Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-17
NO FOOL LIKE AN OLD FOOL,

| du IulpdtleHI ldttOO Oh tu0 WlnuOW
pane.
''Oh, Laura! he cannot be more than
10. That is not old for a man; and
you know he loves you So" Ruth Earle
said gently.
"Lovel' and Laura Burnett's thin
lips curled CONTEMPORARY.
''In this transaction. my innocent
little cousin, that trife is not reckoned
1t is simply my hand for his fortune.
If we are satisfied, others have no
reason to complain"
Certainly not, dear Laura, if you
are both satisfied" Ruth Earle made
answer.
But she sighed; for Chester Irving
was man among thousand, and she
knew that he had offered his heart
at the shrine of her cousins beauty.
Ruth was Laura's cousin, an orphan,
and penniless. Her uncle kindly gave
the daughter of his dead sister home,
while his wife and daughter gave her
ceaseless opportunities to make her.
self useful in their household, and
Ruth Earle did not eat the bread of
idleness.
At the moment Mr.. Irving passed
out she entered the room, for she wish
| ed some instruction regarding the
dress which she was altering for her
cousin; and Laura's more fOrcible than
elegant remark, which was addressed
to her for want of some one else to
speak to, was uttered the instant that
the street door closed and Mr.. Irving
was presumably outside and beyond
hearing.
Ruth silently received the desired
information, then went back YEARLY
to the sewing-room, where the greater
| part of her time was spent.
| She was quick with her needle, in
genious and tasty, and her nimble
| fingers saved many dollars for the Bur-
netts.
For the Burnetts were limited in
means, and their efforts to keep up
show of gentility taxed their ingenuity
| to the utmost extent.
! But at last there seemed a light
ahead, financially.
| For at a fashionable watering place,
whittier Laura and her mother had
gone during the previous summer,
| they had made the acquaintance of
Chester Irving, rich bachelor.
Laura had eXerted all the little fem
inIne arts with which misunderstanding
girls seems so largely endowed, and
Mr.. Irving had proved as susceptible
as she could wish.
He had followed her to her city
home, and had taken suite of rooms
at a near and fashionable hotel.
He had become frequent caller at
Laura's home, but his gold was the
magic taIisman that gained him en-
| tree.
For as Laura told her cousin, love
had no part in the little transaction,
on her part, surely; for ambition was
the power that swayed her, and the
prospect of reigning before long as q
queen in society was the uppermost
thought in her mind.
1t was true that there was a disparity
in their age, for Laura Burnett was20,
while Mr. Irving was 35; but of that
he had scarcely thought. Love is GER
tainly blind. and this was the first
passion of Chester Irving's life.
After Ruth had left the room Laura
paced about uneasly, but finally she
sunk into the depths of great, amber
colored plush chair, and tried TO inter-
est herself in light novel.
It was no use. She was thinking of
what Mr.. Irving had said, thinking
of what he might say in the near flu
| ture.
For, sitting beside her on the low
| sofa. he had, somehow, taken posses
| sion of her hand, her left hand.
White, slender, shapely it was, too,
Al L L L,
ed rings flash bewitchingly; and Mr..
irving had torn a fragment from his
diary, he had playfully fitted Laura's
engagement finger, and had afterward
neld the little measure between his
thumb and finger while he talked.
They were not engaged, but surely
indications pointed that way, else why
should he have measured that finger
so carefullyp and Laura Burnett felt
very confident that she should soon
wear Chester Irving's ring.
How could she read fiction, when
real life was to be so beautiful? and,
tossing the book upon the table, she
went upstairs. feeling quite satisfied
with herself and all the world.
For was not her fortune an assured
thing? Indeed it was, though hardly
as she proposed. But 1--WE make or
mar our lives" and Laura Burnett
had married the beautiful possibility
she dreamed Of
For when Chester Irving left the
parlor. and, when moment later, she
had heard the street door close behind
him, as she supposed, another person
! had passed out; when Mr.. Irving, hav-
h. 4 alT-Y cd
the little paper measure that held such
a beautiful significance within its cir
conference.
Well. he must have dropped it at the
parlor door. where he had stopped
for his hat and cane; and with no other
thought, save to regain it, he went
swiftly across the hall.
The soft, messy carpet deadened his
footballs, and as he reached the TIRES
hold he saw the tiny scrap of paper,
and stopped to regain it.
At the same instant the fateful words
of Laura Burnett, pitched in key
much higher than she used in speak
ing to her lover, reached his ear.
s'.No fool like an old foolG Chester
Irving is 80 if he is a day."
4 revelation. 1t came to the strong
man, shock so sudden, so rude, that
for an instant he felt almost paralyz-
ed, and he stood still.
Then he heard another voice, soft
and sweet, but so distinct that the
words, in tone of reproach, also came
to him.
s'Oh, Laura, he cannot be more than
40. That is not old for a man, and
you know he loves you so."