The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-03-28
The Siren and the Sucker.


Il can never forgive you," and as Myrtle
Hathaway spoke these words, saving them
slowly, and with a mourniul cadence that
showed plainly how every fibre OF her be-
ing. every pulsing nerve IN her 1.-THE,
>hapely body was being sire ched To- it, ut
most tension BY the cruel weight OF woe
that was bearing down upon her, she threw
her arms around Rupert Riordanis neck
in a passionate abandon al grief that knew
no bounds And vet how beautiful she
looked. a. she stood there that soft, Sensu-
Gus dav in June. when the sky was CULVER
inc with turquoise bloom and large red
anG-white cow stood outlined against the
western horizon. Wonderfully clear brown
ewes shining through IL mass of tangled
hair that driited over them. \ pair ~ red
lips quiyering with the Sobs that shook her
slight frame Soft, peachv cheeks. down
which the tearS--those saline but unerring
evidences oi a broken heart-were falling
like April rains.
And i there no receding from this re-
solve, NV sweet" whispered Rupert in
soft. pleading, Wabash avenue tones, a.
he bent his Young, manly lace over the
sadly -beautiiui one below, and drew the
plumply-roun,ied form oil the >obbing girl
still closer tO his >uspender. "Iou surely
cannot mean. bv love, Tor this one tauit,
this little break At the quarter-pole, To
>.nd me away from Won forever out into
the dark, starle>s future al a ruined love
over which vour own iair hands-those
hands which can work an ice cream spoon
with such tender pathos, and yet at such
u fearful clip-have spread the black pail
of the coldlv-cruel words YOU have Just
spoken. Say it is only bluff. my dar-
ling; that YOU do not mean the words
Won have Spoken-the blighting, carbOlic
acid words that have wiped from the slate
oi Memory the rose-linted visions eli
happy Past, and left in their place only
the dreadful monsters of RemOrse and
Anguish, that rear their kissing heads
amid trackle>s waste OF ruined hopes.
As he spoke, Rupert had drawn Myrtle
nearer To him, and when the last words
iell N trembling accents on her ear, her
mead had dropped upon hi> shoulder and
she was sobbing more violently than ever.
When he had finished she looked up To-
him with those dusky- brown ewes. frcm
which the tears were yelling, and sitting
bv A mighty effort the >ob> that were COM
ing thick and last from beneath her liver
pad, spoke.
You know, Rupert, she said, win
some, plenty ot-caramelS-this-w look
stealing gently aud uno>tentatiously over
her pure, pas>ionles, face, that ior months
my life has been wrapped mp IN yours
that vour success was NV success, YOUR
grieis INV griei>. You know that in
the fall, the golden-tinted fall, when the
leaves are turning brown and the mince-
pie IL budding i'm the pantry, | have
promised To- be your bonny bride-io help
keep Won broke for the balance oi YOUR
life. OF course, il is hard for me to give
thi, up, to put forever behind me i'm the
woOdshed of my soul the bright visions oi
u happy future that had set NV stakes To-
pass with you i'm the Lotus Islands I'll
Chicago boarding house. But my duty is
plain. and must not shrink from H. Do
not think that my love Tor You has fled
IL has never even offered to start. DO not
press me for IN explanation. can only
>av that any man who Is sucker enough To
back the favorite in a sixty-dav walking
match is not fly enough Tor me-" and step
ping into the parlor Myrtle began singing
that beautiful chant. Do Not Fix the Gate
in Summer" while Rupert, his proud
spirit crushed and his heart desol ate,
started down town TO get full.