The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-05-27
MR. .MODEu."wuFE

Archibald Crimson, middle-aged, well
to-do, fairly good-looking, a man of the
world, good constitution, member of two
clubs, unmarried, reasonably intelligent
and not inexperienced, walked down Four
teenth street one particularly bright morn
ing, swinging his cane and smoking a
specially fragrant cigar He had a vague
notion of bathing his senses OH the hui
man tide OF that street, Of throwing few
side glances at the shop windows and
then dropping his cigar stump at Sixth
avenue, of getting upon the elevated train
and going down to the Astor House and
attending to some business that he had
on hand.
Destiny met him midway in his walk.
n inN N~,eI Vuo fate will, ,icwlv-s aud :r
resistible force turned him round when in
front of Sackson 4 Pendgett's Modes, and
drew him up to the window. There were
three figures in it. They were costumer's
etfiges They wore full dress. They
were arrayed in silk attire, with trains.
They had bare pink arms and oval faces,
with heavy, languishing eye-lashes, and
they held their heads slightly thrown
back, and wore imperial curves in their
backs, as if the costumer had meant to
satarize the living thing with the superb
or dignity of deadwood and iron.
Mr.. Crimson looked at the trio mo-
ment from the centre Of the group of spec
tators. a smile Of mild, self-satis6ed in
difference stole over his face and lifted
his brown mustache little, so that the
gray hairs in it became visible.
The three beautiful figures paid very
little attention to him. Their wooden
souls were wholly engrossed with the one
duty of keeping their heads thrown back
small boy remarked incidently that
the girl in the middle was "lum tum,"
and gave touch of sincerity to his re-
mark by smacking his lips. At which
his juvenile partner made response by
observing, Peaches"
1t may have been these remarks that
directed Mr.. Crimson's attention more
particularly to the girl in the middle.
But am inclined to think that it was the
same fate that drew him there.
Just then she began to turn slowly
round and he got good view Of the curve
in her back 1t was Glotto's sweep un-
mistakably. The figures seemed to flow
out into tlouncy bilow of woman and
recede on the sides in sensuous lines. He
could almost hear the seductive swish of
the load of drapery as it swung round
and fell over itself in voluptuously soft
tumult of creamery waves. Then she
swept her head around and her deep blue
eyes seemed to look at him out of her jet
black lashes with that far away pity and
superiority that nature and art sometimes
confer on the real thing when men at
tract their passing attention. She had
brown, wavy hair, the color of pulled taf-
fy, and just where a spot of the morning
sunshine fell on it's convolutions it re-
minded him of glass of brown sherry
held up before a sea-cOal fire.
Mr.. Crimson must have stood there ten
or fifteen minutes. He had quite gone
off into reverie. Then a voice some
where very low and soft said "Alice"
He thought it was somebody on the walk
calling to friend.
Idiot! it was Fate Just as he heard
it the blue eyes set in black came round
upon him. Then he pulled himself to-
gether with jerk and went down the
street. He laughed in conscious con-
tempt as he thought it over. "To think" !"
he said "of my stopping to look at cos
tuners lay figure. Who would have
thought it ? And then he resolutely went
to work to think Of masculine things with
a masculine bravery. He read the World
in the cars. Curious how these things
come about, but nearly every article had
Alice in it. There was an Alice jumped
off ferryboat. Alice had just made a
great hit in Oil City. Alice was the title
Of new book. When he got to the As
tor House he met Springer and Clawson
and Jiggle. Cawson insisted on taking
a drink and drank brown sherry. He
held the glass up in ray of sunshine and
said, What does that remind you of,
Crimson ? And Crimson actually sighed.
The next morning Crimson went down
Fourteenth street and said to himself,
"Oh, by jove! I'll take look at that
wooden girl" Just as if he hadn't
thought of it before.
There she was. But 10 and behold, q
new expression had come into her face