Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1884-01-02
The Opal Set.

: t|SSA NSe'
[Charles Constantine in New York Mercury.
..And the long and short of it is" said So
befsides, Il am in love with herr-more fool
met"
With which candid confession, he turned
suddenly around toward the mantle-piece:
and pretended to find great difficulty in re
lighting his pipe, which by the way had moi
gone out. A small segment of his right
cheek, however, that remained visible from
where I sat betrayed the bashfnl blush that
his subterfuge was meant to conceal.
'.The more pity" replied; "but you can't
help it. La Rochefoucauld says: One may
love like mailman; but not like fool
and I don't think, old fellow, that you were Q
fool in your life. You're too philosophical
.Sobersides bit his lips.
$ ..Yes; philosophy holds very good-till you
>peed ii. My theories on the. subject arr
sound enough, but they don't prevent ms
from feeling. Frank Harley, poor devil
was one of the most philosophical men ever
knew. Well, when he got into tight place
one fine day, he blew his brains out"
And my friend laughed very melancholy
laugh.
tried to think Of something consolatory
that might say but nothing suggested it
self The fact was, that the case presented
no very flattering indications of any kind.
In all love affairs. according to some
writers, there is one who loves and one who is
beloved. will not go SO far as to indorse thii
somewhat sweeping statement; but will say
that, in nine out of ten cases of real, genuine
passion, there is one victim. In the present
~ woc tho mon xxhnp, 7 for
under his COMMON nickname of "Sobersides ,
Poor fellow, he had had hard time of it
Knocked about The world from early youth
buffeted by all the storms of poverty, family
quarrels, failure of business, and unsuccess
full ambition, he had only settled down at IS.
with comfortable income, to exist in peact
and quiet for the rest of his life, when
heels over head in love he went, beyond hopt
Of recovery, and without possibility Of sue.
cess.
OF course, the woman who captivated him
was the last one he should have thought Of.
Fannie Lowell was hardly the girl to appre
ciate such an affection as Sobersides felt fol-
her. She had a good deal of the coquettisf
element that made her sister Maggie such 8
terror to unsophisticated young men, but
without Maggie's experience in guiding it
is young girl Under 10 or 20, many girls
ignore their future, their comfort, their inter
est, their friends feelings, and everything else
that ought to be considered A series of ca.
prices mere freaks, oftentimes brilliant,
oftener stupid, but always bizarre, seem tc
be their only motives; and a series of extra
ordinary and whimsical fancies seem to be
their only principles.
Imagine Sobersides-the profound, sedate.
brusque-mannered, tender-hearted, honest
and earnest Sobersides-devoured by an. alb
sorbing i .ssion for such a giddy, contra
dictory girl as Fannie Lowell just from
boarding school and hardly past her 18th
year!
On being shot forth from the bosom of the
family into the whirl and glare and glitter OF
society, the first desire of Miss Fannie was,
naturally enough, a grand conquest. Toe
young in years and too incomplete in expert
ence to comprehend love, she thought only Of
bringing some one to her feet, and, conquer
ing her homage, the batteries, the idolatry,
in a word, that appeared so sweet to her
dashing and brilliant sister, already the belle
of four successive seasons.
Miss Fannie's ambition was high. Novels
of the ultra-sentimental type, and anecdotes
current at school, of splendid Cubans who
had eloped with young ladies Just out, land
led them, covered with diamonds and affec-
ton, to the sunny island whence the oranges
and cigars come, and whittier the opera COM
panies go, had given her some lofty ideas OF
the manly beauty and wealth that should be
offered at her shrine several times every
season.
At first, then, she cast her eyes upon Asto,
Courtlandt, who was handsome, rich and Gull
tivated, but, curiously enough, he did not
bow before her at all, so she turned from him
to Harry Tandem another of the same stripe.
but a little more ''fast." After trying in vain
to mesmerize his heart with her great blue
eyes, she learned that he had been engaged to
Jenny May, the Wall street brokers' daugh.
ter, ever since she was Is, and old May was
rich enough to buy and sell a generation Of
Lovells Then, giving up wealth and family,
Miss Fannie Few to genius for consolation.
She danced twice with Cecil Dashe, and had
long talk with him in Madame Pavon's con.
servatory one evening, but the next time She
met him and his sister Nina-who also had
genius, and had published book of poems
the little maiden could not help fancying, or
at least suspecting, that they were making
fun of her.
Then, as last trial Of the artistic world,
she had dash at Grahame Allen. He called
her "my little DEAR" and brought her peck.
etful of bon-bons, and she was done with
genius.
Time passed. Balls and parties illuminated
fashionable drawing rooms and died away.
Seasons came and went. Newport flung its
cool foam-capped breakers around the little
maiden, and for her the pleasant, sparkling
waters, arose from Saratoga springs. Still
no grand conquest. She began to grow
isharp-a trifle witty, perhaps, and other
maidens complained to their mammas that
she sometimes said rather ill-natured things
beaux-for the most part, inexperienced
young gentlemen from the provinces, downy-
chinned West Point cadets, and the like. y
Suddenly, while sitting in a friends box at
the Academy Of Music, there came to her a
stout, plain-looking gentleman, with clear,
blue eyes, serious and kindly of gaze. nc
This individualwas the unfortunate Sober
sides, her FIRST yictimto be. :is
He came to have ten minutes chat with
Miss Fa,nlie's friend-a lady of considerable
Importance in the great world of society
and was instantly presented to the young
girl Tina! meant something He must be
eligible. She cast glance-one of those
glances that devour every detail-over him,
to see how she Should like him for hus-
band The verdict was unfavorable
Sobersides was not magnificent creature,
nor a splendid fellow, nor anything of that
sort. He was not tall, nor pale, nor spirit
ual. His hair was neither very dark and
picturesque nor very blonde and classic. 1t
was of common brown, and getting trife
thin on he chronological organs of 'venera-
ton" and "benevolence. His beard was
lighter and more "sandy" in tint than his
chevelure, and he wore it full grown, without
shaving any part Of his face, Rough weather
and travel had hardened his face and
bronzed his complexion. Care, responsibility
and troubles of various kinds had left some