The Hope pioneer., 1886-09-24
ROMANCE MAJ OF a GLOVE. l

would have mattered little IL Bill
y .-afker could have kept his courtship
70 himself; hs might have vorshiped
n secret all his days, and no ono have
i been any the wiser. But the extrava-
giant rush into polish betrayed the poor
clerk The dyed hair and distracted air
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-aH helped to make him q
target for the jokes of his friends, and
2 fund of amusement for his .of1ice."
The irascible landlady frightened
Mr. Harker out of his seven senses
nearly by sending grim servant one
4 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
tie array, on the door mat in the hall,
the startled lover no sooner heard the
message than he bolted, as if he had
I pnrloined the boarding house plate. It
would be, he argued, impossible to re-
+ turn after such an inglorious escape,
except in disguise; and to call and bold
sly ask to see lady whose name he
! could not give, was an achievement
the clerk could not venture on.
What stupid fellow Fipkins, one of
the other clerks at Old BIS, vast At
least Bill thought SO, and how he dis
liked him!
''The enormous impudence Of that
! fellow" he would murmur to himself.
IL would give quarters salary, poor
Aas I am, to be like him. There is moth
ing he would stick at. 1t is disgusting.
But what blessing it must be to live
on such terms with oneself"
Fipkins was very slovenly; no one
would have tolerated clerk with such
q shock head of hair except Old B.
But just as Bill Harker 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.
vas no mistaking the symp-
'ther motives might have in
lpliins to have had his hair cut;
love could have induced him
it. Those paper cuffs, clean
.. 4 a Saturday, were conclusive.
If 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 Fipkins care for flowers be-
forep-while now the street Arabs
watched for his coming.
Harker noted him narrowly. Would
this cad be successful in the thorny,
may paths of loveP He half despised
himself for ever loving, if so vulgar a
creature as this Fipkins could be smit-
- 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 jauntily on his
detestable head and bade his fellow
clerk good night. Bill Harker followed
him almost the moment he went out,
and, as he felt instinctively would be the
case, Fipkins made straight for Leicest-
er Square and went straight into the
boarding house Harker had so often
watched. But-and this staggered him
-Fipkins went down the area steps
just as the potman might have done
with beer, not at all like gentemanly
suitor for the hand of the nameless one.
What could be the meaning of thisP
Was it clandestine meetingP Scarce
ly so; for he had gone in with the as
suranee of an expected guest Poor
Harker paced the street in agony.
What could he dop To think of having
his loved one snapped off in this afro
sious manner CALLED him to the quick.
Wandering distractedly about, Bill
Harker unfortunately did not see his
rival leave the boarding house, or he
might probably have relieved his feel
ings by putting Fipkins head in ''chan-
cery." AS it was, he waited and
watched till he was weary, as we'll as
drenchcd to the skin by the rain,
which had been falling for some time
Then he raised the siege and wearily
trailed off to Camden Town, reaching
the lodgings little before daybreak.
'Is this yoursp'' said old B. next
day, as he carelessly picked up lady's
glove and threw it on Bill Harker's
desk. Had he dropped a bombshell
over the old-fashioned ratings it would
scarcely have disconnected the clerk
more than this simple article did. He
4 quietly answered his employer in the
negative, but the color mounted to his
pale cheeks and wild light irradiated
his glaring eyes.
Mr.. Fipkins, perhaps, has dropped
it," he said, with more bitterness and
meaning than SO simple suggestion
appeared to call for. Strange to say,
Fipkins blushed too as he repudiated
all knowledge of it.
':Liar!" thought and nearly said Bill