Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-08-27
VANITY aarux.re sirnsns enough.
''Ths young vomas !. az rcFe~

VANITY nnruwsre srrugnr enough
'sThe young wonan is an actrez"
"A tchGffn cried while. I
IAN actress.n rspsated. "A real live
actressi Two pounds q week, and find your
own frocksl Puff yourself, and paint your
sell. and 70 out With a pair Of eyes fnll of
theatre tears, and teH your stage-iover, In
dying yoioe, thdt your heart Is breaking.
Or set up Is al Example q hlial piety,
and taie m sewing 70 keep your aged
father out Of the workhouse. The house ap-
plauds, and thinks better of human nature.
And human nature In the telling frock takes
advantage Of the applause 10 ogle the stalls.
Oh, rubbish and nonsense, Williel The
young woman is an actress, and, believe me,
she Is playing part you don't understandln n
IF you had seen herr he exclaimed fer
vently "f you had heard her!n
''Oh, VIII, Wll," said !, "you are a very
young man--twenty-two, by the almanacl
And when you divide % you get II. There
you arel Heart aged %, head just turned
lip .r' ..a I..
Do you know he bore it alll So next paid
him a compliment or two. Then, having an
eye to business, / spoke Of Nancy Steele.
Without giving VIII time to say much this
way or that, praised her looks, her thrift,
her snug fortune-whatever was attractive
about her. .F ...
''In this matter of marriage keep in the
safe, sober. common-sense track" said l.
"Do as other people do, and you are most
likely to do well. Nancy is the girl for you.
She will make you happy, and she will keep
you respectable. What do you know about
Miss Hardwarei Simply that she is pretty;
SO are scores of women And that she can
cry when she wants to make fool of you; SO
can every woman" d,
| shook his resolution q little, could see.
He seemed not quite so full of Miss Vanity
when he went out as when he came in. Willie
VAS always apt to think that whoever spoke
last spoke best, which is a merit in a man
who Lears your advice last, otherwise it is a
fault The upshot was that he suffered affairs
between Nancy and himself to go on as be-
fore-he civil to her; she civil to him. Nancy
must have seen that he kept out of her way,
but she took no notice of the alteration in his
conduct, being, as have already pointed out,
long girl .s
However Willie's purpose might waver be-
fore an adverse opinion his affection soon
returned to what was now the natural quar-
ter. Vanity Hardware had won his heart.
In point of fact, nothing but dittidence and
the fear of being thought foolish kept him
from making confessions of his love to his
friends. But Tumbledown Farm being still
mystery to the whole village, and none
knowing whence the Hardwares came, or
how they managed to live, Willie felt afraid
to mention his sweetheart's name openly. So
he dallied with Nancy, loved Vanity, and
spoke not word to anybody, except to me.
After their parting at the brook ten days
elapsed without his seeing her again. Even
ing after evening he paced the same road,
watching eagerly at every turn for the futter
of Vanity's white dress, but all in vain.
Meanwhile, by every honorable means, he
tried to learn something about her and her
father, but when the information he picked
up was put together with that which I had
learned myself elsewhere, we remained, for
all practical purposes as much in the dark
as ever. Now, with what can chapter end
better than a big note of interrogation