St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-10
AN ENGLISH LOVE STORY.
BY Joseph Hatton.

only too plainly proved. 1T was not the
lobster salad ScOrned the deception; it
was the champagne. l had always main
tanned that picnics were mistake, and now
| was certain of it.
Do not misunderstood me when | say pic
mics are mistake. Your real rural inn
promptu picnic, with few intimate friends,
in some pleasant spot away from the hum
drum OF everyday life, is pleasant enough;
but what | inveigh against is that set feast of
luXuries, conveyed in a perfectly appointed
luncheon-basllet to some hackneyed feast
ing-place, by ''pampered menials," and in
which the only variety from everyday lunch
con consists in that it is eaten in an uncom-
Portable position, instead of the orthodox
comfortable one And this had been the
case yesterday. Besides, the company had
not been to my taste. Imagine a single
man, or, indeed, any man, picnicing with
three engaged couples Could the most
contented of all mOrtals have been happy
under the circumstances?
True, there had been few odd, middle
aged outsiders, but what of that ? All !.
what, indeed And as my memory began
to collect its scattered PARTICLES had more
cause than ever to curse that picnic.
We had been up the river, party of
twelve-yes, that was it-and finding that
no Establishments on my part could distract
! the course of true love Of any one of the
three engaged misses from their faithful
SWANS, had been obliged to fall back upon
one of the ''odd' members of the party
Urged on my wild career by desperation and
frequent glasses of champagne, | had made
violent love to a maiden lady, Of-well a
certain age She had been too agreeable:
that was her only fault. What might not
have committed myself to in my efforts to
drown ennui ! Who knows? Perhaps l
had proposed to her. Well. she had been
very charming; why not? Great heavens !!
she was 40 if she was day; and perhaps
bah perhaps she was made up" At
least, l remember she appeared to possess a
certain amount of good looks; but how was
1 to know that those dark lashes were not
| the result of anthony; those languishng
| glances bella donna; that complexion,
arsenic; those delicate white hands, bis
muth And now, too, | remembered that
had promised to call upon her. She lived
at Kensington! Happy thought perhaps
| had mislaid her address! L jumped off
my chair with more alacrity than / had
thought possible, and rummaged in my
pockets for the card that she had given me.
She said, with bewitching smile, that she
was quite sure | should forget the address
unless had that card.
No such luck, for there it was, only too
palpable to the naked eye. / sat down
again to the pretense of breakfast that | had
been making during these reveries. An I'M
welcome knock at the door, followed by a
more unwelcome intruder, put an abrupt
end to them.
Hello, Charlie, old man - exclaimed my
hotaI 1yicifor. ssbnxy ORC T
been up all night, OF what? ''
''Oh, you go to the deucep' l answered
testify.
Thanks; you always were a, hospitable
kind of fellow, but [ hardly expected so
warm reception as this"
'sWell, [ tell you what it is, Ralph, l am
awfully down on my luck, and don't want
any of your chaff this morning."
''Oh, if it's matter of flyer or so, why
didn't you say so before You know you
may always count on me to Oblige You, at a
pinch"
''Bosh, my dear fellow, it, s not that. l
am little off color, that's all. Don't you
see 90
'Whew-w, I think do see, now! A
woman in the case, of course. What an
awful duffer | must have been not to have
seen it at first"
Look here, Ralph 1 said, II am not
in the humor for humbug this morning, so
let us drop the subject of my appearance
and its cause, altogether. Have you seen
the gov. ?''
Eyes, saw him just as he was going out
for his morning constitutional. He looked
fit enough"
WINGED at this overt dig at my tender
spot.
''Well, suppose you go down stairs and
smoke while finish my breakfast, and then
We'll see how to pass an hour or twO.''
My tormentOr was gone at last, thank
goodness but what was the torment of his
presence to that of my mind?
There was no getting out of it. must
call upon my elderly charmer, and that
without delay. The longer matters were
put off the worse they would appear.
went down stairs and found Ralph
smoking. Bah l could not have smoked
this morning to have saved my life.
Il suppose you have nothing to do up to
luncheon time, Ralph?. Will you come for
drive? | have morning call to pay"
Thought so; but why wouldn't you speak
the truth at once? Who is she ?'
"Time enough for you to know when you
have seen her," answered, surlily. ''Will
| JOu COHiC. Slietll nave W leave YOU QUIZ
side"
'.All right, old man; anything to further
the interests of a friend. / don't mind play
ing LepOrello to your Don Juan, for once. y
We drove to Kensington. The brilliant
sun seemed to mock my gloomy thoughts.
and my spirits fell to zero as we approached
the house.
''Was Miss Damian at home %
Eyes, Miss Danian was at hOme''
| My last lOOphOle of escape was closed I
entered the house, and had not vet been
seated five minutes when the door opened
| and perfect vision of loneliness greeted
my astonished gaze.
Picture to yourself the most beautiful
creature your eyes ever rested upon, or your
| imagination cOnjured up in the form of a
woman, and apply the result to the present
case.
Her eyes, her complexion and her figure
| But will not attempt to describe them, fol
fear they should clash with your Individual
ideal of beauty, and so destroy the illusion.
She could not have been more than 10 or
20. Was this my ''elderly charmer' of
Yesterday? No, there must be some mis-
take.
The vision came forward with seraphic
smile of ill-disguiSed amusement at nv EVIL
dent establishment.
''Miss Damian?" / stammered.
II am Miss Damian, Miss Ethel Damian.
in my aunt's house, and my aunt desires me
to express her regret at being unable to see
you this morning. She caught a slight cold
ON the river yesterday, but she hopes you
| will call again very sOon."
That voice What can liken it TO in
order to convey an idea of the mellifuous
gales and running water pale before such
perfection.
81 am deli mean that am distressed
beyond measure-er-what an extremely
warm day y
s.You appear to find it so. had Thought