The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-01-27

drCulISCt SldpPf'
ing with his first large order: the erec-
ton of a thirteen story Office building.
In one corner Of the lot which the
structure wa to occupy a troublesome
bit of qpicksand had been discovered;
but he knew several ways of overcoming
auicksand, and 1t only remained for him
to choose the best of them.
, The other question was more important
and difficult.
What sort of a Christmas present
should he give to a girl who had always
had everything she wanted from her
cradle up2
!, He could estimate exactly tine tensile
strength of any species of building ma
terial, or the number of pounds weight
that a steel truss would have to sustain;
but he knew no formula that would help
him in such a case as this.
The trouble seemed to be that while
George could look at the building from
q coldly professional standpoint, he
could take no such view of anything
which concerned Roses happiness.
He was not in love with the gigantic
mass of brick and iron; but he was
violently, and, so far as he knew, hope
aessly in love with her.
&, + He was willing to give her anything
that would please her, but he doubted
the good taste of atoo lavish expenditure.
No; it must be some elegant trife that
she had never seen before, and that
would move her irresistibly to 'Love the
Giver." Something that would give her
a hint of the condition of his heart, and
prepare her for the words he hoped to
utter, some day.
Rose Wyckoff was the daughter of a
man, who valued the substantial fruits
of the harvest above the pink and white
buds of the springtime.
: Most Of Georges prospects were still
in the bud. When that big building
was really finished, and one or two more
that he hoped to get orders for under
! way, il would be o enough to ap-
\proach the old gentleman.
{ Although George he'd very clear
idea of what Mr.. Wyckof would say if
he spoke now, he could gain 40 idea of
what Rose would say but he was grimly
determined to try to be worthy of
her. he left the rest to fate, and con-
tented himself with drawing the designs
for magnificent and glittering castles in
Spain.
When George went to call on Rose
that evening, he tried to be as cherry
and animated as usual, but his nervous
and absorbed manner must have given
her some hint of the heavy load Of
anxiety he was carrying; for, as he stood
drawing on his ove1coat in the hall, after
the last good-pights had been said, she
threw herself across the outside door,
and barred his egress.
As she stood with her gracefully
rounded body we'll set out by the polished
oaken door, and her bright face turned
up to him with an expression which o
holder man might almost have con-
strued as an invitation, George felt that
he would have given the value of all the
buildings that he ever hoped to plan, to
tell her how much he thought of her.
he was somewhat surprised at her sud-
den movement, or as much so as he ever
permitted himself to be at any of her &C
tions, which were generally unaccount-
able from a masculine standpoint. He
only thought that if she were going to
appear IN the character of a jailor, he
could staHd a life sentence with consid.
cradle equaninity.
"Now, before you go, George" said
Rose, with her hand still on the knob,
'"I want to ask you n question. You
are not thinking of making a Christmas
present to me this year, are you?"
George owned that he had taken the
matter into serious consideration.
"And you are determined to psrsist in
doing SO in spite of my disapprovals'
she asked, with a smile that must have
have warned him that her dlsapprovs.
would not be of a serious nature, for he