Wichita eagle., 1889-08-04


What could do other than what I did!
I went out and made bonfire OF the
whole. had glimpse of scores of pho
tographs and various little tokens Ike
painted hearts and different cabalistic
signs as they went off in smoke, but the
fragrance was hateful to my nostrils. 1t
was plain I was on the wrong track.
And still they came.
For three weeks stood the target for
those missiles. I never answered or re-
ally read one. They all went in the Chi
nese mail to their ancestors, and l was
at peace. Then there was q lull. No
letters for a week. At the end of that
time there came one, dainty, per-
fumed, most artistic looking little mes
serger, which my inner consciousness at
once announced as the foot for the glass
slipper; the dreamy, mawkish simpleton
| was! swallowed the bait, hook, line,
fisherman, all And forthwith there
began correspondence that might have
melted a pathway to the North Pole. I
told the lady all about myself, except the
matter of my worldly condition. That,
l felt, was unworthy the attention of
this professedly unworldly being.
We exchanged photographs. Did not
that face which l used to carry in my
vest pocket to draw out and study at
every odd minute realize my very ideal
of the face / could look upon forever?
1t was very blonde, very thin, tore
markably thin lips. The head tipped
slightly back. In all these particulars it
indicated a character exactly my oppo-
site. | need more self assertion and
sharper tongue. Thus supplemental
mark Gn me) the perfect man." To
prove our entire faith in each other, we
decided not to see our future spouses
until the bridal day, which was to be in
about three months after our engage
ment. She being resident of Indiana
and of Colorado, we decided upon meet
ing to consummate our vows in Burling
ton, Ia.
1t was just after this interchange of
pledges that received from home the
news of my fathers death. Poor, dear
girls! My heart was so tender just then
it actually seemed to me must fly back
and take the whole six in my arms and
shelter and provide for them. / had
kept up an irregular correspondence
with Harriet-bless her! How could she
care for the little ones2 We never any
of us had been over fond of our father,
but his death had taken away the prop
of the house. | sent Harriet thousand
dollar draft, requesting her, if she need
ed more, to draw on me; and, somehow,
not in this act perhaps, but in getting so
near to the sympathies and affections of
old times, / felt ten fold more the man
than l had felt before since l became
rich. Life itself seemed actually more a
reality to me. After this episode it was
not so easy to shut myself out from all
material surroundings and sit down to
the business of dreaming out the para
disc into which this woman was to con-
duct me.
The next letter had the privilege of
bordering began Dear Frank" To
me, If / had acted the donkey in pri-
vate, no one had ever yet, since had
left home, presumed to address me with
that off hand familiarity. Aside from
the fact of my landed estates, had al
ways held my personality in a way to
compel respect. Here was one of the
inevitable annoyances, however, I must
learn to face, and that soon! Matters
We're fastening to their elimination.
She had written to notify me that she
would probably arrive at the station
the letter specified that in my town; its
platform touched one of my park gates
ION the seventeenth"
Whewl What could it mean? We'd
agreed on Burlington as our half way
station, and the catastrophe was not to
come off under three months E'The
seventeenth" 1t was now the tenth. |
stood aghast. Struggle to ignore it as
might, a cowardly, ignoble sense of dread
at the prospect OF meeting, face to face,
this pen and ink idol of mine, dread I
had ali along been conscious was lying
dormant in my soul, pressed itself to the
forefront and overshadowed every other
sentiment. Dear Frank" Only one
little week.
Oh, for the old honest, heartsome
Brother FrancisH'
Hark! was 1 dreaming? 1t was sing
ing in my ears. Girls voices, multitud-
inous, in familiar welcoming chorus.
Was this mirage? On my lawn? An
optical-'Twas theyl themselves! The
girls!
Brother Francis. Brother Francisr'
The stone walls of my house took to
vocal speech and echoed. tearing the
words into six different keys, every one
straight off from real flesh and blood
larynx and tongue and pressed on by
great, loving heart that throbbed behind
it. 1t was they!
My very pen loiters for one ecstatic
moment to live over again that joyful
surprise. The little girls grown into
young women. Did ever flUtter such
bright ribbons, or rustic crisp, fresh sum-
mer muslins like to those? Such animal
ed, glad young faces; such skipping feet!
Was ever old bachelor embraced and
fondled and passed about from hand to
hand to be exulted over and admired as
Iwas.
They had simply come home, and,
bless the Lord, my heart and my house
We're roomy enough to hold them all.
Not doubt had ever entered any one of
their innocent heads as 20 my wanting
them and needing them. The question