Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-10-07
ROMANCE OF A GLOVE.

IN secret All MS udN >, SnV no oHc nave
been any the wiser But the extrava.
giant rush into polish betrayed the poor
clerk. The dyed hair and distracted all
combined; his deep bushes whenever
the subject of love WAS mentioned,
however casually; the romantic air that
sat so i'll upon him; his visits to the
theaters, in hopes of chance glimpse
of his idol; the hours he moaned about
listlessly-all helped to make him a
target for the Jokes of his friends, and
fund of amusement for his "oflice. "
The Irascible landlady frightened
AIR. Harker out of his seven senses
nearly by sending grim servant one
evening to ask him ito be kind enough
to Just step in, if he would be so kind
and just speak to the lady of the
house" In no condition to face
the fiery looking female, he caught a
glimpse of, standing ready, in full bat
lie array. on the door mat in the hall,
the startled lover no sooner heard the
message than he boltcd, as if he had
purloincd the boarding house plate. 1t
would be, he argued, impossible to re-
turn after such an inglorious escape,
except in disguise; and to call and bold
iy ask to see lady whose name he
could not give, was on achievement
the clerk could not venture on.
What stupid fellow Fipkins, one of
The other clerks at Old BIS, was! At
least Bill thought so, and how he dis
liked him!
1.-The enormous impudence of that
fellow" he would murmur to himself.
Il would give quarters salary, poor
as | am, to be like him. There is moth
ing he would stick at 1t is disgusting.
But what a blessing it must be to live
On such terms with oneself"
Fipkins was very s!ovenly; no one
would have tolerated a clerk with such
a shock head OF hair except Old B.
But just as Bill IIarkcr had begun to
persuade himself that his love suit was
in vain, and that his best plan was to
try and forget passion that appeared
so hopeless, this brassy Fipkins was
suddenly seized with the fever he was
recovering from.
There was no installing the symp-
toms. Other motives might have in
auced Fipkins to have had his hair cut;
but only love could have induced him
to curl it. Those paper cuffs, clean
even on Saturday, were conclusive.
II not that reckless disregard of Office
hours in the morning, that restless
looking at the clock in the evening,
could not be mistaken. Flowers, too.
When did Fipk:ns care for flowers be-
fore?-whiIe now the street Arabs
watched for his coming
Harker noted him narrowly Would
this cad be successful in the thorny,
may paths of love? He half dcspscd
himself for ever loving if so vulgar a
creature as this Fipkins could be smit-
ten or could smite.
Then, when o'clock struck, or
rather was striking Fipkins caught
up the flowers from the bottle on his
desk, set his glossy hat iauntily on his
detestable head and babe his fellow
clerk good night. Bill IIarker followed
him almost the moment he went out
and, as he felt instinctivclv would be the
case, EjphinS made straight for lie cest-
or Square and went straight into the
boarding house Harker had so often
watched. But-and this staggered him
-Fipktns went down the area steps
just as the potman might have done
with beer. not at all like 4 gentcmanlv
su tor for the hand of the namclcss one.
What could be the meaning of this?
Was it clandcsine meeting? Scarce
~ so; for he had gone in with the as
sursncc Of an expected guest. Poor
Harker paced the street in agony.
What could he do? To think of having
his loved one snapped off in this afro
clous manner CALLED him 10 the quick.
Wandering distractcdly about, Bill
Harker unfortunately did not see his
rival leave the boarding house, or he
might probably have relieved his feel
inSs by putt NJ Fjpkins head in "chan-
Gerry A vas, he waited and
watched ill., vas weary, as we'll as
Crenched to the skin by the rain.
which had been falling for some time.
Ihen he raised the sicges and YEARLY
trLi!ed off to Camden Town. reaching
the lodgings little before daybreak.
us this yours?" said old B. next
day, as he carele,sly picked up lady's
glove and threw it on Bill Harker's
desk. Had he dropped q bombshell
over the old-fashioned ratings it would
scarcely have Disconnected the clerk
more than this simple article did. He
quietly answered his employer in the
negative, but the color mounted to his
pale cheeks and wild light irradiated
his glazing eyes.
'Mr. Fipkins, perhaps, has dropped
it," he said, with more bitterness and
meaning than so simple a suggestion
appeared to call for: Strange to say,
Fipkins blushed too as he repudiated
all knowledge of it.
LIAR" thought and nearly said Bill
Harker as he heard him speak
Old B. toddled off to his specifica-
tons. and the glove was left lying I'M
needed, apparently, on Harker's desk,
while he wrote on furiously.
Not till he was left alone in the office,
nearly two hours after, did he touch
the glove; but then he pressed it to his
burning lips, he noted its dainty size
unused as he had once been to remark
such matters-and observed that,
though now redolent of tobacco, it had
been scented. But with joy only to be
appreciated b. lover. there in this
glove, flung as it were in his path by a
secret rival, seemed to be the very clew
he had been vainly seeking The
name was written in it, or name.