Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-10-25
Eyes, if you will keep in the same

mind till then"
Til then!" he exclaimed with fer
eor. AYE, till then, and forever!'
VERY well, Mr.. Odlin," said Flora
quietly. pointing to chair. Now,
don't YOU think you had better take an
easier position You must be quite un-
| comfortable there
Nimrod looked Il little sheepish, and
took the offered seat.
did YOU ever meet my Cousin Beat
rix?' asked Flora, changing the sub
ject.
No; Nimrod had never had that
| pleasure.
'sShe's to be at Aunt Hephzibah's in
I day or two. [ should be pleased to
introduce you, but she and I haven't
| spoken together Of late. However, that
needn't stand il the way. You know
auntie very well, and if you call, she'll
| be sure to present you to Cousin Beat
rix. She's not reckoned bad looking if
| she has red hair-though, for that mat
ter, she has money enough to make it
pass for golden. Why, she has fully as
much as / have in ready cash, and is
| down in auntie's will for her whole for
| tune, which is at least as much more. "
NimrOd was beginning IN earnest
! speech expressive OF contempt for riches
| where the heart IS concerned, and his
! firm belief that cheStnut-FlOra' curls
| were chestnut-Was the original color
! of human hair, in mans perfect estate,
| and that AL other shades are perver-
sions resulting from the Fall-but Flo
ra cut his disquisition short by asking
to be excused on the score of Il pressing
engagement, and Mr.. Odlin took his
leave, promising to return at the end OF
| two weeks.
Three days afterwards, our friend
! MIN made q friendly call on Aunt
| Hephzibah. and was formally intro
juced to her niece, Miss BcatriX Tavi-
stock. who had only arrived the day
| before.
Miss Tavistock. as Flora had said,
was not Il bad-looking Girl. She was
about her cousins age to whom III
features and expression, she bore a
| strong family emblance. But her
! hair!-carrOtT? = why carrots would
have paled before it! 1t was so fiery
2 red that it fairly made Nimrod's eyes
water.
But as lie thought Of her twenty thou
sand in possession. and another twenty
! thousand in expectancy, and heard
Aunt Hephzibah's hacking cough, the
effect of the hair began to wear off, and
was quite forgotten at the end of half
an hour, which sufficed to reveal the
fact that Miss TaViStock was altogether
the most engaging young lady he had
ever met
Nimrod repeated the visit the next
day, and the next, and for many sue
ceeding days, and ut every visit found
Miss BeatriX more charming than ever.
Her treatment Of him was decidedly
more encouraging than Flora's had
ever been. Indeed he had not little
ingratiated himself by rather more than
| halfway Ginning in with some not very
| f1attcring criticisms of her cousin, in
dulged in by Miss TavistocE.
1t lacked but day of the expiration
of the two weeks. By this time Nimrod
| had reached the conclusion that some
shades of red were not inferior to chest
nut, especially when backed by the odds
of forty thousand dollars against twenty.
| He was furthermore convinced that
if he popped the question to Beatrix he
wouldn' have to wait two weeks for an
answer, that when it came there would
be no danger of its being no.
But NimrOd was prudent man. His
proposal to Flora, while it remained I'M
answered, was, of course, subject to
withdrawal; and to withdraw it might
avoid many future complications. And
as no time was to be lost, he sat down
at once and addressed letter to Flora.
We shall not give it UerbGti171, having
no wish to furnish a form for the use of
other tickle lovers. Enough to say, it
was perfect model of the backing-out
letter, full of lying excuses and broth
Ierly profession of everlasting friendship.
Nov for the fair Beatrixn' was
Nimrod's exultant ejaculation, as he
HE'D his steps to Aunt Hephzibah' S door.
But why unnecessarily prolong our
story? The scene that follOwed-up to
a certain pOint-was an exact repeti-
ton of the one before described. MINI
rod had gone through it SO many times
that there is no danger of his ''stick-
ling" He sank again on the same knee,
lseized Beatrix's hand, and, in the same
tone, made the same speech.
At the words, ''WiIl you be mine? Do
not break my heart by saying non' he
bowed his head meekly, like q suppIiant
| awaiting the answer WhereOn hangs lite
or death. AS we have said, Nimrod
| had been through it all before, and
knew his part thoroughly.
He waited. but the answer did not
come. He felt q convulsive tremor of
the hand held in his. Doubtless Beatrix
was too agitated to speak. He ventured
to look up, started back, lost his bal
ance, and fell into an attitude, rather
less graceful, but much more firmly
lpoised, than that he had just quilted.
Instead of Beatrix, it was Flora he
saw before him, and it was her hand he
held! With the other she held up
blazing red wig, while her own chest
nut curIs shook about her fair neck
and shoulders with the ringing burst
of laughter that shook her whole frame.
Nimrod sprang to his feet and rushed
out. We shall not repeat what he said
on reaching the street. 1t would re-
quire too many stars and dashes to
| nrint 1t without hreakin q certain. WE'LL