St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-08-04
stammering at this critical point as

she gently touched his arm, saying:
Il certainly except your proposal,
and return your love, and | know we
shall be happy" and she extended her
hand and laid her pretty little head
upon his shoulder.
The squire was thunderstruck Had
all the horrible demons of mythology
faced him he could not move Or utter
a sound. He was Mortified, paralyzed;
his jaw dropped, his face assumed a
CHASTITY look. He hardly breathed for
>. few minutes. Miss Kurtz, taking
his Mortified silence for the depth of a
very different emotion, gently raised
her hand and patting him softly on the
cheek, drew his head down to her and
kissed him plump on the lips.
. That kiss broke the spell. With a
yell that might have shamed a maniac
the squire tore himself from her cling
ing arms and rushed frantically and
hatless into the street, where he con-
tinued his wild run he knew not where
muttering as he sped along:
| VII lcdfCuS. OH uCdN CllS'
1t was now Miss Kurtz's turn to be
astonished as the frantic squire dashed
out; her eyes opened wide with wonder.
She stood thus for moment, and then
she did what any other women would
have done under the circumstances,
threw herself upon the lounge and
burst into tears, saying, brokenly, as
she did SO: II thought he was eccen-
trio, but didn't know he was a lunatic. ="
Still lying there, weeping as though
her heart was broken, the squire's
cousin, Wildly, found her when she
came to make call awhile later.
The squire continued his wild run
for several blocks, and then he slack
ened his speed. ''Great heavens!' he
thought, as he mopped the cold sweat
from his brow and felt blindly on his
head for his hat, ''she thought / pro-
posed to her and she accepted me. Oh,
what shall | do? what shall do to get
out of this? Nobody will believe me
if say that did not, and she and her
father will think I've been trifing with
her and want to kill me; oh. dear!
oh, dear! these women are awful. /
wish | were thousand miles from
here" And the poor squire groaned
in anguish.
| AT this rate you will be thousand
miles from here" said q hearty voice
at the squire's elbow, and at the same
time he received a vigorous slap on the
shoulder The squire turned and saw
his brother-in-law, John, beside him,
but made no reply.
''Where's your hat? and he con-
tinued, as he saw the squire's white
face, ''what has happened? What's
the matter with you, squire, any
way?n
''Oh, I'm done for now,' was the
squire's mournful reply. 1--we made
a fool of myself, and am in for it,
John, seeing his perturbed state,
just took his arm and led him along to
his home without saying word.
When inside and seated he drew up
his chair and said: 'Now, Hillery.
we are alone, tell me all about it, and
if can help you l WILL
Squire demurred at first, but finally
told him all about the affair; how he
made Miss Kurtz's acquaintance, his
finding her glove in his pocket and of
his calling on her (on errauds for his
sisters), how he CHANGED to take her to
the theater, down to finding her picture
in his pocket, his attempt TO return it
and explain, and how she understood
his preliminary to the explanation,
and the result. John could scarcely
| keep from roaring as the squire told
his story, but he saw that the squire
was awfully serious about it and was
indeed in a very delicate situation.
Finally he asked:
"Hillery, what do you candidly
think of Miss Kurtz, anyhow"
Il think she is very nice young
lady, reluctantly acknowledged the
squire
| ''Well, then, why not straighten this
mess out, as it is started. Go back to
her and give some excuse for your
running away and apologize and marry
| her. She is fine girl, she evidently
loves you or she would not have ac-
cepted your supposed proposal. Come,
now. this is the best way out. Ex-
plain to either of your sisters or to
Wildly, and they can make an excuse
for you to Miss Kurtz.
1t took some little talk to bring the
squire round to acknowledge this to be
| the best way, but as he really loved
Miss Kurtz. and it was only his stub
borness kept him from saying SO, he
| was considerably delighted at the So
luton, yet he was very much at sea
for plausible excuse for his out
| landish conduct without giving the
true reason
To keep on with their plan of recon-
struction they adjourned to the house
of the squire's other brother-in-law,
and there they met Wildly, who had
just returned from her call on Miss
Kurtz. She was loud in her denuncia-
ton of the squire, but when John told
her. tha sofIirass side of tho sfarv che