The Opelousas courier., 1892-07-30
come when papa viii Be as proud Of you

come when papa viii Be as proud Of you
as / am"
kissed her.
Sand then shall grow older and more
sensible, more dignifed. My pride in
you will make me more worthy to be
your wife. This severe trial will make
it unnecessary for you to scold me any
more for my unconventional boisterous-
ness; and we shan go through life, Sc
happy So"
Conclusive tears rendered her speech.
less. She lay sobbing in my arms.
l was tempted to Droaeh an elopement,
but the thought was quelled by her re,
gaining composure. 80
"Darling,n she said, II want to y
worthy of you; and this is not doing it,
I'll tell you, dear. what we will do. We
| must not communicate with each other,
but we will keep a diary, and when our
probation," she suppressed a sob, lis
over, we will exchange our little books.
| will not recite the agony we suffered
in the weeks that followed; nor can L
ever now think with equanlmity of the
heart rending farewell.
Daily I wrote her impassioned letters;
for five years these letters were penned
| in nv diaries; and / felt that she was
| doing the m My work, first with
| the chain and then with the theodolite,
was appreciated; but our chief engineer
not only kept in excellent health, u
also seemed perfectly satisfied with his
post. l then occupied the second po-
sltion in the corps of engineers, and saw
no hope Of attaining the advancement
| for which I longed. Then suddenly we
heard that the railway wa about to be
sold to a syndicate, and that the cele-
brated expert, Mr.. selden-Jones, was
| coming to examine the work.
"Humph!" snorted chief, "Jones
was a classmate of mine. / dare say, he
thinks he knows all about railway con-
| struction, and will condemn our work.
I'll be hanged if Idance attendance upon
him. Hoyt, when he comes, you do the
| graceful, as per instructions from home.
Here is the letter."
The document contained a private
note to our chief in Which he was in
formed that the great expert was a most
| affable gentleman, but objected to being
| addressed otherwise than as Mr.. Selden-
Jones.
Yes" sneered the chief-engineer,
81 presume he now parts his hair in the
middle as ne does his name. If ne don't
like Jones, let him buy a handsomer
name. As far as I'm concerned, shall
write home that I'm an engineer and
not a diplomatist. If they don't like it,
they can have my resignation as soon as
tney please. In fact, I'm beginning to
yearn for the fog of dear old London
again, and I'm getting old and lazy"
NV heart beat violently at his words.
If he resigned. | should probably become
his successor, and Elsie, my darling, fol
whomI had suffered so much, would bt
mine.
About a fortnight later MIR. selden-
Jones arrived, and our chief received him
courteously yet bluntly. Do what
would could not induce him to address
the well know expert save as Mr.. Jones
butt followed our instructions, and found
Mr.. Seldon-Jones courteous in manner,
thorough in his work, and not at all
oyerbearing; and he had a pleasant way
Of giving information or instruction,
speaking as if he supposed that / knew
as much as himself about our profession,
and vet teaching me much that | coule
never have learned from any one eXcept
himself.
Two months after he had left us, the
sale was completed; and all the staff,
recommended by our chief, were re-
tanned. After this there was a satisfied
smile on the chiefs face for several
weeks, till one day, while we were a
work in the Office, a cable3ram wa;
handed him.
He opened it and burst into a roar Of
laughter.
"What's the matter, chief?" l asked
in alarm, fearing he hal suddenly be-
come demented.
aDon't call me chief, sirI" he said.
Tread this"
The words swan before my eyes;
could hardly believe the evidence Of M
senses.
aResignation regretfuliy accepted
Frank Hoyt appointed chief engineer
please request him to take charge i'm
mediately. S~elden-Jones, managing di
rector
"Elsiel' | could not restrain the or.
of joy.
Our good chief cordially shook m.
hand. aAhal my boy he laughed, s's'
there is an Elsie in tie case. Well
murder and love will out. Let me doubl,
congratulate you"
The following mali brought me The
information that my salary would be ten
thousand dollars q year, and / was or.
dered to proceed at nee to London fol
further instructions.
naturally thought but little OF ex,
pense, and sent a long cablegram to Mr.,
Daniels, requesting that he would cable
me permission to claim my bride.
His answer was pithy. .If Elsie j
willing consent.
aIf Elsie is willingln What a pre-
posterous doubt! Could j y little Elsit
be anything but willing2
As | see it now, / made an extraordin
arily fast trip to London; but at tina
time the mules, the trains, and thu
steamer, seemed 70 sport with love-
ardor that was consuming me.
The ships barber made my hair pre-
sentable. Still, my garments were no
Of the latest cut; yet what would Elsi,
care for aught but met
The journey between Liverpool ant