Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-26
Zoe darling into the drawine-room and

profound disregard for any claims her
parents might have upon his courtesy.
II ne obtained the coveted position,
ne would lean back in his
chair with what he imagined to
De an air of easy gentility, and regale
her with many anecdotes of horses and
dogs, with occasional "reminiscences of
the ''big nobs" who had professional re-
lations with his father. On such oc-
casions Miss Cissy would initiate him to
his face in the most amusing way. look
ing all the time as demuree as q little
mouse, while Welstead leaned up
against the piano, notquite sure whether
to laugh or be angry. Even he usually
broke down, however, when the two
came to discuss 'hetiquette," and Joe,
IN his character of gentlemen, laid down
MS views as to when a .'feller should
raise is at" and when not. The argu-
ment was generally closed by a burst of
laughter from all of us, in which Joseph
would join, though protesting loudly
that he was unable to see the joke.
1t is a proverbially dangerous thing
to play with edged tools. I have never
been sure whether Smith knew how
matters stood between Welstead and
the young lady. I I'M inclined to think
that at first he did not. Perhaps, if
some me had informed him of it then,
he might have mastered his feelings,
and much misery have been averted.
1t was clear to us young fellows who
had gone through the same experience
now things were tending, but we held
our tongues rather than spoil what we
considered a capital joke. Cissy may
have seen it too, and given him a little
mlschlevous encouragement-at least,
young ladies have the credit of not be-
ing blind in such cases. Certainly
Smith pursued his hopeless suit with q
vigor which astonished us. During bus
mess hours he lived in q sort OF day.
dream, musing upon his perch like
some cogitative fowl, and getting into
endless trouble over his accounts. while
every evening found him interfering
with Welstead's tete-a-tete at the high
corner house in Eldon street.
At last the crash anne. There was
no need to ask what had happened
when little Joe skunk quietly into the
office one morning with dishevelled
hair, melancholy face, and eyes blear-
cd with the wakefulness of a restless
night. We v learned the particu-
lars of his dismissal. Suffice it that he
was informed nee and forever. that a
gap which there was no crossing Law
between Miss Cissy Newsome and him
self. He bore up bravely, and tried to
hug his sorrow to his heart, and hide it
from the vulgar gaze of mankind, but
ne became an altered nan What had
been but a passing fancy for us had
taken root in his very soul and grown
there, SO that he, who had hardly
known when it was planted, was now
unable to wrench it out. The ordeal
he had gone through chastened him to
a great extent from his vulgarity by
toning down his natural spirits, and
though he occasionally ventured upon a
CLAW! haw!" it was painfully artificial,
and a good deal more suggestive of a
dirge than Of merriment. The worst
feature of his case was that every week
increased the gloom which hung over
him. We began to suspect that our
estimate of his character had been a
superficial one, and that there were
depths in the little mans soul of whose
existence we had been ignorant.
Fourmonths had passed away. None of
us had changed much during that time,
with the exception of the Gentleman.
We saw little of him except in office
hours. Where he spent the rest of the
day was a mystery. Once 1 met him
late at night in the docks, stumbling
along among %ring-bolts and chains,
careless of the fact that a trip or slip
might send him into eternity. = Another
time [ saw a cloaked figure lurking in
the shadow beside the house in Eidon
street, which fled round the corner on nv
approach. His naturally unhealthy COM
plexion had become so cadavero1s that
the sandy eyebrows and mustache stood
out quite dark against it. His clothes
hung loosely on his figure. The eve
glass was discarded. Even the once
gorgeous ring seemed to have assumed
a sombre and melancholy lustre, as if
in sympathy with the feelings of it's
owner. His manner had lost all it's old
audacity, and become timid and retir-
ing. l doubt if any of his rustic &C.
quaintances would have recognized their
gaudy Joseph in the shambling, unkept
figure which haunted the Counting
house of Ducat, Gulden & Ducat.
The termination of Welstead's en-
gagement began to draw near. 1t had
been arranged that after his marriage
he was to be promoted to the manage
ment OF another branch in a distant
part Of the country. This approaching
breakup in our little circle drew us all
closer together and made as the more
sorry that the general harmony should
be destroyed by the unhappiness of one
of our number. If we could have
cheered him we would, but there was
something in his look, for all his snob-
bishness, which forbade even sympathy
on a subject SC sacred. He endeavored
to put on a careless manner when he
joined us all in wishing Welstead good
luck at midday on the Saturday pre-
ceding the Monday on which the we'd
ding was to take place. We expected
then that W. should not see our fellow
clerk again until he appeared in the
character of bridegroom. How little did
we guess the catastrophe which was
impending!
I remember that Saturday evening
we'll. 1t was in January, and a clear
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