Mischievous Maid Faynie

Mischievous Maid Faynie, by
Laura Jean Libbey

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Title: Mischievous Maid Faynie
Author: Laura Jean Libbey
Release Date: October 13, 2004 [eBook #13740]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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MISCHIEVOUS MAID FAYNIE***
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MISCHIEVOUS MAID FAYNIE

Author's Special Edition
by
LAURA JEAN LIBBEY
Author of Ione, Parted By Fate, Sweet Kitty Clover, etc.
1899

[Illustration: Cover of Mischievous Maid Faynie]
CHAPTER I.
THE LOVER'S TRYST.
It was five o'clock on a raw, gusty February afternoon. All that day and
all the night before it had been snowing hard. New York lay buried
beneath over two feet of its cold white mantle, and with the gathering
dusk a fierce hurricane set in, proclaiming the approach of the terrible
blizzard which had been predicted.
On this afternoon, which was destined to be so memorable, two young
men were breasting the sleet and hail, which tore down Broadway with
demoniac glee, as though amused that the cable cars were stalled fully a
mile along the line, and the people were obliged to get out and walk,
facing the full fury of the elements, if they hoped to arrive at their
destinations that night.
It could easily be ascertained by the gray, waning light that both young
men were tall, broad-shouldered and handsome of face, bearing a
striking resemblance to one another.
They were seldom in each other's company, but those who saw them
thus jumped naturally to the conclusion that they were twin brothers;
but this was a great mistake; they were only cousins. One was Clinton
Kendale, whom everybody was speaking of as "the rage of New York,"

the handsomest actor who had ever trod the metropolitan boards, the
idol of the matinee girls, and the greatest attraction the delighted
managers had gotten hold of for years.
His companion was of not much consequence, only Lester Armstrong,
assistant cashier in the great dry goods house of Marsh & Co., on upper
Broadway.
He had entered their employ as a cashboy; had grown to manhood in
their service, and he had no further hope for the future, save to remain
in his present position by strict application, proving himself worthy of a
greater opportunity if the head cashier ever chose to retire.
He lived in the utmost simplicity, was frugal, dressed with unusual
plainness, and put by money.
He hadn't a relative on earth, save his handsome, debonair cousin, who
never sought him out save when he wanted to borrow money of him.
Clint Kendale's salary was fifty dollars per week, but that did not go far
toward paying his bills at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, keeping a fast horse
and giving wine suppers. In his early youth he had begun the pace he
was now going. He had received a fine collegiate education, and at his
majority stepped into the magnificent fortune his parents had left him.
It took him just one year to run through it, then, penniless, he came
from Boston to New York and sought out his poor cousin. Lester
Armstrong succeeded in getting a position for Kendale with the same
firm with which he was employed, but at the end of the first week
Clinton Kendale threw it up with disgust, declaring that what he had
gone through these six days was too much for him. He had rather die
than work.
He borrowed a hundred dollars from his Cousin Lester and suddenly
disappeared. When he was next heard from he blossomed out,
astonishing all New York as the handsomest society actor who had ever
graced the metropolitan boards, and caused a furore.
There was another great difference between the two cousins, and that

was a heart; just one of them possessed it, and that one was Lester
Armstrong.
On this particular afternoon Kendale had lain in wait for his cousin at
the entrance of Marsh & Co.'s to waylay him when he came from the
office. He must see him, he told himself, and Lester must let him have
another loan.
Lester Armstrong was glad from the bottom of his true, honest heart to
see him, but his brow clouded over with a troubled expression when he
learned that he wanted to borrow five hundred dollars. That amount
seemed small, indeed, to the lordly Kendale, but to Lester it meant
months of toil and rigid self-denial.
"Come into the café, and while we lunch I will explain