Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-11-14
TOO SUSCEPTIBLE.


am German by birth, but was left
an orphan at an early age and sent to
st. Petersburg SO be raised by two old
maiden aunts, who regarded me with
curiosity and dislike. as if "a bound
ing human boy' were an odd and rather
disagreeable animal; but they tolerated
me after q while and did their best for
me.
felt that I was intended for some
thing better than to be clerk in Jew
elry store; l used to feel the str of
young ambition in my heart whenever
passed the "Ecole DIES Pages" in the
SadovOic-that great gilt structure, so
imposing, yet of the color of half baked
gingerbread.
But determined to rise, and, even in
the lgnoble spere in which I found my
self, 1 soon made my way, and was at last
confidential clerk in Carnreis s. Shove
loft, the greatest house in their line in
st. Petersburg.
Old Carnreis had been q diamond
dealer in Frankfort, and had experience.
Shoveloff was Russian and had put in a
large capital; but we had nothing to do
with them.
l found myself at twenty three in the
above named prosperous situation, and,
moreover, engaged to a very pretty girl
an heiress. / had therefote some reason
to congratulate myself on a certain De-
cember night when, after taking leave of
Lisa, was walking rapidly home under
the sparkling, deep blue sky, well wrap
ped in furs, and quite warmed by my
own thoughts.
We were so near the wedding now there
was scarcely chance of failure To be
sure old Schroeder, tat, tallowy looking
man in the candle trade, had never re-
garded me with favor.
HIS Lisa, he thought, should have
done much better than throw herself
away on a fellow who had nothing ex-
cept a salary. But the young girl was
his only child, and had at last won her
way with him. So it came to pass that
I had the prospect before me of being a
rich man; and thought of that perhaps
more than l did Of the young girl who
was giving me her hearts purest and best
affections. So you will say I deserved
all that followed; and perhaps 1 do, but
that is poor comfort.
Lisa was a pretty little thing, with
hair and eyes like a brown robin, and a
winning, trusting look that made a man
feel like gathering her up in his arms
and taking care of her. At the same
time she had never stirred the depths of
my being, and she was not the least like
my ideal. Still 1 was quite serenely
happy the next day as I went about nv
work, thinking of the future.
Tomorrow, Conrad, my boy,"I said
tomyself, ''you will set your foot on an
other round of the ladder of fortune
you will have one of the best and truest
of girls for your bride, and good round
sum with her. She is not diamond of
the first water, to be sure, but more like
a pearl soft, moonbeamy, and"
At that moment a swish of silken
drapery startled me, and the tap of
French heels on the floor. 1 looked up
and beheld such vision of beauty that
felt ike closing my eyes as if too much
light had dazzled me. A lady, young, yet
with the ripeness and bloom of summer
instead of the blush and promise of
spring, stood before me,
She was dressed in costly combina-
ton of silk and velvet. She wore a sa-
BILE cloak, and diamond pendants at her
ears. But | scarcely saw the Jewels,
although in that line, for looking into a
pair of golden fringed violet eyes that
rested upon Newell, I might say
plunged their glances into me-in a
strange and heart-futterlng style.
For the rest, the lady had waving gold
on ha1r rInnlInor yyaru 1Ouy 6,,u,, on h..
white forehead, straight Grecian nose.
pale, nigh bred complexion, with a faint
aristocratic bloom In it, and q mouth
all, well, so rare and sweet no words
could do itjustlce!
II would like" she said, in voice
that seemed to melt into the air and
make it all resonant with music. "to
look at some of your very finest dia-
monds."
There was no one in the store that day
but Alexis, young relative of Shove
lofts who was learning the business.
Alexis was youth with fawn- cclored
nalr, white eyelashes and suety complex
ION; very absent-minded, and given to
writing sonnets to some Young Alex
andrine that he had met at the Cathedral
Of Our Lady of Kasar.
He was rolling up pair of faded eyes,
that looked like boiled gooseberries, in
frenzy ofpoetical composition that very
moment, and seemed quite oblivious Of
the presence that illumined the place.
How insanely glad 1 felt that it was
my lot to show the jewels, watching all
the time the changing expression of the
lovely eyes and the glitter of the golden
hair!
The lady wanted the best, of course
she did; nothing but regal jewels befit-
ted her royal style of beauty. 1 showed
her all, with fierce wonder at my heart
whether she were choosing for her bridal,
whether she were merely examining
previous to some gallant young officer or