Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-08-21
THE BEST OF PROOF.
4 MODERN LOVE STORY.

There could be no doubt of Nellie
Brairard's good looks. The town poet.
in rural rhymes, had compared her
complexion to roses and lilies, to the
immense disadvantage of those flow
erS.
Her female acquaintances. in solemn
council assembled, and decided that,
while she was pretty, her beauty was of
the doll-babyish order.
If the poets rhymes were not, surely
the ladies' decision was convincing,
''Doll-babvish'' is the term women al
ways apply to the beauty ofwh1ch they
are jealous.
To say Nellie was pretty is to put it
mildly. She was bewitching, from her
blue eyes to her little feet-the latter
encased in slippers at the sight of which
Cinderella would have turned green
with envy.
Her ways were SO distractingly be-
witching that you wouldn't have blamed
anybody for being ip love with her. a..
She was tWenty-two-q quite a little
woman-you never would have thought
her more than eighteen. IHt.s&#
1t is with regret we admit she took to
flirting as natural as duck takes to wa
ter. She couldn't help it. There was
not the slightest intention on her part to
be heartless; but those blue eyes Of
hers insisted on looking tenderly at
every body and every thing.
When she gazed at the moon (you
should have seen her with the moon
light upon her J it was with as much
tenderness as though she believed there
was man in it. 1t was unfortunate
that she was possessed ofsuch eyes, but
she really was not to blame.
1t is unnecessary to state that she was
responsible for some terrible decorations
ofthe hearts Of the village beaux.
There was none other among them
who had arrived at the desperate con-
dition Of Mr.. Frank Gray. The deepest
depths Of the deep ocean were mere
shoals compared to the depths Of his
love.
His appetite had become such a
shadow of its former self that his land
lady contemplated his symptoms with
mercenary joy. The dimensions of his
wash bill were past belief. He was ut
terly miserable.
He saw the 'loadstone of his exist
ence" smile impartially on all men. He
called himself fool for being in love
with firt, and no doubt a great many
people agreed with him. The state of
Nellie's heart in regard to him is none
of our affair.
Upon bright spring day these two
were sitting upon a creeks bank. Brook
or river might have been more romantic;
but with that strict regard for historical
fact which should be at once the aElbi-
ton and pride of all chroniclers, we re-
peat it was a creek.
Frank was fishing, while Nellie was
watching with expectant face the bob
bing cork.
Our love Of historical fact again COM
pels us to be unrOmantic. Nellie did not
fall into the water, Frank did not jump
in, and, Selling her hair, after a plo-
longed struggle bring her safe to shore,
and, as result, they did not get mar
ried. and live happy ever afterWard.
This is probably the only case Oh rec
ord in which this has not happened. 1t
is we'll known thai young ladies are in
the habit of tumbling into the water,
and young gentlemen always save them.
This exception only removes the rule.
There would have been no earthly OBJ
iect in Nellie doing such thing, as the
water was hardly deep enough to drown
a kitten.
Nellie watched the bobbing cork, ca
gerly waiting the expected bite-that is,
Nellie was eagerly waiting, not the
cork.
When it went under, and Frank pull
ed out the struggling and gaping little
fish, for all her eagerness, an express
sion of sympathy came into her face.
"Ugh - she exclaimed. "You horrid
fellow What cruel sport! You men
are heartless monsters p
Frank replied meaningly, looking
very hard at her:
mo more heartless than some women
| know"
Nellie's eyebrows arched and her lips
pouted as she answered: .a.
"What horrid remark p
'It is horribly true" rejoined he, still
looking very hard at her. "They catch
mems hearts and throw them away again
as pitilessly and carelessly as do this
fish" -'-
Nellie replied. somewhat earnestly:
But, Frank. you don't always throw
the fish away, do your" .t5"5 as.2tazn q
But the remark was lost on him. He
sat silent for time, then only said:
"I'm tired of fishing; let us walk up
to the house." t.Ia i# e
Was that shade of disappointment
on Nellie's face? Who knows?
That night there was party at the
house. OF course Nellie was there; and,
as a consequence, Frank too.