The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-09-23
A MANS PERSEVERANCE.
He Won His Wife Simply by Keeping 81.
lent and Following Her.

II believe" he said to N. Y. 1ri-
bakrae man, that the man who is dog
gedly persistent will achieve his aim
nine times out of ten, however un-
favorable circumstances may be at the
outset. l recall a case which was par
ticularly interesting to me because in
q slight measure / was mixed up in it.
tom Goodwin asked me to spend a
couple of weeks with him few years
ego at his place in Massachusetts. It's
a beautiful place, just what | wanted
for a two weeks loaf in a hot summer.
We used to play little tennis, drink
mint juleps on the veranda, and walk
that was about all. Toms cousin, one
of the handsomest young women in
the state was visiting Toms wife. and
/ think fell in love with her. At any
rate was on the point of losing my
head when / noticed something which
changed the whole situation. The
next place to Toms was owned by a
Young man who lived alone, save for
his servants, in a very large house. He
was always at my friends house and 1
never knew him to say anything. You
could not get that man to talk. He
had a habit of lowering around Toms
cousin which made me feel uncom-
Portable when I was with her, but she
did not seem to pay the slightest at
tention to him.
"a party of us armed with light
rifles went out in the woods one after
noon to shoot at targets. Up to this
day my interest in TOMS cousin had
been growing, and I was in her COM
pany for the greater part of the after
noon. All the while that internal
dumb creature kept dogging our steps.
He never got very near to us, but
stayed about thirty yards in the rear.
with a passionless expression on his
smooth-shayen face. When we moved
up or went forward to note the effect
of our shots he also moved. always
maintaining his relative position.
after the rifle practice we went for
a walk to the top of the hill beyond
the woods. When we reached the
summit after rapid walking l looked
back and saw my shadow still follow
ing US. He was very pale, and a
bright spot was in each cheek. l
called Miss MS attention to his pallor,
and she said, very indifferently:
"'Oh, yes; he has heart disease
sit made me nervous to have the
man eternally at my heels; besides.
there was another thing which 1 have
not told YOU vet. / believed then in
nv ought-transferance. 1 believed
that they both looked upon me as an
interloper. I got so uneasy over the
whole affair that determined to with
draw and leave an open field to the
other man. When l got an oppor-
c1s
watched to see what he would do. He
did notechange muscle, nor did he
approach her. Someone else slipped
in to take my place, and I had the
grim satisfaction of seeing the dumb
man on his trail for the rest of the
walk
tom was smoking his pipe in his
den that night when l broached the
subject to him.
."Nonsense!' he said between his
teeth after sending out great cloud
of smoke. OF course the fellow is in
fatuated with her. but she doesn't care
a snap of her fingers for him. How
could she? He never says word, and
know that he worries her half to
death; only she tries not to show it.
"'Well. answered, / believe in
thought-transference, and | always
think that he is communicating with
her mentally, so to speak,
s'Boshr he said, sucking at his pipe
stem.
s..Then,' 4 said further, I always
imagine when l turn around and see
him near us that he wishes I were not
there. Are they engagedP'
You're crazy, he said.
''.Are they in love with each otherP'
."Confound it, nor he said, with
vehemence.
Nevertheless I avoided TOMS
cousin whenever the man with heart
disease was around. He always
'shadowed' her. however, when she
was with any other man-always the
same speechless stick.
| 'tAfter that visit did not see Tom
again for three years. Happening to
be thrown in Boston by an unexpected
chance dropped into his office. Tom
was glad to see me. He was always
glad to see old friends. After chatting
with him awhile 1 asked about his
cousin. His face darkened.
"Hapg it. he said, don't talk about
| it.
DO JOu hHOW, SdIu, 1Wu0H l0lt
you that summer suspected that fell
low would marry her?'
tom had nothing to say
There was something ominous
about his manner added.
.sTom began to get red in the face.
'.'She did marry him. he said with
an oath.
'''I told you so.' cried.
land couldn't stop her. he con-
tinued. I raveds and threatened, and
swore; and yet she married him. ]
don't believe that he could talk enough
to ask her, but they got married in
spite of me and my wife,
Tom began to swear again.
Where are they nowr' I asked.
"'Oh, they live next door to us. He's
just the same. He never has any
thing to say, but she seems to under
stand him.
They're happy aren't theyP'
asked.
"Yes. they are. That'sswhat makes
me mad, he said, kicking at the les
of the table.
"Thought-transference," said; bu
he only swore and called her a tlittl,