Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-01-06
BETWIXT TWO STOOLS.

1t was cold, disagreeable night. In
stinctively | turned back to the cheerful
CRATE and comfortable arm chair. 1t a
friend would only drop in, l thought
ii anything would happen to relieve the
tedium. But there was no prospect of it;
So feeling that | could never get Though
the evening alone, | buttoned up my
! great coat and started out. | had nc
definite idea where | was going, bu; the
secret of all my discomfort was that |
was in love with two women. Perhaps
| wasn't at that moment in love with two
women, but certainly was over head
and ears in love with one, and head and
ears engaged to another. Now that Ger.
tainly WAS enough to make peaceful,
law-abiding citizen uncomfortable, to
make him afraid of his own thoughts
and still more of his own actions.
| 1t came about in this way | had two
years before mot Julia Leeds. She was
a beautiful girl, and had fortune in her
ter u time, l had the extreme satisfaction
OF learning that | was preferred to all the
crowd OF fortune-hunters who worshped
at her shrine. And then it was, in an
evil hour, that l proposed and was nc
cepted. Her heart, she assured me, was
| in my keeping, and had been for II long
time. | think | believed myself in love
with her, though do not know that |
over paused to speculate upon the pecu-
! liar state of my feelings.
was a young man, good -looking-so
to speak-had, l fully believed, fair
share of intelligence, and Julia was u
beautiful and angelic girl. | had won
the prize for which SO many were striv-
ing, and was satisfied and proud of the
achievement. But i. fell out one day, or
rather l fell in one day, the company OF
Kitty Blanchard. l did not know who
Kitty Blanchard was. But there was
something in the glance Of ktty's eye
and in tho words she poke-though |
have no recollection Of anything she said
that told me very decidedly that she
was far beyond many. | went home that
night, and thought about her until bed
time, and dreamed about her until morn
ing.
For week | saw nothing, night OF
day, but black, roguish eyes and dane
ing curls. | went to parties, theaterst
aud concerts by myself, in hopes OF meet
ing her. No use. She wasn't there.
AT last, de,pairing OF ever proceeding
any farther independently, / was forced
to inquire Of the friend who introduced
me-a proceeding very distasteful to me-
as did not wish to advertise my busi
ness, or in other words, give him reason
to suspect | was at all Interested. But
did ask him who Kitty Blanchard was
and | was sorry for it the minute after,
for the reply was:
She's widow"
Now, il there was any one thing that !
secretely despised, that had an unluiti-
gated contempt for, it was widow.
had seen them ofton-od widows and
young widows, good looking aud other
wisc-but they all had that melodramnt-
ic air about them, and had the same way
of talking about tho virtues Of the dead
Mr.. Pendegrass, or whatever the name
might be, and insisting there never was
SO kind and good man. don't know
why they do this | never heard any one
say. 1t certainly is not the bait that
would hook me.
But Kitty Blanchard had not once al
luded to the defunet Adoiphus, and |
had certainly talked with her five min
utes. | wondered how long since the sods
were neatly fitted over his resting plucc
how long the little birds had sung his
requiem in the dropping branches Of the,
etc. / didn't get any farther than that
before | recollectcd that Kitty wore no
weeds, but that she was very bewitching
in an hadn't the ghost Of an idea
whether her dress was blue, green, or
gray. / could not have told that she
wore any dress, only that | remem bered
it was short, and that she had foot that
| had been nearly crazy about ever since.
had heard everywhere that n lady
was best dressed when you could not re-
member single thing she had on so,
while had my doubts about the appl-
cation Of that rule to all cases, was will
ling TO concede that Kitty BLANCHARD was
the best dressed woman in the city.
And the lth must have been heaped
Il year over that silent resting place
possibly more, for Kitty, | was certain,
differed from the widows / had known.
She didn't move around in her black
robes, with cambrc to her eyes for,
three hundred and sixty-fiyo days, hop
ping out on the sixty-sixth with beamng
eyes and pink bonnet. No, knew bet
ter than that.
l am sorry to say it, but think quite
forgot all about Julia in those days, and
after ! had again met Kitty, and bud
passed one or two evenings 10 her society
know did. In fact did not know
that there was anybody else in the world.
was fearfully ia earnest.
Kitty was everything that was perfect;
she sang, and played, and danced, and
talked, aud read, and in short did every
thing that was interesting and learn
Cd after while that the " sods had been
neatly fitted " two years before. She told
me that, and it was the only alluson she
ever made to the "gone- before " sharer
Of her joys-griefs I'm sure she never
had.
This was about the time my tronhle