News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-01-22
A Texan Romance.

A Texan Romance.
BY EVELYN RAYMOND.
The epidemic of prosperity which
had visited that portion of the Lone
Star State favored by the protection
OF the Nugget Improvement Compatit
had, IN measure, abated. The re-
cedlng wave which had foated hun.
dreds of delighted voyagers to hav.
ems of rest and richness had tempora.
rlly stranded upon the shore of idle.
ness two clerks of the said company,
For the tide of business had ebbed
that afternoon, from the office at Ei
Dorado, and the young men in cues.
ton had no choice left but to await
It's flow with what patience they
could. Strange" remarked Car
lyle, how everything goes in waves.
Cold and heat, crime and charity,
stagnation and activity, divorce and
matrimOny - wish | was scientist
enough to explain the theory"
| You'd need an audience of scien-
lists to comprehend YOU"
Mccarthy removed his long legs
from his colleagues desk. Whirlino
around in his chair, he opened a
drawer of his own typewriter cabinet
| and took out letter and a picture,
Carlyle looked at him through the
rings of smoke he was lazily putting.
and sighed:
Hang it, Don't you ever tire of
that business ?''
You bet l don't!' Mccarthy
spoke apparent truth. Given a half
hour of leisure the typewriter was
certain to produce the same velvet
framed photograph and the last un-
derscored epistle of the photographs
original. "Ah-h don't | wish that
could see herr' He held the picture
at arms length and surveyed it
through half-closed eyes.
Carlyle's mustache began to tmn
up at the corners, but his friends in
tatuatiOn was so sincere that he
rarely let his sarcasm go to the
length of words. Slipping so far
down in his own chair that his head
rested against its leather-cushioned
back, and elrroaing his own@s ferFg'
legs upon the desk which had lust
been relieved OF his fellow-toiler's, he
observed:
Speaking of girls-they're a queer
animal"
Mccarthy was deep in the letter.
He vouchsated an asserting, guttul al
"Ughp and read on to the end.
"ConfOund it-you! Talk"
"Be calm, Jack. 1t is Shakespeare
who says that speech is silver but
silence is golden ?'
"'ShakespeareP Cornelius, did you
ever go to Sunday-school?"
"In the days of my youth-yes."
"You should go again. But
speaking of girls"
"You've said that once"
"I'll say it twice. Speaking Of
girls, l hate your mannish, strong
minded sort. Do you know the kind
I'll fall in love with?"
"No. Nor you"
81 do. She must be poor-awfully
poor. She must be deucedly pretty,
too-and babyish. Blue eyes, yellow
curls, pink cheeks; timidity, clinging
ness, herO-wOrship-fOr me, her hero
and all that lot. She must know
nothing more of books than theiI
covers, and she must exist but for
ana in-ME."
''Bosh Better go drown yOurselfp
Thanks. | can't, on account OF
my 'beggar maid. ,"
You'll marry a rich girl. Dark.
Independent, learned. She'll boss you
from the start"
Never"
"Sure. I've observed that one al.
ways marries the opposite of his
ideal. | shall | said I'd never love
a girl who was fat and had red hair
but Kitty, here, is as round as
squad, and her hair is auburn.
"Epitaph, Cornelius Mccarthy.
seer. Aged four-and-twenty. Died of
wisdom on the brain Oh-ugh-a-ahl'
Jack Carlyle gave vent to one OF
his indescribable yawns-a combina
ton of shrek, steam-w whistle, and the
dulcet notes of burro. He stretched
his six feet odd of length to about
ten by raising his tentacle-like arms
upward, but was brought to IA sud
den collapse by the landing of an un-
abridged dictionary in the pit of his
stomach.
The silence which prevailed while
the confidential clerk of the n. |
C.. gathered his anatomical fragment
together was Ominous. Itwas broke
nnl .. ,,,,t
cred laugh, both feminine, fell on the
hush with startling dstinctness.
Thunder! there's somebouyin the
Office" gasped Carlyle and rose
Glowering at the typewritist and re
serving that assailant's punishment
for more convenient season, lie be-
came at once the bland, dignitied
gentleman whom the n. |. c. had
hOnored with their trust.
There was somebody in the office.
A very tangible somebody-trim OF
figure, dark of eyes, alert, and self re-
liant. Her face was grave and quite
as dignified as Uarlyle's own; but he
shadow of a smile still fingered
around the deep corners OF the pret-
tiest mouth in the world.
II want to examine three of th'
ranches the Nugget Company have
for sale" She opened IL map that
she drew from the natty little satchel
at her side, and spread it on the tabl,
between them. "This, and this, anu
this" she said, indicating each by
her dainty fore-fnger. Zone of thes,
three will, L think, suit. | wish t.
visit them Immediately" There was
not a wasted word, movement, nor
instant of time.
Carlyle felt himself as sharply
aroused from his afternoons drows-
ness as if he had suddenly stepped
into Wall st. just before closing hour.
"Well, yes; we have those ranches
for sale. Glad to show them to you
tomorrow, but it is now rather late
in the day to start. Any hour you
name, in the morning, | will have d
! carriage at your disposal