The morning call., 1892-07-31


nelghbOrhood. with their slang and animal
spirits. He became butt for their vulgar
jokes, and bis grace was hard put TO 1t. l
am proud to say that he neither fincned
nor failed eventually. And he had MS
revenge. and fine revenge it was, but OF
that presently.
1t was recognized pleasantly st dances
to introduce Bob 10 every possible chapeion
and all the ugliest girls. In reliance on MS
chiyairy TO take the former in to supper ana
dance with the latter all the evening with
out an effort to escape. AT the tennis club.
too, Bob was always paired win the bad
PLAYERS. and came off very badly at tea time,
when he acted as waiter IN ordinary, ana
was condemned IN consequence TO satisfy
himself with the washiest tea and the re-
mains Of the cakes. He would Getc balls
for any length OF time. so that o ten he got
30 tea a all.
People were always laying traps for him,
too and involving his polteneSs in conflict
with his duty 10 her Majasty's Government
relying upon him" II help them at social
gatherings and paroehial entertainments.
and the getting OF them uD. Bob always
had the hard work and unshowy share of
The business to do. lie was pestered by
every one in the neghb0rhOod who wanted
little OF somebody else's time-the most
nconyenient for cholce-for nothing. Aud
the clergy were naturally the foremost TO
profit by him.
In spite of all this Bob retained his grace
ana AHA bility, exhaled his beauty, and eX-
tTacted his pleasure without ceasng. re-
CARELESS of obstruction and ANNOYANCE of
every kind.
Ii does not seem given to the modern
mlddle-class girl to a precate the mode OF
behavior adopted by him toward women.
Bob went in for devotion and worship. and
endeavored TO regard girls In general as
beings OF higher order. Our suburban
supply WAS OF the most uDrOmantic They
danced and flrted and ran after amuse-
ment and excitement and attributed TO
themselves the usual allowance of common
sense aud dislike for everything silly ana
senimen tai or out of date. They dis
believe In their mission TO be anything but
cheerful aud lively and go-ahead. They
thought OF their frOckS and eXterlors, and
friZZed their hair, and aimed at looking
fetching" and talked gossip and slang,
and went on" generally They smirked
at Bob's p0litenessfs, accepted them with
seif-conscious giggles, and chatfed him
atterward. Bob was so solemn about il ali,
and orr society could not dis pense with fl D.
Paneies of the would-be smart kind without
becoming bored. Life was TOO serious they
said, as IL was, 10 stand the addition of
Bob's medieval business. They considered
themselves downright hearty and healthy,
and no doubt they were.
Bob therefore remained without Dulcinea
He would have made the object of his affec-
tons his princess, his Inspiration. his power,
his purity. his praise, his peace and all
that Mr. RuSkin told him TO look for: he
could not properly worship any girl who
only wanted 10 be kissed little and ''see
herself settled
Now it came 10 pass when the system
had been established for about year and
the merriment at BOb's expense was at its
height, that a certain Miss Madge Hunter
came 10 stay with her friends. the Spar
Joneses. for the summer. Her reputation
for pTettlness and go" preceded her by
about month. She was described as full
of fun and spirits; and So Indeed She
proved. She 'woHe the place up bit, in
accordance with her announced intention;
and all the young men went mad about her
aud all the maidens envied her. aud either
Initiated or did thesoppOsite openly. In
spite Of his prPc0nceiyed notions "a TO what
a girl ought to be Bobfeli hOpelessly in love
with her ike the rest. which vastly enter
tanned her. for she was one Of those who GO
about seeking whom they may captiyate;
and variety pleased her. Bob supplied
quite a new article.
She was a dainty maiden. slenderly
formed aud delicaieiy featured with pout-
ing lips and wonderful eyes, which exaetPd
immediate and conditional obedience 10
her slightest whims Perhaps il was this
characteristic that fetched" Bob; This call
for suDlecti0n 10 the command of bis LADY,
He became her humble slave, and followed
her about 10 A submissive and srlf-effacing
manner, which allowed IL any number of
gallaBts besides. and get kept him ready at
Il moments notice She described him as
most useful creature. and extOrted from
him all sorts Of mental Offices, which no
doubt exalted Bob in his own estimation TO
the full extent authorized by his notions
concerning knighuy service; while ste
fl rted uncon scionably with all the ''ayaila- |
bIes" around and Knocked him openly be-
fore them.
He regarded this as royal disdain and |
took 10 writing poetry, some If which he /
showed 10 NE by way of publication, and /
submitted TO her scornng patiently and /
overwhelmingly, as he felt it his loyal |
duty TO do. / am bound 10 say that She !
but then beauty and loneliness cover a |
multitude OF objectiouablities. Size was
trivial and Hi pant rather than fast, !
dashing young woman of the world, and,
oh 50 very sweet At times. And consid- |
ering the event. l have forgiven her much.
1t happened in this wise. Mrs Spar
Jones gave 4 dance in-her honor and Bob |
went, as lid also a mum Der of her chief ad-
mirers, amOng whom a Mr.. Gerald How
ard was reekoned to have the best chance
of OBJ aiming an ultimate preference MI
Gerald Howard objected to Bob's "knightiy
service" but Bob was a man you could not
quarrel with, for the proyerbial reason. As
lie could not duel, and refused the vul-
garity IF fsiicnffs, the only way for him to
avoid the difficulties connected with the
aveDgng IF insults was 10 refuse TO take
any notice OF them al all, which he accord
ingly did.
Sir. Gerald planned all sorts of humilia-
tiOns unsuccess fully; but at last he hit upon
a grand idea. Relying upon the favor with
which he regarded himself as particularly
honoTed, he suggested 10 Miss Madge
Hunter a practical joke of a very macnif-
cent kind. This was for her to lead Bob on
to proposal and then tell Us all how he
did it. This would be 4 source of eBlighf-
eminent and entertainment at the same
time. Miss Madge fell in with the PROPOSE
tiOn al first with all tie alacrlty her love of
fun prompted. and agreed TO do it at the
dance. On the eventful evening shr ac-
cordiDgly allowed Bob enc waltz toward the
bottom of the programme, which nut him
into state Of great enthusiasm for the
whole evening. and set him cayorting
round his ugly giIls and esenriing his
chapei ons in 10 refreshments with readi-
ness and cbeeriGneSS unusual even in
him. At last his reward came lie
claimed his dance, lie danced the whole
Of it with all the grace he bad Guilt
waited for year, and at the end OF it she
commanded him TO take her in TO
supper. After that it subsequently, ap-
peaTed that she commanded him to sit with
her IN the con seryatoTy. ami the rest of us
exchanged smiles aud some OF Us felt
ashamed. Some OF us also looked trifie
anxious; MT. Gerald Howard was one. In
time, however, the couple reappeared, Mr..
Robert Bullock appearing thoughiful-de-
jecled We considered at once-and Miss
Madge gayer than ever. She must have
been a bit of an actress. The Sludger
almost immediately departed and she gave
Mr., Gerald Howard the last waltz He was
10 report TO us. Bur later when we met
outside to hear all about il, 1t seemed that
| he had nothing to report, except that Miss
! Hunter had been IN the greatest spirits and
| had promised TO show US exactly what had
happened, on condition of Mr.. Howard's
| obtaining invitations for US all, including
| Bob. to the dance 10 be given by Mr. Gerald
| Howard's mamma that day week Mr.. Ger
| aid Howard seemed somewhat apprehensiye
| that all was not quite right, but it was the
I nrnl Tnrn
| We were III for spree OF considerable pro-
portions Oh the occasion.