St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-09
LOVE AND SCIENCE.

traction of her brow that was in reality
indicative of impatience, she drew the
curtain across the large square pane
and walked abstractedly away.
Agatha West was peculiar in some
ways. For year and half she had
been on intimate terms with John Ros-
wick, and in all that time never once
had he been in her presence without
feeling a deep sense of his own inferi-
ority and dependence. Not that she
was strong minded. No one would
more quickly resent such an in
situation than she. True, she
wore rimless eyeglasses, and at
times affected a severe simplicity
of dress that was decidedly becoming to
her plump, brunette beauty. Nor was
Roswick an effeminate creature. He
was, however, a man that easily lost
confidence in himself when in the pres
ence of the opposite sex, and at such
times was liable to become as awkward
and helpless as badly jointed aut0ma-
ton endowed with only monOsyllabic
power of speech.
ROSWick was man of considerable
wealth, and possessed of a strong love
IOI IlltCndulCS. 1lIS lllC III IiIO pucO
| ten wears had been spent in all elabOr-
ate workshop fitted out in the upper
part of his house on DOusey street,
where, day after day and night after
night. he hammered and filed and filed
| and hammered at some product of his
! handiWOrk His great hobby was cleo
| tricity, and with the advent of the tele-
phone. electric lighting and kindred in
! ventions he became so infatuated with
| his chosen work that he scarcely took
time to eat and sleep.
1t was through this devotion to his
| studies that he became acquainted with
| Agatha West. Just how this was
| brought about need not be detailed
| here, but suffice it to say that before the
| summer was gone his work began TO be
neglected and his affections were, in
| part, transferred to the more complex
| and nOpelessly confusing study of
womankind.
! Agatha was consumed by mighty
aspiration when she left Wellesley.
! Her horizon was bOundleSs. In the
| valedictOry, which it was her honor to
| deliver. she advanced the customary
| platitudeS regarding "the dawning
| life. adown whose ShadOwy vista we are
| now about to make tracks" OF words to
similar purpOrt. In common with the
multitude Of ladies who each Year bios
| som simultaneously with the June roses
| into ''the stern realities of life" as they
| are pleased to term it. Agatha was
filled with the vague idea that she had
| ''mission:" that henceforth this old
world. largely through her intiu-
ence, was to run on different principles.
! With each succeeding year. however,
this inner consciousness slowly died the
death of inanitiOn, until now. at twenty
six. little remained but mild interest
in the arts and sciences fOSteled by her
| inmate associations with John ROS-
| wick. 49,
To tell the truth, that evening was
| the third consecutive time R0SWlck had
called on Miss West with the premedl-
tated intention of declaring his affec-
ton and asking her to be his wife. For
the third time he had failed ignOmini-
ously. How he had managed finally to
bid her goodnight he had not the
| remotest idea. A dozen times du-
| ring the evening had the all-important
| declaration of love risen to his lips, and
| dozen times had that dreadful choking
! embarrassment effectually Silenced his
! intended utterance. On commonplace
topics he had managed toacquit himself
| fairly well, but with an air of abStrac-
| ton that necessitated frequent apologies
| to the object of his blind worship.
This, then, was the reason Agatha
watched his retreating form with an
air of veXation, and left the shadow of
the curtain with something dangerously
near a frOwn Oh her mobile features.
| His infatuatiOn was no secret to her.
| To what woman is her admirers mind
as q sealed book? And the feeling she
! entertained toward him, long ago self
acknowledged, only tended to make her
! less tolerant of his prolonged silence.
To say that John ROswick was dis
couraged and veXed with himself would
! be but a mild statement OF facts. On
| his homeward walk that night he ragged
inwardly every step of the way, and it
was not until week later that his men,
/ tai barometer had risen to its normal
altitude. The Tuesday evening follow
ing his last dOubly emphasized tiasco,
RosWick. secure in the privacy OF his
own inner workshop, dropped his tools
for the moment and gave himself up to
profound meditation.
Il am fool, and | know it," he eX-
claimed aloud, giving the workbench
vigorous thump, as he set down a curl
Gus looking machine, upon which he
had been at work. "What's more, Aga
tina knows it," he exclaimed. He called
her Agatha glibly enough when unem-
barrasSed by her presence. Indeed, this
habit of thinking aloud had become,
through circumstances, fixed one, and,
as on several previous occasions, he re-
counted the events of their last meet
ing.
| exclaimed suddenly. ''Pll see her to-
morrow night and have it all settled in
some way This fOOlishneSS must be
stopped, The ideal Afraid of woman!
And | know-at least I'm quite sure
she-she likes me. Let me see," he
continued musingly, How can | in
| troduce the subject? | know" he ejacu-
lated. with sudden inspiration, ''Iil ask
her if she thinks there is any danger Of
sewer gas in my new row of flats! That
will lead up to the subject nicely"
And then Roswick's mind skipped gayly
from one point to another as he formu-
lated in his own way the conversation
leading up to the all-important ques-
ton. He even went SO far as TO act it
all out. How he should stand at such
moment, with bent head, waiting
for her reply. He would go OIL
thus and thus until, having in his
| lively imagination heard all she said, as
he paused at different times, he would
! eventually throw one arm around her
trim waist as he made the one great
! plunge. In his enthusiasm he threw
| his left arm around convenient post
and beamed fOndly on last months
calender. This aroused him to his sur
roundings and he was silent for few
moments.
A low tapping at the door of his work
shop aroused him. He listened some
%what impatiently to the soft tones of his
sisters well-modulated voice.
Don't let me disturb you, JOHN" she
was saying. Il merely wanted to tell
you we have decided that the children's
party will be given on our own lawn"
WELL" said John, rather sharply, sit
must come off next week or | may
change my mind altogether. That's
straight"
VERY well; that will suit us per-
fectly."
Roswick followed his sisters retreat
ing footsteps down the long hall almost
immediately.
The next evening he was unexpect-