Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-03-14

evening, and he was repeating the sen
tence, MARY, let us share our mutual
woes" so that when they stood be-
meath the light in the little parlor he
could put his arm around her and say
it without laundering. May was 81
lent with expectation.
How brief a sentence would have
made them supremely happy!
Johns observation-disclosures served TO
distract his attention from the icy
walk more than hp should have al
lowed and no less than half dozen
times Mary's feet slipped, but each
time she found herself borne up by
her sturdy lover. Each slip was ac-
companied with little shrek, and
when she was again safe her soft
laugh was music to him.
A group of boys pulling sled
turned the corner ahead and dashed
past them. Mary turned her head to
glance after them. Her foot slipped, a
little shrek, and she was down. But
she wasn't alone In falling she had
managed to knock Johns feet from
under him, and he had fallen too
Each scrambled to rise quickly, and
their heads came together with a
sound bump.
John was in the throes of mortifica-
tion upon his awkwardness. when.
Mary said naiveiy, as he helped her to
her feet:
ave seem to be sharing our mutu-
al woes"
He was amazed. The very sen-
tence he had been saving for under
the gaslightl Before he could take
advantage of his present opportunity,
however, Mary seemed to realize that
she had been immodest, and she talked
necessarily as they walked on, as if
determined that he should reap no ad-
vantsge from her remark. John
made several efforts to recall the op-
portunity, but was baf1ed every time.
Then he determined to wait until
they stood beneath the gaslight, but
when they reached the parlor the light
seemed to burn more brightly than
ever before, and bis courage departed,
Once he made an effort, but the first
word that came from his lips was
"woes," and the consciousness that he
was laundering caused him to blush
and pause before trying again. But a
sweet "What were you going to say?"
completed his embarrassment, and he
answered, Nothing" and in despair
despaired to CO..
A moment later, as they stood at
the parlor door exchanging the last
words. and as Johns hand was ON the
knoo, Mary turned her blue eyes to
him and said, with laugh:
"You'll be sure to get home with
out falling, for you'll have no one to
drag you down.
Johns face crimsoned. He was
about to protest she hadn't dragged
him down, when he thought of his
lost opportunity after they had fallen.
He had feeling that the sentence he
had been trying to say all the evening
would be singularly inopportune now,
but he was determined not to lose an
other chance. Despite that feeling
and sheer desperation he gasped:
MARY, let us woes our mutual
shares always?'
Mary looked puzzled. For mo-
ment she didn't grasp the purpo-t of
the misquoted sentence. When it
dawned upon her flood of crimson
passed over her face, her eyes fell and
she whispered "Yes."
And John, with newly acquired
courage, put his arms around her and
drew her to his breast. Then John
was at peace and Mary was perfectly
happy. The question had been asked
and answered, and she had fittingly
blushed, besides waving the privilege
of laan war