The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-04-15
JAMES ATTEMPT.
BY TON p. MORGAN.

Miss Lang9"
"Then, fear you will be long time
in coming, Mr.. Atchisonl"
Then the young fellow whacked the
old fence beside him so fercely with the
stick he had picked up as he came to the
trysting place that the catbird in the
Ill tangle just over the fence jumped
out of her nest with a squawk of wild
alright and went blundering away in the
gathering dusk, while the wielder of the
stick turned his back upon the girl and
trudged down the hill with unnecessarily
heavy steps.
miss" Langl "Mr." Atchisonl The
catbird, who had witnessed many
meeting at the old gate since she begun
her nesting in the lilacs, has never be-
fore heard the young people address
each other with such ceremonious exac-
titudc.
1t had been "Janie" and "Phil" till
the catbird, perhaps with some of the in
stincts of a matchmaker, has grown
complacently accustomed to their meet
ings. The young people had had oc-
casional "tiffs, " TO be sure, but never
before such a quarrel as this.
Phil Atchison did not look back as he
tramped away, and jamie tossed her
short little curls and hurried toward the
house.
"Phil is $3.50 commonplace, and"
There was a little catch in her murmur
as she told herself so, in spite of the
fierceness with which she forced herself
to believe that she was glad it was all
over between them.
Perhaps Phil was commonplace. But
it was only of late that jamie had dis
covered it. 1t had not been so very long
ago that she had thought his honest face
something very much better than COM
monplace and his homely talents more
than ordinary. There was much of the
inventor about this young fellow, who
was continually pottcring with some
novel contrivancc of his own conception,
and but little while Ngo jamie had
pridefully regarded him us destined to
accomplish great things.
But that was before her inspiration had
come TO her, showing her, as it gradually
opened her eyes to her own possibilities,
how commonplace Phil really was. To
be sure, he was an inventor-as far as in
tent went, at least-but as vet he had
never succeeded in accomplishing any
thing in particular, and probably, she
decided, never would. Besides this, he
was intensely, almost disgustingly, prac-
tical. jamie loved poetry, particularly
the kind that walled more or less dis
tressingly about unrequited love and such
sad themes, But Phil cared little for it,
even, upon the night of the quarrel,
going so far as to snort contemptuously
at one of her most soulful and wailful
selections.
Phil was all well enough in his v-ay,
but there was little of the heroic about
him, unless, indeed, 1t right have been
in the reckless way in which he placed
himself in the power of some of his ex-
periments.
When she broached q part of it Phil
had promptly scoiIed at her inspiration
and his skepticism, or at least lack of
sympathy with her ambition, had been a
prime factor in bringing about the sepa-
ration. Slow-going Phil, outside Of his
inventing, had no yearning beyond the
having of a commonplace little home,
with jamie as it, little mistress. This
prospect had seeEied very alluring to her
till the coming Of her inspiration had
whispered TO hef that she was worthy of
better things AID then that she was capa-
BILE of attaining them.
She wantel-well, she no lly knew
definitely JUS what she did want, but il
was something that the prospect of be-
ing the mistress of a quiet little lone
did not promise. In the big, bright
world beyond the village there were
many opportunities and
Her discontent began to grow as
rapidly as her ambition expanded, Phil
promised oheerfully that, as the invention
proved the success that he fondly hoped
it would be, they would exhaust some oI
the pleasures of the great, bright world
But jamie, impatient at his awkward
sympathy and his scoffing at her poetica
| quotations about hearts bowed and am
oitions enchained, scofTed in turn at hi,
ArSospects. The invention, she said
I sc,9hfully, would probably amount to nc
more than its ecessors-fantastiC
failuSes, all of them. And
And so matters went ON from bad t.
worse till the quarrel was followed by
the parting and jamie and her ambition
were free of slow-going Phil and hi
commonplace plans.
She smothered the pang IN her hear
as she buried toward the house in thr
cleaning. There was little now to pre-
vent her mailing the attempt at which
she felt so sure of succeeding. Phi
would have no chance to object. Tn
indulgent, unworldly old aunt will
whom the orphan girl lived and VIII,
would have thought it nearly the correc
thing and made but feeble objection
jamie had proposed an excursion Il
Peru, and did not put a veto upon tn
! proposition that she but half understood
And, two days later, when Phil Atchi