Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-01-08
A NEW YEARS GIFT.
Why a Young Man Was Presented
With One.

Argyle Mcriweather had two lovers.
One was an old familiar friend, no other
than her first cousin, Sam Meriweather,
who had bcen-although afew years her
senior-her playmate. and for a time
her school-fellow, always ready to tease
her himself, but quite as ready to come
to her aid if anybody else did. He
seemed to look upon her in the light of
a possession, which he had a right to
have his own way with, but was equally
bound to protect. So it was with great
surprise that as they grew older and Ar
gyle doomed suddenly into a lovely girl
OF sixteen, with hair of genuine gold and
eyes OF bewitching gray, she found, after
a slight contest with Sam in which she
mad expected Of course to have to give
up as before, that Sam was very willing
to slceumb completely to her will, feel
ing himself amply if she smiled
upon him or praised him. AS soon as
she began to realize this unexpected
change of ~atlairs-bcing like most girls
OF her age u little tyrant-she seized the
relhs and kept them-not always out of
s,snt. Her second surprise was to find
mat there were some things which even
she could not make Sam do-for which,
,n true feminine inconsistency, she
IEed MN twice as welra as for the many
'l,hSs IN which he yielded to her.
When Sam declared himself her lover,
sl's !elgned Il pretty establishment, and
s';o NO. positively, but would have
ltlcl,ed-so %grievously did she miss
nun during the two weeks that Sam
s'a''' away, had overwhelmingly for
s''ll-he second lover appeared on the
sv'he and engrossed all her leisure time
"aa attention. This was a stranger, an
rCnheer IN the army, and his name was
It'fehce Dupont, from Thibodeaux Par
asn' La. He came to the neighborhood
on a Through obtaipcdb by a slight wound
an MS arm, and brought a letter of in
uooucllon to her father from his uncle,
AN old friend and classmate of Mr..
MerIweathcr's. After his first call, he
,s;n frequently, for he was staying
"!''' friends who lived at the distance Of
,r; lew miles only, and the ride and talk
".n ms pretty young hostess was an
"sleeable enough advertisement for a
summer day. He began, of course, by
~"",hs love, as a courtesy due to the
a af, out soon fell head over ears in love,
"t,er his ardent Southern fashion, and
dd1;mnuOcted his wooing after a style very
aanerent from poor Sans slow and
.'Inest way. He was very Jealous,
%,' IN complete despair, or very ecstat-
an4 on the point of announcing a
AA,vo,hal to all his acquaintance; and
th.syle, who had never given a serious
f h""gnt to marrying this new admirer,
bp n'na II equally hard to restrain his
wipes and his fears. When at last he
r "G"la have final decision, and re-
r.rneo a negati.e enc, he took his de-
1nm '"re IN the depths of gloom, bring
hn s vearS OF self-reproach to Argyle s
b Lea'1llul eyes and filling her tender
n ap"rt with alarm by threats of suicide,
LIood h.3ts OF a speedy death on the
n,Syle was very young, and she was
Sa" 's troubled about it., and wished that
wnn,n mao not been SO foolish himsclf-it
hin, ''u nave been such a comfort to have
fa,r reason and laugh her out of her
tsMi'' or even scold her for her sell
npn"e IN amusing herself ut tina ex.
ft.,e OF another's pain.
o;o l VIII never be SO wicked aoain."
NJ hS"el Argyle, and she went ,f to get
inc 'a'ncr shirts to mend-thc mend
"ao oven accommodating during tho