, 1888-03-15
YES, HE DID.

|
store one morning, leaning against an oc'
tavo wonderfully cheap -this-greatest
| of-novclists- madame edition of Dickens,
| he held I'm his hand tho following note,
and wore on his face "a look oil the deepest
perplcNity;
WuES's WIN, May 10, 1884
DEAN Mn. NEIi.ua: Papa has at last consented
| " your calling. He Is very eccentric however.
and insists that when you do call all vour cloth.
| Ing shall bc entirely Of silk fabrics. l hope you
| understand In fact, he viii not receive you IL
| you do not comply. think yoii had better come
| up ON Saturday afternoon and call In the even
| ing, as pcrnaIs We can spend Sunday together
| Sincerely yours SYMMETRY WHEN
| OF silk fabrics! What i'll the name OF
nonsense had silk fabrics to do with the
| girl he loved? For he loved Symmetry
| When did Mr.. Vclluni. lie had loved
| her from the time he first met her that
winter at n fiat literary reception. This
| means either u literary reception in fiat
| or something else, us the taste of the WIS.,
| itors may prefer.
Mr.. Vellum had for several years been
ready and willing to commit matrimony.
| He had saved and inherited comfortable
| amount of money and had been, like many
| men, resting qniescent in the hands Of
| fate Fate had been somewhat ,llatory,
but when she nudgcd Mr.. Vellum's upper
| vest pocket with one hand and pointed the
index finger of the other hand Mt Symme.
| try When, Mr.. Nellum kuew instantly
| that the waited FOR visitant had come ut
last. Miss When was u large, round
| blue eyed, merry mouthed and tender
| hearted girl of 10. with those dreams un-
| dreamed in her look and in her sympathy
that are so beautiful in themselves and SO
enslaving to the manly heart. She lived
In some small spot on the mup of Con.
necticut, and had queer old father, Vel.
l,..,. lx,.t Foo, n
He was devoted to her and as constantly
with her az circumstances permitted dur
ing the whole of her visit. He would
have proposed to her outright hut for the
fact that he never had met her father.
that--to him-very important obstacle,
Mr.. Unity When.
Unity When was n character. His house
was ~ richly furnished but quaint and
rambling one story building, which had
been nicknamed When's Whim by the
countryside, u name whose eternal fitness
made 1t stick and stay. He was Il witl-
over of as many years loneliness as SYM
mctry's age. lie had two absorbing pas
sions. One was Symmetry and the other
was electricity, but which stood first In
his affection nobody could tell. III Sym.
mctry was his daughter, electricity was
his hobby. II the former was nm adora.
tion, the latter was n mania. Symmetry
was paramount, and il it was beyond her
ability 1t was beyond that of anybody for
outside of her he rarely spoke to n soul.
He was n little, thin old man, with long
white hair and eyes as sharp as u rats.
He looked like Sindbad's friend. He was
rich, deeply verscd in his favorte study,
and suspicious Of everything else under
the sun except his daughter.
When she came home from New York
and tiinidly limited that there was another
man in the world besides her father, he
repressed his natural indignation like
self restraining Vesuvius, or rather Etna.
When abe dared suggest however, that
that other man might call ut the house
Hstna orIipted with n roar and Symmetry
was buried i'll the ashes of paternal indig.
ton She dug herself ont, however, and
returned to the attack. The dampncss
of u loving maitlen's tears gradually
checked the blaze Of his quite uncon.
sciously selfish fires. 1t finally got them
under control and put them out. The old
gentleman at last consented, upon condi.
tiOns but the conditions were almost as
bad as no consent at all.
'It's no use q talkin', SYM" said he.
"You-ve ben to Pennington an know
probly a great deal more'n any girl
oughter They alters learn great deal
m0ren they oughter mt n boardin' school.
But yer don't know anything like as much
as yer father, an We won't il We live ter be
1000 years old. / tell ye Pm right about
this. / don't kcer how much the feller
says he loves yer l want TO know how
much git up an git he's got, to fight his
way and yourn through the world with.
Now git up an git In n man IL nOthin' in
the world but 'lectricity. Iemme meas
| ure his Electricity an then III tell yer
what l think of him mighty quick
"Oh, papa! How absurdl' protested
Door, pcrpleXed and bothered Symmetry.
"Absurl nothin'. Amt life force and
| Electricity the same thing? Ain't the
nerves the finest Electrical conductors
| known, an amt every one of 'cm insu-
lated as perfect n an ocean cabe2 Hain't
Herbert Spencer come round square tocd
! to admit IL, when first Off he wouldn't
hear to it ten years ago. I tell ye I'm
| right. Sym. | know I'm right. It'sy your
happiness I'm thinkin' of, not mine.
| Girls don't know nothin'. They know
| little enough after they're married, hut
before that they might as well he babes
| In lace caps"
"But, papa, what is II you want Doc Il
| mean Mr. Ncllum-to do'"
81 want him TO wear silk undcTrlOthes
when he comes up here, an silk mixed
suit. I guess thcyi won't hurt him. l
wear 'cm myself and they never hurt me-. :"
/ "But how can ] write him such II thing?'
"You'il have to flggcr that out for your
self. You've been to school enough seems
| 10 mc.'
ooh, deari'' sighed Symmetry, ms she
| bent to her task. And with many burn
| ng bushes and not few sobs she used up
Whole quirc Of note paper before she
| finally achieved the somewhat noncom-
initial communication which found its
way TO Mr.. Ve,lum's hands,
Mr.. Vcllum, however, was acquainted
| with none of these circumstances. He
1 was ar completely perplexed and aston
shed as shad which hid thoughtlessly
! migrated from the river mp water pipe
and found itself confronted by baAhtub