Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1893-01-11

re-read his fiction for the best models
OF courtship, but found nothing to fit
his case. Then it was that the fatal
Idea came to him to write his declara-
ton. This was late one night when
he came IN after a reception, tired,
somewhat excited. and when he should
have gone directly to bed. He opened
his desk instead and rapidly penned a
proposal, read it, tore it up, wrote
another, tore that up, and so on-half
dozen or more. What words were
worthy so divine a creaturel Poor
Rlghtllnes was very deeply in love,
way down in those depths where formal
and proper people generally founder
when they do make the plunge. Sleep
and appetite fed, he chilled or flushed
at the utterance of certain name, and
his last trial balance was nearly a
total wreck. No further ideas would
come to him and the ink was dry upon
his pen. Looking up to the trim rows
on the bookshelves, he espied between
their handsomely embossed backs,
thin, cl Inbound volume in yellow
covers. 1t was evidently a straggler,
well-thumbed and somewhat ragged,
veritable book tramp, which had
passed from hand to hand, and now, by
some chance found itself among the
morocco-bound responsibilities of Mr..
Rightlines's bookcase. He took it
down mechanically and it proved to be
"Gentleman's Complete Letter
Writer" Oh, the fatal facility of those
epistlesl The temptation was too greatl
Blanks were conveniently left for the
names, which he filed mp, so that the
letter which Grace Edgar received the
next day-only to think of tread as
follows:
Dear Miss Edgdr-Knowing by this
time, as you must, of the high esteem
with which L have ever regarded you, l
trust that the confession which l am
now about to make will not be alto
gether unexpected or unwelcome. The
feelings which your presence excite in
my breast make longer silence impos-
sible. L love you, my dear Miss Edgar,
with the tenderest and truest affection,
and should you look with favor upon
my addresses, 1 hope you will find in
me one not altogether unworthy of
your highest regard. One word from
you will raise me to the heights of
unutterable felicity. Will you not
utter it? Anxiously awaiting your re-
ply, which / trust will be favorable to
my suit, l am, my dear Miss Edgar,
your humble and devoted admirer.
EHoRY j. RIGHTLINEs.
After mailing this epistle, which he
did that very night, our lover went to
bed and dreamt that he was buying
ten pound silver water pitcher as a
wedding present for Miss Edgar, who
was shortly to marry Tom Broadbent,
and that the bill for the pitcher got all
tangled up with the figures in his ledg-
er, and then the president of the
bank told him that he must either stop
copying his love letters In the letter
press book or resign.
Miss Edgar always answered letters
promptly, her manners, epistolary and
otherwise, being good, and Mr.. Right
last long. Two nights afterward her
somewhat familiar handwriting lay
beside his dinner plate, though he
restrained himself sufficiently to COM
plete his dessert before learning his
fate.
"Dear Mr.. Rightlines," the deli
cately-tinted and perfumed sheet would
tremble little, 81 have Just received
your letter, and hasten to express my
thanks and appreciation of the compli-
ment paid me. While deeply touched
by it, the present state of my feelings
is such that 1 cannot reciprocate your
affection, and must therefore decline
your gentlemanly and highly fattering
offer. Trusting that the propriety of
this decision will reconcile you to
whatever may be temporarily painful
in its character, | remain,
Cordially and candidly yours,
"GRACE EDGAR.
Mr.. Rightlines pondered this short
missive for several days. He was
serious, rather dry young man, but
slightly addicted to humor, and quite
incapable of a practical joke. Still,
these lines read Familiarity. somehow,
and that night he again took down his
Letter Writer" How the book ever
landed on his shelves is a mystery to
this day, but there it was, and he
opened to proposals OF Marriage,
Form No l." That was his. "Replies
to Same, Form of Acceptance No. l."
That, alasl was not hers; none in that |
set. "Form No. l for Refusal" There |
it was, sure enough, word for word,
Just as she had copied, only with his |
name filed in at the blank spaces. The |
discovery hardly gave him much pleas !
ure, and the Complete Epistolary
Guide" might there and then have
ended its days, did not the thought |
come to him that "she," such magical !
power of ASSOCIATION has love, must 1
one like it. He did not see |
her again for long time afterwards, |
excepting at "long range" but con- |
soled himself as best he might, and |
resolved some very good resolutions.
That he would never again propose |
after any of the forms of the "Guide,"
he was certain, and this time he burnt |
up his Letter Writer" He would !
never write a proposal again either, !
and, lastly, he would never propose |
again anyway. And this last resolution |
probably gave him the most comfort |
of all. a heart permanently broken |
NAV, after all, be a source of great [
especially when its owner |
has decided that no amount of tinker 4
ing will ever repair it, and so gives /
himself no further trouble in the mat |
ter. Then rumor told him, with several |
of her varied assortment of tongues, |
that Miss Edgar was engaged: OF |
course it was to Broadbent, and after /
that there was nothing left for him but |
TO settle down to comfortable and help
less misery.
But one memorable evening they
were to meet, and Mr.. Rightlines'
resolutions vanished. Really, he was
capital fellow, thickly veuesred with :
on the outside, but with .
good, solid, hard wood virtue under I
meath the veneer. The hour and the !
woman had come.
''Aliss Edgar" he said, quite di- f
rectIy, and without preparation or :
preface, ''I love you" Simple say 4
ng this, and yet, when said, what 4
myriad heart-strings has it not touched I
TO celestial nnusici
''Ah, indeedl" and her color deep |
sned slightly, 'I was not aware OF that
before now"
'sI told Won beforep