The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-08-19

have heard you talk, Dick, and l know
what you would do. There should be
no blackmail, no illiteracy, nothing that
1 would not be proud of. Help nue.,
Dickr'
'.Mrs. Warner, 1 would give ten years
of my life to have such a chance. I
would work for 81 a day to do it, and
live on it. l wasn't getting much more
when l first knew you. But l can't do
it. 1 am nothing toyou that you should
do SO much for me-"
mo one would know, Dick. Mr.,
Jardin would buy it. and no n would
know whom he was acting for. And
surely no one would be jealous of an
old woman like me doing you a good
turn. Is there any one who might be
jealous, DickP"
mo, indeed. But | shouldn't feel
right about it. 1 don't see how 1 could
do it. Unless-do you like me very
much, Mrs. WarnerP You have been
so kind to me, but then your heart is SO
big. Do you like M personality"
.'Of course l do. You know that"
"Tnen, will you be my wife?"
Mrs. Warner blushed as she had not
blushed for years.
"Oh, DickI'
"Will youP" and Headley took her
hand-not in a lover-like fashion, but
very affectionately.
s'How could /, DickP I'm old enough
to be your mother. People would call
me the Baroness Burdett-C outts; and
l wouldn't mind that, but they'd call
you Ashmead Burdett-C outts, Bartlett
Burdett-C outts, or whatever it is"
ssYnrr'ro op1u covan uoor.c n11or fhon
.'But I am a widow. You wouldn't
feel comfortable, Dick-yodr friends
would chaff you.
81 don't think they would; men don't
chaff me very much. l don't pretend
to be in any Romeo condition, but 1 am
very, very fond of you. l don't say that
if you had no money L would ask you
to marry me, for 1 am not in a position
to marry any woman; 1 may be looking
for work a week from now. But if my
position on the journal were an assured
one, l don't know any woman in the
world whom I'd rather make my wife.
You see l feel a good deal older than 1
am, and L can't zeal the society girls;
the bread and butter kind bore me to
death, and the others / remember my
mother too well to marry"
.'Oh, Dick! Dick! l don't know what
to say. love you as well as 1 love any
thing in the world. But it must be only
mother love after all. I'm such an old
woman, Dick, such a very old woman.
I'll marry you on three conditions--that
you take the editorship of the journal;
that we are to be engaged for a year;
and that no one is to know any thing
about it till a month before we are mar
ried. / know we shall be laughed at,
Dick, but l shall be as proud of you as
proud a be, and perhaps we shall be
happy. No, don't kiss me, Dick; there
must be none of that nonsense between
us, dear Dick.
81 will make you happy if it is in me
to do it, and l know L a make the
journal such a paper az you would like
to own"
Ten months later the Warner palace
was again the scene of unlimited fes-
tivity, and Richard Headley and Mrs.
Warner again sat OF a tete-a-tete sofa
under the great red camelia.
s'Well, Dick" said Mrs. Warner,
''and how is every thing down town to-
dayP"
Every much as usual. I have finally
committed myself to the irrigation
scheme. 1t is such big money for US
that I vas a little afraid of being preju-
diced. But on the whole l think it is
right. But there's another scheme
which we must talk about before the
end of the month, and that is our mar
rage"
sit isn't the end of the month for a
long while yet, Dick, and you must go
and dance with Nellie, now. Isn't she
a dear girl, DickP She grows more
and more like my poor little sister
every day. You must be very nice to
her, Dick. 1t has been dull work for
her at the Sacre Occur; / want her to
brighten up now that we have got
her."
Dick obeyed like a dutiful fiance, and
more than n of the guests remarked
how fine a couple he and the tall and
slender Nellie Keane made. Dur
ing the nextn night he tried to talk several
times with Mrs. Warner about the an
nouncement of their coming marriage,
but she put him off with the merry dec
laration that she was too young and too
pretty a woman to tie herself down a day
before the necessary time.
81 think, at any rate" said Dick one
night, .'that you ought to tell Nine. Luz
que and Nellie, they ought to know a
little sooner than any body else. Don't
You think SOP"
81 don't know, Dick. Tell me, what
do you think about Nellie? lido so want
her to have a happy life, and she is such
a dear, sensitive child that 1 can't help
worrying about her sometimes. She's
been a little distract and odd for the last
few days, andl hoped she had outgrown
all that here with us. She will make
some nice fellow a dear, good wife;
won't she, DickP"
"Oh, yes. By the way, reyou going
to the benefit tomorrow night?"
81 bought a box, but / don't care
much for Fedora It's. too heart
breaking, somehow, Dick; and we old
women don't like to be narrowed Miss
Dacre will play it very nicely, though.
Isn't she pretty, DickP-her eyes just
like Nellie's-or are they not 20 dark?"
about the same, 1 fancy. Well, if
you are not going, l will run up here
for about half an hour, at 9 o'clock"
"You work too hard, Dick; why don't
you have a managing editorP You used
to do all the work for Mr.. Cushman."
''Oh, work does ME good. It's about
the best thing in life, after all; isn't
itP"
THAT doesn't sound like a happy
man, Dick. Are you quite sure that
you are happy You know you coerced
me into this engagement anyway, Dick,
and l really think you might let mi off
now. You see, 1 got you to take care
of the Journal for me. And now that
you have made such a lot of money for
me, | want to back out of my bargain"
''You are the most atrocious tilt in
the world, madam; but I'm not at all
the sort of a man to be Tilted. Suppose
we go down to the supper Dom nowP"
mo, Dick, l don't want any supper.
r -o la.- -lz Ill l. r