Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-02-13
A PROUD WOMAN.
A Pretty California Story PrettiIy Told,

John NandOT'S sky had always Deon
cloudless. He had seen life through
rose-lined haze, and had walked rough
shod over its meadow bloom. Naturally
he forgot or never knew that somewhere
and sometimes there were sodden paths
to tread. that the meadoW-bloom turned
to rustling broomstalks, and the sky to-
''under-roof of doleful gray He was
sunshinv because he had never peered
into the shadows To have purse we'll
filled without knowing who fills 1T, to
open your hand for a gift of fortune and
have it drop in carelessly, to win love
without seeking tin short, to play at
living is pleasant occupation, but very
poor discipline. Perhaps John Vandor
was trifle selfish. in spite of his mex
haustible good nature, his intelligence,
his invariable good form"
Agnes Earle was the sort OF girl men
call dashing, and women-Out Of respect
to their own preference-dare not class
ify. She had dark and unreadable eyes,
matched to a shade by a prOfuslon of
crinkled hair, and set off by long, almost
curly lashes-lashes that would have
made the Sistine Madonna a half CO
Quette Her complexion was that rich,
deep yet perfect clear olive, one sees
more often in the best Spanish portraits
than in American life. From remote an
cestors she had perhaps Spanish blood in
her veins. In figure she was neither
so tall as Diana nor so mature as Juno;
neither 1.-the nor willowy, to describe her
exactly, though neither may help to in
dictate the subtle something in her car
RAG which make her as graceful in move
ment as in repoSe, in speech as in silence,
III alert attention as in sef-saturated
reverie. Indeed, Agnes Earle would
have been almost beautiful if she had no
other charm than the wonderfully pretty
hands which had made John VandOr fall
half In love with her when they first
met, and had helped to persuade he
loved her ever after.
Vandor was not exactly handsome.
He was fine looking. One could not but
admire his physique, and one could not
help noticing, in looking him full In the
face, that he had brains.
These two began by liking each other
somewhat blindly. He liked in her the
brilliance and dash of her style, the sug-
gestive 1uency of her small talk, and
above all, her compelling beauty She
liked in him certain strength, a certain
suggestion of restrained power, which
seemed to underlie his obvious conceit
and his superficial empiricism of think
ing, and she liked his Open-handedness
his big, brave ways. his love of dogs and
horses and of s'all outdoors"
These young people were second cous-
ms, but they had not met or known
much of each other until he was a man
of 70 and she woman of 10. He had
come to California for no good reason
for no reason. One Saturday afternoon,
after a week of some comprehensive
doing" of San Francisco, he walked into
Richard Earle's study at Berkeley, bear
ing a note of introduction from Cousin
Mary, who lived in Albany. He found a
bronzed grizzled, curt and gruff, who
sCowled him a dubiOut welcome without
rising.
''How long have you been in the state,
young man ?" asked the host.
Just ten days-tWo in Sacramento
eight in San Francisco"
Are you broke?"
''Do you mean out of funds?" asked the
guest, smiling in spite of himself
IT mean broke-b-r-o-k-e; busted,
p'r'aps you say. Come here to borrow ?'
No, thank you. | came here to pay
you my respects, and wish you a very
good day" And second cousin Vandor,
turning on his heel quietly left the room.
In the hall he was arrested by the I'M
mistakable rustic of feminine drapery,
just in time to avoid collision with
lady.
I beg your pardon" he said rather
stiff1y.
Have you been quarreling with papa?"
The young lady smiled while she asked
the question, and all the stiffness had
gone from his voice as he replied:
Not exactly; [ am a cousin Of your
fathers-of yours too, by the way-and I
had come to be very civil to my relative.
To4 l, Il T I,
row money"
He had forgotten his anger; forgotten
that he ought to have been in full re-
treat.
Come back with me, and let me ex-
plain. III make him apologize Our
cousin must not 60 away In such fash
ion, with the afternoon sun about to go
down upon his wrath. / didn't wonder
you were angry; but then, twas only
father"
''Your cousin had much rather accept
the family apology from you" said Van
dor, laughing. However, I'll go back,
and try. and explain that I'm not
broke
Agnes led the way, and marched
straight to her fathers side. She bent
and kissed him lightly, and then standing
directly in front of him, she shook at
AAAL OAAO A4AA7SAs AASoJ WIN III
imitable drawl: "Aren't you ashamed of
YOURSELF"
'Why didn't he come here at once,
them" snarled the bronzed grizzly.
"Ah ha! and that's the reason you send
our cousin away with your awful blunt
ness. Now please understand, 'Da'
she called him "Da"-''that shall permit
no such high-minded acting. Come
here, cousin, and notice how meekly he
shakes hands"
BY this time both men were laughing,
and Agnes smiled complacently and left
the room. The second cousin masculine
shook hands and the elder soon became
interested in news from his old home
When Miss Earle re-entered the room,
an hour later, she saw that the cousins
were on the best of terms with each 9TH
er, and judiciously invited the young
man to 60 out on the porch with her,
and watch one of their show sunsets
"Judiciously" means that wise young
woman did not intend that the others
should have a chance to become bored
with each other.
From being mere looker-on in Wen
ma. Vandor became enamored of 'our glo-
rious climate" and resolved, with the
i 80 l.