The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-07-22

she looked up at him with a bright smile
Dick thawed out considerably after tnat,
and when the curtain fell he led her to her
carriage with a Difference l had seldom
seen him show. From that time on he
was with her a great deal. There seemed
to be a strong affinity between them, ana
before long all OF us saw that IL had
ripened into something else.
You're in luck, you chunk OF adamant!'
said Harris. Shaping him on the back one
success with little Miss Viliers seemed 70
make Dick rather glum than otherwise;
The cafe" had been fixed up in grand
style. but he seldom or never asked her
there. as / often came upon him unex-
pectedly. and found him gazing into va
cancy with a sad, PARKWAY look in his eyes.
Any other man in our set would have been
a walking monument OF happiness had
Eugene Viliers been half as nice to MN
she TO Dick, but he moped around
and didn't seem TO realize what lucky
dog he at all. Yet IL was very evident
that he loved her. He went with her eV-
erywhere and seemed supremely indifferent
10 all things in the vicinity OF his lahk
''Different men act in different ways
when they are in love-" observed McElroy
with an appearance of profound wisdom,
land l suppose that's Dicks way OF show
ing what an exquisite state of bliss he's in.
But / think 1 would look a little more
cheerful, he continued, signing at the rec
objection OF his own shattered hopes.
a great deal of our attention was ab-
sorbed about that time with preparations
for the carnival, Dick. and Harris; ana
Nc ElIoy. and belonged to a mystic or
ganization and took part in the paSeants'
where represented various characters,
historical, allegorical and otherwise. just
before Mardi Gras we were kept busy at
tending meetings, trying on costumes ana
perfecting various arrangements. McElroy
that year was a most gorgeouS-looklng Cd
ject He represented NEUROLOGICAL nero,
while / occupied a meek and lowiy posi-
ton as penurious imp Dick Jidn.t repre-
sent any particular character. lie was just
Misunderstanding demon of fiery hue,
with two heads and three our four tails,
whose duty it was TO guard the palace
" MCEsirOV lived.
fool, a character that did not require any
radical change in his demeanor
OF course, Eugene NillierS received a
stack of invitations TO dance at the ball
with all kinds of gods and heroes and other
interesting creatures l came upon D LICK
and found him sitting at a table jabbing
his pen nervously in the ink -tand and
| looking as melancholy as November
| landscape. He had a sheet of paper in
front OF him, and as drew up my chair
he slowly scrawled on II; -.
| ball of the Mystic Krewe with Poor Red
| Devil?
Look here, Dick" said I, shell know
| right away who wrote that
Well, amt 1 going to be q poo s red
| prise.
| "Of course" said 1. but
We'll then" said he abstractedly. what
| are you kicking about? and before had
| time to demonstrate further he had dropped
the letter in the chute.
| L kept my own counsel in the matter.
| because ii was against the rules TO d.
vulge any ones identity in any way. but
Dicks invitation would be accepted, and
secondly that Mardi Gras night would
| settle his little love affair one way or the
| other.
| The correctness of my first conjecture
| was speedily proven. for in less than TWEEN
| ty-four hours Dick received a sweet-scent-
ed missive. which he exhibited to me with
! You poor red devil" it said, "of course
| will And that was all. except the
put it in his pocketbook. where 1 saw the
| fragments of faded rose
| Almost everybody agreed in saying that
/ our pageant and ball that year ecipsed
| anything of the kind ever seen. The city
| was thronged with visitors and every
| available conveyance taxed to its ut
| most carrying plasure seekers to and fro.
| The hotels and boarding houses were filled
| 10 overlooking, and the police had their
| hands full looking after the crowd On
trains and steamboats, left the city crowd
| ed with returning eXcursionists / was
| standing about 4 o'clock I'm the afternoon
In the railway station at the foot of Canal
crowd. when / caught sight of Dick
mounting the steps of a Pullman. I hur-
| riedly stepped forward and caught him by
Hello, Jack" he said, rather sadly.
I'm off. you See
Eyes. yes he interrupted, 81 know But
| 1t couldn't be-no, it couldn't be-" He
stepped aside to let Sam pass into. the
| car with some parcels, then he seized my
hand and wrung it fervently.
Jack. Old boy" said he, II may not be
back next year. L can't tell. but I'm
| afraid | won't see you again for quite
WHILE The train was moving out and 1
| could only wave my hand to him i'm reply
Well she refused him, / suppose" said
MeElroy when / told him Dick was gone.
As for Harris, he tried to look wise and
| failed utterly
The following summer found McElroy and
me in Asheville We had spent most of
the heated term along the coast and had
drifted into the mountains to get a breath
| McElroy is dead to natural beauties so /
mad TO appreciate IL alone. We were sitting
looking over the landscape which was All
we had to dO-and we were both getting
rather tired of it, to tell the truth-when
number of people, men and women rode
| up on horseback. They seemed to be in
| high spirits, and during supper fell into
conversation with them and learned that
| they had been making an equestrian tour
OF the Balsam mountains. lying west of us.
Iney were very enthusiastic over the wild
supplemented inhabitants
! Well, the upshot of IL all was that Nc
Elroy woke me up in the middle of the
| night and suggested that make an
| equestrian tour through the Balsam noun
| tains ourselves. i was willing enough, so
in the morning we procured two goou
| horses and set out, dispensing with the
services of a guide, because we had plenty
or time to spare and knew that IL lost
| our way we could eventually find IL again
in the course of a day or two.
| We logged along for nearly week. adj
mlring the views. stopping at night at some
mountaineer's cabin where we were always
| treated with the utmost hospitality. We
found the people strangely old-fashioned
and untaught and in some instances, filled
with n violent distrust of every innovation
on their primitive methods. We had al
| ready turned our horses heads toward
| ASheville when we found ourselves late
one afternoon i'm charming little valley
| rock-strewn gorge. 1t was surrounded on
all sides by high mountains. with no APP
parent break in their rugged sides except
| the narrow passage through which we had
come. At the further end of the little bot
tom was a neat cottage, and as We APP
| preached IL over the road that was crossed
and recrossed by a sparkling brook, we
construction to the ordinary run of dwell
| ings we had met with. Everything about
the place bore evidence OF careful atten-
ton and good taste. y man was seated ON
a STOOL at the side of the house engaged i'm
| the pastoral occupation of milking a cow,
/ and when reached the gate he raised
| his head and looked at us.
| BLESS my sole and upperS," gasped Nc
Elroy. that's Dick
As soon as he recognized us he came for
ward TO meet us, and followed him up
TO the balcony of the house in Il somewhat
dazed condition.
How long have you been doing that
sort of thing?" L managed 20 say, pointinS
10 the cow and the half-filled milk pail.
"Oh. quite a while" said Dick. easily. 81
don't have to, you know. I've got man
| and cook and al that buf I uSf do IN