The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-11-26
"THAT MITT."
Miss Alice's Cunning and Success
full Device.
CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER l..
Eugene Sylvestre. tall. well-pro-
portioned. blonde and mustached, stood
with watchful. albeit rather sleepy
looking eyes. near a crowded corner of
State Street in our busy, bustling, we'll
bepraised city. He was leaning. with a
languid grace. peculiar to his kind,
against n of those aesthetic posts i'm
pressed of late years into the postal
service of u country. and as he leaned
there he softly hummed a verse of
which the only audible words were
good night, ladies'"
The young apa talented gentleman
here introduced was a gentleman.
courteous. brave and kind, and one of
fortuae's favorite sons. He was also
tie city editor of The Morning Scoop
enup. most brilliant and influential of
our city journals, and he was in that
particular place at this particular time
in patient search after that thing which
his soul loved-an item.
The sun was shining with almost
southern Intensity, and Sylvestre, who.
] should have told you, was of southern
birth, had only to close his eyes q little
more than usual and stand hear one of
Ital'a's palatial genealogical emporiums
to be transported. Aladdin-like. to his
childhood's home, had he so willed it.
In the throng of pedestrians and the
hurrying of vehicles this cynical young
man say nothing that to his intelligent
eye was more than an oft told tale. He
coz nued his observations from force
G habit, or. rather, from that in
net born with the rightful member of
me fourth estate. He stood "as one
who slept and dreamed; all things to
him unreal seemed" when. 10! one of
those fortunes that favor the brave. A
rustling of silks, a tapping of tiny boot
heels. a gay but subdued chime of
charming laughter, a bewildering
glimpse Of scarlet lips and eyes that
suggested black velvet and black dia-
monds, all those ~distracting things in
fact that have disturbed the peace of
men since Lilith, first beloved, dawned
on Adam. II was but a moment. and the
vision had passed him before our hero
had fairly opened his eyes. His mind
was for once rippled, and like some
INSPIRED idiot" it feebly intermixed
girls and hours and other mythology
cal absurdities. Had he. the ub.quit-
GUS reporter for long, long days and
weeks. who had worn out innumerable
pairs of shoes tramping the city from
end to end uutil his present dignity
was fairly won-could he have dwelt
within knowledge of that thing of love-
ness and failed to make her his by
right of discovery Out with the
thought She must be a stranger, per-
haps a Peri from the gate of Eden wan-
dering disconsolate.
In fact. the passers by were two very
good looking Chicago girls (they would
have been rare beauties elsewhere). but,
by the bow of Cupid. one had he seen.
and only one and she had fired his
Southern soul. He started forward in
time to catch the last glimmer of silk
as she passed into the dry-goods palace
on the corner, then with a sigh was
sinking back into his old, restful posi-
ton (Sylvestre was born tired); when.
oh. rapture! there at his feet lay a dainty
kid mitten!
"'Sdeathm CSdeath, oh, uninitiated
into the mysteries of newspaperdom,
is the customary ejaculatory utterance
OF the well-formed newspaper man of
he nineteenth century,
"'Sdeath!" he calculated. 1t was
hers. Instinct told him that. He seized
It with even more avfdity then if it had
been an item, and with heart exultingly
beating. he hastily followed the ladies
into h busy hive, where people were
packed like pickles in a jar" Up
stairs and in the basement; glowering
at the cash-boys and forgetting to smile
on the lady clerks. from aisle to aisle,
he pursued his fruitless search, forget
ful of the fact hat it was a corner store
with doors on two streets. Exhausted
with such labors and the heat of the
DAY. he muttered a-vocabulary word.
and reluctantly abandoned the search,
pocketed his precious find" and be-
Q himself to his office, here to seek
forgetfulness in his accustomed way.
The next morning in the columns of
h paper whose staff he SO brilliantly
ornamented, appeared conspicuously
this legend:
wANTED-The lady who yesterday lost on
fr;mn street, near - red stitched. fur
Iayor on the finder. by sending the other one
10 4 o. Daily Scoopemup.
CHAPTER H..
Pretty Miss Alice bingham, in her
w especial room next morning, sitting
bolt upright. with a stare of astonish-
ment, read the above modest request.
Alice Yves a child of wealth, fashion and
refinement, but she had a brother, and
IN her moment OF surprise, we regret to
say, her language was modelled in that
OF this near relative. She said, with
emphasis, too: .'WeH. he has a gallr'
Suddenly she leaned back in her chair,
and peal after peal of laughter foated
m~usically around her beautiful room.
How successfully this fair fisher of men
had baited her hook and caught her fish
will be seen further N. Having laughed
to her hearts content, she unused. a mo-
ment, then rose, attired herself to 90
forth conquering and to conquer, and
went, as she said. Ito beard the lion in
his very den"
An hour later Mr.. Sylvestre's unman-
ageabie heart thumped more ~fiercely
than ever, and he felt more limp and
feeble than in all his life before, as he
was confronted in his sanctum by yes
terday's vision of beauty. He bowed
deeply and presented her a char. She
smiled sweetly and accepted it. Then a
pause. He. with expectant look. trying
to appear at ease, heard his heart beat.
ing like mutfled thunder. and was posi-
tive she did. His cheeks were atiame.
and his hand shook as he fumbled
aimlessly among the papers on his desk.
She was the image of high-bred repose.
1t seemed to him that wears of silence
were intervening; in act only the proper
interval had elapsed when she said. in
her cattiest one
There was a very extraordinary
article IN your paper this morning"
Advertisement" he corrected: then
flushed to the temples at his asinine
rudenes> and ind secretion. If he had
betrayed himself, however. she did not
appear to see it. She innocently at
tributed his knowledge. of her meaning
to his newspaper perspicacity. He felt