

 ary position of the Belle, in the title, it will 

 be found in the state of the young lady's 

 mind when she met the bear. At that mo- 

 ment, he was the more important. 



Isabel Reed had the good fortune to be 

 pleasing in appearance; so some of her ad- 

 mirers, with no great effort of wit, called 

 her " the belle." All one winter Miss Reed 

 burned the candle at both ends, and at- 

 tended strictly to the occupation of amus- 

 ing herself all summer. By autumn, she 

 was thin, nervous and cross. In conse- 

 quence, she was banished to the country to 

 recover her lost health and temper, and to 

 furnish a subject for this story. 



She found a quiet home in a country 

 village, with a relative, where she rested 

 for a short time. Then she turned her at- 

 tention to the people about her. The coun- 

 try girls and their beaus, as her aunt called 

 them, interested her. There were more 

 girls than young men at East Saugus; con- 

 sequently much competition. 

 I Miss Belle stepped daintily into the 

 arena, taking in the situation with wide 

 open eyes of experience. She resolved to 

 establish peace in the ranks, for a time, by 

 conquering the whole company at once. 

 The native belles did not recognize the 

 temper of their foeman's steel. They hard- 

 ly thought the thin, pale stranger danger- 

 ous. They had to learn the value of her 

 tact and social experience. 



It soon came about that when she 

 walked, Madge Earle's quondam admirer 

 carried her umbrella; when she sailed, it 

 was May Lewis' beau who managed the 

 boat. She talked and rode with escorts in- 

 numerable. At the parties given in her 

 honor, she was surrounded by attentive 

 young men. She sang, and they all lis- 

 tened; she smiled, and the other girls were . 

 forgotten. To make matters worse, she 

 was so charming to the discomfited maid- 

 ens, they themselves could not but admire 

 her. Belle did not flirt, as they understood 

 the matter. No young man monopolized 

 her, none made love to her. 



Let it not be thought she sanctioned neg- 

 lect of other girls. She somehow made it 

 known to the young men that courtesy to 

 all is duty. She raised the standard of com- 

 pany behavior. In her bright presence no 

 girl frowned or pouted, but they learned to 

 , smile, at suitable times, and say pleasant 

 things always. In this way, unconsciously, 

 Belle brought to East Saugus the spell of 

 social observance. 



Miss Reed was used to marked attention, 

 but she had never reigned before. It re- 

 quired diplomacy to keep the train intact, 



letting no one advance or retreat. She en- 

 joyed herself immensely, as did the least 

 favored of the village girls, who had no 

 beau to lose. Belle, on the rare occasions 

 when her conscience pricked her, made 

 them, together with her short stay — and 

 Richard Lane, her excuse. 



He and Belle had long been friends, but 

 had quarrelled. If any trifling heartache 

 had arisen from this affair, she may have 

 hoped to get rid of it by distributing it 

 among the other girls. With much sur- 

 prise, she saw Lane arrive, with the morn- 

 ing mail, 2 weeks after her own arrival. 

 Before she met him, this was all hidden. 

 She smiled sweetly, and coolly gave him 

 a chair on the piazza. 



" How do you amuse yourself here? " he 

 asked, after some formalities. 



" I am not in search of amusement. I 

 came here to rest; it is very quiet." 



" Would you not like to go for a ride? 

 Perhaps I can get a rig." 



" Thank you," she smiled, " I am going 

 this afternoon — with a young man here, a 

 Mr. Rogers." 



" Ah, then how about a stroll, or a row 

 this evening," he persisted. 



" I am so sorry, but I told Mr. Moore I 

 would walk with him this evening; and 

 possibly there will be a boating party. If 

 I had known you were coming " 



" Yes, I see," he interrupted, " Well, I 

 will leave you to your friends. If at any 

 time you have an hour for me, you can send 

 word. Good morning." 



Belle looked after him as he went down 

 the street. " He needs a lesson," she said 

 under her breath. " Yes, I will send word 

 — when I forget myself." 



She went on with her rides and other 

 amusements. At every turn she met Lane, 

 smiling and happy, surrounded by a grOup 

 of beaming girls. How he had managed 

 to meet them, Belle did not know. The 

 girls revelled in the situation. They turned 

 the tables with all their might. Parties, pic- 

 nics and all possible diversions rapidly suc- 

 ceeded each other. When the 2 strangers 

 met, they were indifferently civil. The as- 

 tonished young men found the girls able to 

 talk of nothing but Mr. Lane's attractions. 



For a final festival, before Belle's de- 

 parture, and as a last resort of inventive- 

 ness, a blackberry-picking excursion was 

 arranged, by May Lewis. 



" You see," she said, to George Moore, 

 " it will make a nice, long ride, for we will 

 go to Burnt mountain and take our lunch- 

 eon. We can pick berries or not, as we 

 please. It is lovely there; so wild. Mr. 

 Lane will enjoy it," 



