The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-01-16

lolpp00 OH 0OI p0kCns
=" mustn't stay longer now. Please
give me the newspaperf for mamma. And
may { come ON Saturday to tea2 You
must have s cake made expressly fol
melp
You shall have anything You like
he said, with . little husky cough thai
was habitual to him. Then he opened
his mouth to speak-and shut it again,
By this time she was gone.
Ali we'll. On Saturday he would
ray something. What? And then be
fell to composing his own speech, and
her answers-but he scarcely ventured
to think what those might be.
So the day slipped quietly away, and
he wss sitting idly by the kissing
wood fire, when thedoor was flung open,
and, to his surprise, Dick walked in.
"Why, my dear boy, where did you
come from? I thoughtyou were shoot
ing IN the North for the next three
weeks TO come"
II changed my mind, uncle. I may
stay here, maynt II"
The permission was readily given.
But as the evening drew on 1t became
apparent even to Erasmus, who was fa,
from clear sighted, that something was
amiss. And when after dinner Dick
came to the study, drew his chair close
TO the fire, and Tat silently gazing into
the flames, his uncle at last ventured on
aremark.
Nothing wrong. my dear boy?"
Nothing, except that I've been play.
ing the fool" was the encouraging re.
ply.
Then there followed q long pause,
broken at last by Mr.. Scott in his slow,
timid voice. .You were saying, Dick.
that you had been-eh?"
Well, it comes to this-Pm in love;
There's no good trying to fight it down.
] thought Tdsee il going North for q
change would set me up. But it only
made it worse. / never cared for q girl
before, and thought it all nonsense;
but now I can't live without her. Oh
you can't think what it was, up in that
dreary shooting-lodge on those great
moors alone, with nothing but the dogs
to talk to, and all day long her face and
her ways haunting mel"
"She?n began Erasmus again, inuuir-
ingly. aShe is-what did you say is the
An1Ao VI 0uo young AAuy
But Dick went rambling on after the
fashion OF people suffering from hi.
malady. / think she likes me. I never
thought about anything at first but
mere fun and chat, you know; and then
it came over me all of a sudden that
there ID no one half-half like her, you
know. And when I said goodbye to
her l was wretched, and she looked aw-
fnllydown in the mouth, too. Sol think
she likes me. She didn't say anything
we'll, I suppose girls don't; they expect
one to begin"
To this general observation Mr.. Scott
assented, and then in his shy, blunder-
ing way, "You were saying the young
lady's name is? Did you meet her in
Scotland?"
SIN Scotland! Why, who did you
think ] meant?-Rose Dormer, OF
course?n
II Dick could have seer his uncle's
face, he would have guessed the whole
story. But as it happened, he could
not, and Erasmus broke the silence by
asking very gently, you think she cares
for you, my dear boy?"
well, Tn nearly sure OF it. We
were always quarreling-but then.
that's the way with lovers they say
and then he went on to give strong
proofs Of his assertions.
Mr.. Scott listened very patiently, but
it seemed to him that he had never
known before what pain wal like. He
fancied he suffered more in that one
half hour than he had ever done in his
whole life. Each word seemed to
scorch and burn his very heart.
Then when Dick had done he said,
aGod bless you my dear boy! She is
the sweetest girl that ever lived, and ]
know that you will do your best to
make her happy. All me! two young
people together"
Dear old tellow!" thought Dick.
ut reminds him Of the time when he
was young"
The next morning Dick dressed him
self with care and put a white rosebud
in his button-hole and strobe off to the
cottage. Erasmus watched him from
the window, and thought how natural
it was that Rose should prefer Dick to
him, and what q foolish thing it was
ever to have thought matters could be
different. Yet even these reflections
did not cause his heartache.
Dick returned late in the evening,
beaming and burdened by the necessity
Of pouring out his story to solne one.
it did not matter to whom. But his
uncle. although very silent Che said he
vas not well-"toothacheD made a
good listener, and this was all Dick
wanted.
When the engagement was announced
in the neighDorhood every one said how
suitable it was, and how nice for Mr..
Scott to have a niece he was fond of
Only, poor man, he seemed to have
been suffering SO much from toothache
lately. OF course, he was delighted
about the marriage, but he really looked
miserably i'll. It would be far better
to have every tooth out than to suffer in
thIs way!"
One cold December evening, when
Dick and Rose were sitting by the fire
Fin the twilight, Mr.. Scott, against his
Will. overheard q scrap of their CONVEX
sation. He was arranging books in q
cerner, and they had quite forgotten
IhiHspresence.
How strange it is" Dick was saving,
~meditatively, "that some people seem
SO content to be without happiness like
ours. Look at my uncle. The dear
boy never seems to want anything more
than his books"
EDO you know, Dick, answered Rose,
very gently, II think he would have
very much liked things in his life to
have been different. Not that he eve,
said anything to me. But it is a fancy
OF mine.n
Could it be that Rose had understood
dimly something Of the pain he had