The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-05-16

onN 0isceFnnB Blfl, etc.,
etc.; will be introduced at
once. (What o dangerous thing it is to
be introduced at once! Mem.-Always
make it later if you can.) Ny friend is
introduced in due form. Intense en-
presscment on the part of my friend; !;
gracious reception on the part of the
girl. One dance, and then another.
A german favor, WHICH il returned: an
invitation to call, which isaccepted with
alscrity. The call is made and proves
agreeable. Further invitation to call,
and then promise to read from these
authors who combine beauty of thought
with weight of meaning. Vows of pia-
tonic friendship, (What q dangerous
thing vows Of platonic friendship are!
Mem.-Never make them.)
The drama moved on. One evening
my friend called with o, particularly
well-chosen assortment from Ruskin,
Emerson, and DeQuincey, as pieces de
resistance, and little of Barry Corn
wall and Mrs. Bro wnings~ Portuguese
Sonnets as plats cucres. The fire was
burning brightly on the dogs. A few
flowers were arranged in Q slender sill
yer vase, and an almost imperceptible
perfume pervaded the room. As nv
friend threw himself back in the long
easy-chair and experienced the exquisite
masculine thrill of pleasure in running
the lace tidy, he fell to thinking what an
agreeable duty was his to fill fresh,
pure mind, with angel eyes and sylph-
like form, with fair thoughts taken from
the masters Of prose and song. This
train of thought was peculiarly agree
able to him from the fact that it was
quite disinterested. Some day, !" Thought
my friend, "some good fellow will be
made happy by the influence of this
teaching" These delightful imagina-
tions were brought to close by the
appearance of the fair pupil herself.
After chatting pleasantly for q little
while, my friend asked whether he
should begin reading. !
II should like it very much" she said,
quietly.
So lie began. First with Emerson's
Napoleon; then with DeQuinceys
"Joan of Arc;" then followed sonnet
or two, and then love song by Barry
Cornwall. And as my friends voice rose
and fell and became strong with noble
scorn, awful with elevation, quiet with
reserved strength, and melting with the
accent of pathos and love, he could not
help thinking. "How much an doing,
to be sure, for the other fellow. The
reading was concluded with the rapt
air Of one Of whose thoughts were too
full for utterancc. Heclosed the beauti-
fully bound volume of Ruskin's "Queen's 3
Gardens" and looked vaguely mp from
the glowing logs to the mantel-piece
above.
"How beautiful it is," finally said the
pupil.
dyes, it is very beautiful" replied the
master.
when the fair pupil herself rose, and, it
seemed to him, fairly planted herself
before the door. Without the slightest
note of warning, she thus addressed
him:
II wisl," said she, with sentimen-
tally desperate air, "you-would-not
call any more"
Ny friend felt cold chill of horror
stealing over his members. His knees
trembled. The eyes of the young lady
were firmly fixed upon him. He was
expected to do something; he knew he
was. What was it?
Certainly" he managed finally to
stammer out.
"You know it is different with a girl
than with o man." she continued, sadly !;
"you have been coming here SO often
that people are beginning to talk"
He now knew too we'll what was ex-
pected of him, and for moment lie felt
an overmastcring impulse to comply.
He overcame it manfully, and as he re-
covered his selfcontrole, and managed
in some measure to meet those search
ing eyes, he became, after the manner
of men, brutal.
He would cooperate with her." he
said, coldly, ''in giving the lie to public
opinion"
How, do not know, lie got out of
the house. As he gained the garden
gate, he ran from the haunted spot
ran and ran away from danger and in-
consequence. And then, in the cold
moonlight, he sat down on a curb
stone. The cold moon was sailing in
the sky, and as he sat down on the
curbstone and looked up at the heavens
blue, he murmured, in devout thank
fulness, the one word, "Saved! saved!"
The wind that was stirring the elms of
the street seemed to whisper the same
happy thought, and this is the end of
my extremely ungallant but very in
structive story.