The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-01-13
4 MANS ROMANCE.

| pipes, novel, an unfinished drawing,
a riding-whip and Bob's collar there
on the mantel, and-the slipper. It's
tarnished, you sayp 1t may be to YOU,
but to me it can be nothing except the
dainty. gilded little thing that :winkled
through waltz one night.
Tell you the story? scarcely
know, for have never told it to any
one. But If you neyer'll mention it to
me again, and then, too, Pm rather in
mood tonight to talk of her-of it, !
mean. Let me see; yes, this is the
| 9th of August-just ten years ago to-
night since it happened. Try these
| cigars-they might be worse, I'm
thinking-and put your feet here, up
over the back of this chair. There, ri
throw that old coat out of your way;
| bachelors are not the most orderly
| people in the world, you see. Now
we're ready, and if get a little-little
sentimental just overlook it. May be
you think that that wine at dinner
went to my head, especially if you're
one of those people who say that the
heart and the mind are all one-up
there in the skull, you know.
ut was the summer after we left
college. You went to Europe, met
Belle-and married her. | met some
lone, too, but didn't marry her. as
you'll see. But for the present that is
neither here nor there. You'll recall,
probably, how went to little water
ing-place up near the northern lakes
wanted rest after four years of rather
rushy life. The first night that l was
fboyc, hax hoI ,,f, al
little hop, sort of happy -go-lucky,
Virginia-reel-and-m ball-dress-
andtennis-iacket affair. But didn't
dance at first, for | didn't know any of
the young girls and hadn't as yet felt
enough interest in them to get Mrs.
Dameier to introduce me. Mrs. Da-
meier, by the way, was friend of my
mothers and had been there from the
very first of the season, so that she
knew every body that was worth know
ing. There was goodly sprinkling of
fat, fair and forty spinsters, with about
| an even balance of matrons, super
abundance of ,iurse-maids, with their
precocious charges, and pretty array
of white-throated. laughing girls-you
know them-they're always the same.
"Of course as it was summer resort
there was great scarcity of men and
soon found that was being not only
closely watched but broadly discussed
| heard one young miss in that perfect
abandon of young misses declare that
my nustache had been curled, and the
contest as to whether my eyes were
brown or only dark blue became so
spirited that had / had half my usua,
energy | would have gone for Mrs. Da-
meier and proved by actual examina-
ton what was the real color. They
were blue then. Like my hair, they're
gray now. Ten years make an awful
difference, don't theyP You're even
beginning to get little bald, but no
wonder if all four of your youngsters
have pulled your hair as | saw the last
one do this afternoon.
However, / digress. To return. AS
/ said. was picked to pieces, battered
criticised, discussed and wrangled
over from the tips of my patent-leath-
ers to the tips of my curls-we used to
wear our hair long then, you know.
That night l was holding myself in Sc
clusion-perhaps you were not young
SO long ago as to forget that girls rave
over man just in proportion as he
makes himself inaccessible-when all
at once noticed little commotion,
especially among the men, and fol-
lowed the general direction of all eyes.
There in the doorway, and poised,
it seemed, like fairy in ker gauzy
gown of some pale blue stuff, stood
Ruth Collins. can't describe her
she was Ruth Collins, and all the sim
lies in the world could not presume to
hint at the exquisite daintiness of her
| fragile loveliness. felt all my as
sumed frigidity melt. ! turned to
Mrs. Dameier with an appealing look,
and few moments later was drift
ing through waltz with the beautiful
girl, dazed by my marvellous good for
tune.
"You remember, Jack, how you all
used to say that / hadn't any, heart.
You know that / never was like the
rest of the boys in falling in love with
every new girl who came into the
questionable influence of college
town. But you know, too, how | used
to tiirt-you declared that was more
cruel than Moloch by the way | would
| crush their hearts. But. Jack, you
know, too, that | never really hurt a
girl long, for college girl can tiirt
even as desperately as any college
man. But Ruth Collins changed it
all, and / know that her beautiful
half girlishness, half womanliness
made me feel the deepest, the purest,
the noblest emotions that | ever felt in
my life.
I'm less than one sweet summer
month it was decided; we were to re-
turn few weeks later to the city, and,
at Christmas, she had promised to
make me the proudest, happiest man
| in the world. AS we spent the soft,
dewy evenings in idle drifting over
the lake or in the thrilling charm OF
| dancing thought that there could be
| only one time sweeter and that would
be when / should take her in my arms
as my wife. There, Jack, you see | am
almost silly about her, and yet you
shouldn't blame me, for you went
| through it all yourself.
1T was one afternoon when we had
| returned from long ramble through
| the woods that her mother met us at
the foot of the veranda steps with that
dear motharly tanaprnASs into which