Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-27

o. the patent medicine, and sent him 20 this
cry 70 recuperate. Here, by an evil chance,
one DAY he ran across one Of the universal let
ter.writing machines He read the printed
notice that so accurately described il. TIE
very thing! With trembling fingers he pressed
dime into q slot, nor did he perceive that in
MS agitation he had inserted il into Proposal
tnitty-nve-nfty instead Of Proposal sixteen
tsehty-two, as was his intention. Ont came
the precious missive. the stamped envelope. the
fountain pen on . string He started 70 read
the tender words, but suddenly merry peals Of
laughter summoned him from the pleasant
task. He glanced over his shoulder. Horrors!
pevy OF school girls were approaching. OIL
he should thur be caught in the very act
Again his allies sounded the retreat He hastily
signed his name: he folded sealed and directe
the fateful letter, he placed il within the ada
cent mail box: be fed like the wicked, since no
man pursued him.
Then he waited day. week. . month, and
certainty changed into hope and then into
dread. Why did no answer come? What could
such silence mean? Surely such q popular
panacea could not have failed. Come. he would
IT least know what he had sent He again sought
the machine; he procured copy Of Proposal
sixteen-twenty-two.' Az he did 80 a young
man In clerical dress brushed by him, inserted
dime In the self-same slot, received the letter
and stamped envelope and. ignoring the toun-
tain pen on string. fastened away. When
George afterward recalled the incident it
seemed 70 him that those clerical clothes had .
familiar cut and that they had adorned the
Handsome young curate Of st. AIMS.
That night he srduously studied this speci-
men OF his wooing. and the more he did 50 the
better pleased he was with it. IL expressed his
ineXpressible thoughts; il was ardent, tender
and urgent: it abounaed in SMILES ever dear TO
maidens' hearts. 1t surely must touch the
chord of assent And yet she answered not.
"But his trial soon ended The sentence 81
left was soon pronounced. One morning he
received letter and a package by mail. He
opened the former: it was from his mother. and
OF course gave a diagram Of the gossip of his
native town. One item caught his eve. He read
IT, he reread it, and he read no more. Ii ran as
follows:
whist do You think, sallie Msntcn is engaged
And to whom in the world but the handsome young
terdsy ana everybody is ,sitipy siou; II iou snow
my dear boy, never could endure her.
The handsome young curate.' 1t came
out Yesterday What could il mean? how
could that suffering gaby have expressed him
self SO successfully? The black letters danced
before his eyes like hooking demons. Surely.
some evil chance had encomrassed him.
For hours he sat in that stupor which n
stunning blow will cause; then his eyes lighted
upon the package. Surely he recognized that
superscrir lion; it was her dear handwriting.
He opened it. 1t contained q motley collection
OF missives, all, alas, his own. Yes. there was
the dotted half page upon which he had first
printed with such pride; the boyish notes Of
invitation and OF birthday congratulation; the
descriptions Of his pleasure trips and of his life
at school, and last. but not least the fateful
product OF the Universal Letter Writer, which
had so signally failed of its purpose.
HE unfClded il; he read il in amazement-in
CONSERVATION. What DEVILS pgglery was this?
These were not the nifty chosen sentiments
which had SO encouraged him when he had
studied tine duplicate the other evcring. And
yet Ills name WAS surely signed. aud in that pc
euiiar ink, too, which was indigenous TO the
fountain pen with 4 string. he even recog-
nized the thumb marks of the sealing. But had
he been dat: tn employ such a substitute. whose
very face was an insult? In trembling accents
he read il aloud as follows:
/" RESPECTED MADAM: | crave not the mere
tricIous charms of youth. The beauties Of har-
acter alone tascinate me In the presence of
your gracious maturity am overpowered by a
sense OF yay inferiority in years and experience.
Ny love for you Is a. once luxurious and flial.
L need your fostering care, l sigh for your ma
troniy embrace. 1 will strive 10 grow up 10
you; for your dear sake will he to myself a
father. BE mine, and thus gladden. an orphan s
heart by becoming At once my wife and my
mother
"In the fury Of despair George cast the ridic-
ulous screed from him. As he did 50 Q slip of
paper foated from it. 1t bore but line. in
Sallies handwriting: When compared this
insult with the dear curates sweet senti-
ments l could not hesitate. Forget me a. 1 do
you
George did not return TO Aberdeen. The
crusade against all nickel-in-the-slot machines
was just beginning. With heart and soul he
espoused this holy cause. and that eloquence
which erstwhile had proved potent in the
Philonathean Society was largely responsible
for their final abolition"
well" said L, as my friend Smith resumed
his unlighted cigar and the elevated expression
of his eyes, lis this the romance which makes
you sad2'
Eyes; he sravely replied.
Sand 90 it does me-"