Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-01-30

1t was on lovely evening, though
not lighted by the moon. as true lovers
nights should be- But for that matter,
he needed neither moon or stars, for
Nora Moore had slipped her little hand
through his arm and the darkness only
made her more trusting and dependent
on him.
Darkness is doubtless very romantic,
and SO Horace had found it, till he acct
dentally stepped on a stone, stumbled,
and with difficulty saved himself from
falling. That was bad enough, but it an
noyed him not little to think of the
remarkable gymnastic he had made Miss
Nora go through with him. Her merry
laugh quite assured him, as she teasing
ly said,-
Now do be careful, Horace [ look
upon this as a bad omen. If this hap
pened the first halt-mile what will come
TO pass the secondW
Whatever does come, darling" he
answered, drawing his arm for mo-
ment around her, :" be sure no harm
shall befall you, SO long as am by"
And if we should meet fearful
tramp. what would you do, Horrie :?
What could you do, but read him
spell from some old volume of witch
craft, which, after all, might not be
modern enough to fit his case"
81 guess there's no danger, Pet, but
it only gives me more pleasure to think
there is probably no human being with
in two miles, and if anything does hap
pen, | shall be called upon to protect
YOU"
Even from ghosts, Horrie?" she
questioned.
From anything, my Nora, which
either this or another world can devise
to worry my darling"
Of course these young people were
engaged, and of course were not mar
run in different channel. Horace
Arnold was q good looking young fell
low, tall and straight, but with that pc
culiar intellectual look, a young man
gets when he spends all his time por-
ing over the thoughts of others, instead
of thinking out the old questions for
himself. He lived in a literary world,
and, even as he was walking that night
with Nora sometimes his thoughts
would wander back to the loves of
Pyrocles and Musidorus. and the dam
gers and deaths they risked for the
stately Pamela and lovely Philodea. If
any danger did threaten her, he would
be as valient as they.
Nora Moore, on the contrary, was a
bright, practical little body, not much
afraid of anybody or anything. She
detested books most heartily, and often
,l1o Il,
RED, he would do all the reading for
the two, and she would carry on al the
business.
To Mrs. Moore, this gave no little anx-
iety. Horace Arnold was not just the
young man to whom she wished to trust
her daughter.
You might just as well,'' she once
said to her." have lived in the sixteenth
century, and we'd yourself to Robert
Greene or Marlowe, or Nash, or any of
those wandering literary geniuses, as to
marry one of the same stamp in the
nineteenth century"
That is unfair, mamma" pouted
Nora, :" for you know / never heard of
any of those gentlemen. But | dare say
they would have made nice husbands,
L
them. At any rate, mamma, it is
something to marry a smart man like
Horrie, who can write books and make
himself famous, and then every one
will say how he owes his inspiration to
his wife"
"Quite long speech, Nora" laughed
her mother But Mr.. Arnold will
have to look elsewhere for his inspira-
ton for book-writing than you"
All the cautioning, however, did little
good, and Mr.. and Mrs Moore had
finally given their consent to their
daughters engagement to the non
practical young man.. 81
! For after ALL, said Mrs. Moore,
Horace is a good fellow, and Nora is
SO full of life, she may need his quiet
ness to tone her down."
Well" answered her husband, " in
my opinion she'll never marry him.
Only this morning, / found her with her
eyes sparkling with delight to see Jack
Hubbard prance by that bay horse of
his. And as for young Arnold, 'twould
mCst make him faint to see such an
tics,-I suppose he would pretty nigh
give up the ghost if he thought he had
got to mount the animal"
Mrs. Moore laughed you are put
ting it pretty strong, Colonel"
Yes, but no stronger than Nora will,
In six months from now. Let her see a
little of Arnold outside the parlor and
she will decide, | think, he isn't the hus-
band for her.
This conversation took place soon
after Horace and Nora had crossed the
front hall door, to take their first walk
since their betrothment.
On the road to the Lake, in the mean
time, different conversation was going
on.
Have you ever read Religio Medici,
Nora" questioned Horace.
Good gracious, no Horace, | never
read Latin books"
But this isn't a Latin book, darling.
1t was written, you know, by Sir Thomas
Browne. Listen to a little extract [ will
quote to you. " Surely" he says, !" there
are in every mans life certain rubs