Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-09


ing terms, give him counter vow from
that boudoir with its alabaster lamps, etc
The next billet dOux was entitled "An
Outburst of Affection Upon Receipt Of the
Above" and Joel innocent youthD placed
this heading, word for word, at the top OF
his letter-a practice that Joan had hal
lowed in his mind by following herself.
Having dispatched his missive he did moi
wait for a reply, but Immediately turned
to his compendium and read 1t from begin.
ming to end. "How she loves me, /" he muir.
INJURED, kissing the dear words, and when
at last the letter came, and he compared II
with the blessed Lothario's text and found
every word, capital and punctuation mark
in the proper place, his joy was uncon.
trolled.
And so, letter by letter, step by step, the
loves Of Joel and Joan went sweetly and
smoothly on until only one note embody.
ing the important declaration and accept
ance, as mapped out in the compendium
remained to eliminate their courtship; but
here a most horrible chasm suddenly con.
fronted the stricken Joel. The leaf with
pages 1853 and 1874, containing the all i'm
portant declaration, was gonel This dec
covered both sides of the sheet and Tapped
over upon page 1855. Several lines remained
on that page, but they served only for O
kind of polishing off, as 1t were, of the
highly important and delicate matter pre-
ceding them. What should Joel dor
He might do several things. First, he
could call at Joan's home, procure her
compendium and read the letter direct
Second, he could buy another compendium
Third, having gone so far by rote, he could
throw Lothario over and go it alone.
Fourth, he could
His timidity would not permit the first
As for the second, not another copy Of the
compendium was to be had, and he lacked
confidence sufficient for the third-but the
fourth That was the thing he would do
He would copy all the declaration that re
manned and send 1t In letter. Joan would
think he had neglected to inclose the first
portion of it, and, having her book at
hand, abe could readily supply the def.
cheney. What head Joel hadl What in
genuityl Certainly he schemed with skill
that merited better success.
Here is the last letter Joel ever wrote tc
Joan:
and /, proud queen of passion, will harbor my
bark in a kinder haven, blown thither by the
swelling sails Of truer love and fonder devotion.
Adieu. JoEI.
Contrary to all expectation, the days
faded into weeks and weeks into months,
and all Joel received from Joan was q bun.
die of his old letters, but no word accom-
panied them. Poor JOEL What could this
neglect meanp Why did not his loved ont
Immediately pen him the words of theil
patroni Why this chilling silence which
so steadily, cruelty, wrapped about his
young life and smothered it into despair?
When one year had flown, joel throttled
his forlorn hope, shook the sand of Cal.
houn county from his feet and sought to
sink his sorrow Ia lumber camp in the
Upper Peninsula He did not succeed, for,
like some forbidding phantom, the un.
known cause of Joan's sudden GOODNESS
haunted him night and day.
At last fate revealed the reason.
In an idle moment Joel happened upon a
book which belonged to log driver named
Saunders-a man whom everybody sus-
pected of French descent. This book was
Lothario's Compendium. In feverish haste
Joel turned the leaves. Yesl pages 1884
were there. He read them:
ANSWER 10 the Foregoing, Breaking off All Cor
respondence and Honorably Renouncing further
Intercourse"
Miss -, find that you have tempered with
my feelings; that, not apprecating the weight OF
attachment / bore you, you sighted 1t by receiv
ing attention from others can no longer toler
ate this wanton sacrifice of my tender passion.
NY manhood asserts itself, and l hasten to re.
nounce the love that once truly gave you de.
mand a return Of all my letters, my diamond ring
and my photograph
With wildly beating heart and staring
eyes Joel skipped to the bottom of page 154:
To you will ever be a brother; moro cannot
be, for / have found another who truly loves me
and whom, though do not love as yet, will In
time set up In my heart In the place so recently
held by yourself. You go your way with the gal
lants who have replaced me in your breast
Here followed the words which Joel had
written:
And l, proud queen Of passion, will harbor my
bark in a kinder haven, blown thither by the
swelling sails of truer love and fonder devotion
Adieu.
Joel sighed YEARLY; then, looking about
the shanty to see that he was unobserved,
he threw Lothario's Compendium into the
fire and watched it burn with grim salts
faction. William Wallace Cook in Free
Press.