The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-11-19


knight to this fir lady. In imagination
he Continually rescued her from ssperils b.
land and periis by sea /" delivered he
from ancient dragons and modern MAJ
dogs. yea. at the risk of his oYnalife but
in reality, could only stand behind hi
counter, dumb and powerless as one in
dream, without ability to reach forth hanC
/ or voice to his loved one.
Now Violet was by no means unaware
as might have been expected, of the inter
est she had awakened. She was certainly
as far as her own conquests were con
cerned, omniscient. "a clerk was moth
ing, socially speaking,o but in the deartf
OF more noble conQuests, might be taker
for the time being. She decided to !" i'm
prove the shining hour much as q hun
ter, falling to- slay deer, would deign tC
chase lesser game. She began Co 90 to the
shop quite regularly-seldOm to his coun.
! ter-but always in coming or going, there
was for him the wOndrous glance, the
! halfuncOnscious bow, the kindly saluta-
I tons that a gracious queen might give an
untitled srfbject, who should bend the
knee in obesance. IU was not much, but
it was something tovcsmfort her admircr
something OF brightness shed about her
pathway. Will-o' the-wisp that it might
be, he still followed blindly, for this alone
was reality, all else but dreams and shad-
ows 10 him. @
One day i'm late July, when the sultry
air made the town unbearable, Violet Or
dered the carriage fora drive TO Sea Bay,
little beacha few miles from the city.
Arrived there she sat down on a bench
looking Oceanward, the only other occu-
pant of which was a gentleman. By rare
Dhanna fhat flarnara 1nrnua1 10 ha Mr.
Arthur EdYard Sterry, who had taken
this for an "off day" The young
lady slowly turned her beautiful
eyes towards him. and gave him a
reserved bow, accompanied by an audible
''GOod morning" He blushed, fair
skinned Saxon that he was, with pleasure,
and there was something so genuine in
his air of joyful recognition that Violet
presently began little temporary chit
chat.
They were soabsorbed in conversation
that they did not notice heavy shower
coming up, untilit descended upon them.
The carriages had been ordered back to
stables of the ssSea Bay House." Mr..
Sterry, however, being an Englishman,
produced the inevitable umbrella, under
which, at a brisk run, they reached the
House, which was one of the pert, second
rate class, which abundantly prevail on
the New England coast. They sought
refuge in the parlor. into which the land
lord cheerily trOtted, and recognizing Mr..
Sterry, asked, in the eXuberant Kindness
of his heart, If he wouldn't have some
thing for himself and his young ladyw
Had the. words been Written in fire on
the Englishman'S brain he could not have
been more scared and shriyeletL Miss
Violet turned toward the rain-darkened
window for consolation. The landlord
retired abashed from the room and sought
the kitchen, in which apartment he found
his wife, and impaired to her that he had,
as it were, ''kinder provoked the hand
some Englishman, for either Missy had
given him the mitten, or else he was GO
ing to propose and just hadn't ~ Be
tween which two opinions he vibrated like
a pendulum-and being kind soul, with
tender "reminiscences of his own counting
days. these oscillations were accompanied
by sharp twinges of regret. mi.
Poor Mr.. Sterry knew not what to do.
At last, not without misgiving as to
whether he was not making the matter
worse, he ventured to say: PIN
al cannot tell you how deeply 1 regret
the annoyance TO which you have been
subjected"
Equally to his surprise as JOY, Violet
turned from the window, her long eye
lashes moist with unshed tears. her color
deepening as she spoke, and reaching her
hand to him said:
8 Never mind. n1zas---=--z-a1.
81 thank you." was all that Mr.. Sterry