Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-08-04
Jarvis Uurray'S Campaign.
BY WILLIAM ]. HENDERSON.

Some people would have said it was
Florence Craven's own fault that she had
lost her faith in men. Perhaps some
people would have been right, and per-
haps they would not. However, that has
nothing to do with this story. The fact
is what concerns us and the fact is that
Florence Craven did not believe much
in women, either, but that also has moth
ing to do with this story. When Florence
was eighteen years old she had ideals.
Her idea of man was not that
he should be like Virgils Dame
Rumor, with his feet on the earth and
his head among the stars. All she asked
was that man should be tall, handsome,
strong, kind of temper, patient, humble,
forgiving, earnest, sincere, affectionate,
industrious, clever with his hands, intel
lectual, and passionately in love with
her. 1t was not much for a young girl to
ask, and so Florence demanded it with
all her soul, with all her strength. And
the first thing she knew the man arrived.
He had the whole of the above cata-
logue of qualities excepting one. He
was not in love with Florence. That,
however, did not discourage her. She
set out to make him love her. 1t was at
a summer resort that she met him. At
first he regarded her sprightly allure
ments with a sort of patroniZing good
nature, which stirred FlOrence's spirits to
their depths She vowed with deep
determination that she would bring him
back to her feet. Several times he
seemed to be on the point of saying
something very earnest to her, and then
the amused look would come into his
eyes and he would say something else.
This happened so often that Florence
became fiercely hungry for that earnest
utterance which always refused TO come.
One night she even went up to her room
and wept bitter tears of vexation, of
course, because he would not say it..
The next day she fished more vigorously.
They walked, danced, rode together.
The gossips of the hotel married them
regularly every day, still he did not say
to hear him say it.
Finally the end of the season came.
The September breeZes whispered around
the corners of the hotel and the Septem-
Der stars looked down on piles of trunks
ready to be taken away the next morn
ing. That night he spoke. He said he
had been trying to tell her something all
summer, but discourage had failed him
every time. He felt that he had not been
quite right in keeping it to himself so
long, but she had made his summer so
pleasant that he had really been unable
before that minute to tell her that he was
rx<sr 20 ho. ~s.,1 rsnko
sweetheart was in Europe and would be
home in about two weeks.
And that was the earnest remark OF
the man who was tall, handsome, strong,
kind of temper, ct cetera.
Florence took it bravely as far as out
ward appearance went. She laughed in
his face and told him that she had known
it all along. Then she wished him Joy
and ran upstairs. In the inviolate
secrecy of her own room she fell fiat on
her face and staid there for two hours.
At the end of that time she arose,
looked at herself in the mirror, and
smiled miserable smile. At that mo-
ment her ideals went out of the window
and were blown out to sea by the west
wind. The next day Florence Craven
was man-hater and fiirt of the most
desperate character. For two years she
cut swath. Her change of heart was
most sincere. She simply despised men.
She took pleasure in transfixing them
with the arrows of love and seeing them
writhe. She had no more pity than a
sentiment as Buffers analogy" She
l., oIs - -
treated all men with sarcastic contempt,
and they seemed to like it, She counted
her victims by the score. She broke up
engagements by the dozen. She made
regiments of girls jealous. She played
Venus Victrix to perfection, and had all
the mothers in society wild with a
desire to cast her into the bottomless
pit.
All except one. Mrs. Ghasby Soden
had daughter who didn't go off. She
hung fire dreadfully. The only man who
had ever shown disposition to gather
her to himself had been switched off by
wrung his head dry and then sent him
packing. Then Mrs. Chasby Soden rose
up and said:
THAT Craven girl has got to be mar
ried."
The only question was who was tc
marry herr Mrs. Chasby Soden studied
that problem long and carefully, and
finally she came to the conclusion thai
she knew the man. Then she ran dowr
to study out a plan by which he could bs
led to devote himself to Florence and tC
conquer her. She spent whole morn
ing in deep thought. At luncheon she
appeared with a severe headache and {
written letter.
''If that docs not bring him." she. said
to herself 81 must simply give up.
II did bring him. He was Jarvis Muir
ray, Mrs. Chasby Soden's nephew, tn,
son of her oldest brother, now dead. Jar
Wis Murray was thirty years old and not
pretty to look at. He had knife seal
Just above the bridge of his nose, and the
rost Of his face was corrugated with