Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1894-11-21
A F0RGETFUL LOVER.
BY LAURA LU scHERER.

James Allen, attorney-at-law, was n
busy man; yet, as he stood before a
mirror in his apartments at the Alte-
mus Hotel, he waited before descend
ing to M impatient client in order
that he might arrange, with practised
precision, the careless, poetic wave of
his hair.
He was thinking how her dark hair
would look beside his, in picture
like the daguerreotype of his father
and mother, taken on their bridal
tour With the modest detection of
the old fashioned lover, he sometimes
tried to fancy that she had not given
him much ground for hope. Yet the
more he thought about it, and he
thought about it great deal, the
more certain did he become that,
whenever he chose to propose to her,
she would accept him.
He considered this serious cause
for dissatisfaction with an otherwise
admirable young woman. He did not
want to win the race without having
put forth his best strokes, and he felt
that, rs yet, he had done nothing com
mensurate with his capacities in the
line of wooing.
The client to whom he presently de-
scended was concerned in the case of
Hoover versus Kohn. Allen felt
grateful to all the participants in this
affair, which had done much toward
establishing his professional reputa-
ton. Yet, he now disposed of his
client with brusque brevity foreign
to the usual courtesy of his legal man
ner. As his mind settled back to its
reverie, he had Il moment of vague
self-reproach IN the consciousness that
he was returning with undsguised
eagerness to the most absorbing line
of thought now possible to him.
There hal been time when he was
feverish with anxiety about the Hoo
ver-Kohn case. His despair at not
being able to trace the witness who
"knew more than any other feller in
the State about Tim Kohn," had not
been less intense than his anxiety
about her answer to the question he
was just going to ask when the neat
maid servant had entered with tele-
gram announcing the discovery of
Kohn's man, and demanding his i'm
mediate presence. He was now in
clined to regard the telegram as the
instrument of II merciful providence.
Yet, allowing for the influence of
the romantic surroundings in which he
had met her, it could not be denied
that she was very attractive girl.
How radiant she had looked ON that
misty morning, when her wonderful
grace had made the helping her across
mud ruddles idyllic. All, had she but
kept the stately shyness that had SO
charmed him during the first few
months of their acquaintance. He
searched in vain for the cause of the
unwecome change in her demeanor.
which his confidential friend, Watson,
ascribed to the fact that his brilliant
legal success had heightened his value
as matrimonial prize.
Watson was in the habit of reply
ing to Aliens condolences by chant.
ing, in thin baritone, song which
he professed to have learned from his
grandmother, closing with the refrain,
Fruit thai will fall without plucking
Is rather too mellow for me.
"What charmed me about her at
first, Allen said, "was her-er-un.
approachableness. "
81 see," said Watson. "It's not
that you object to being angled for,
but you don't want to see the hook"
"No," said Allen. "You don't un-
derstand. Now when / go down to
see her tomorrow"
"Oh, You are going?" interpolated
Watson.
Eyes, I'm going" returned Allen
shortly, as he turned away, alarmed
at the discovery that his heart beat
faster at the thought of gathering
wild flowers with her, and fastening
them upon dainty gowns-gowns with
irresistible charm of the costume,
every bow of which is looped, every
fold of which is draped, while the
heart of the wcarer is filled with the
thought Of one persons preferences.
On the morrow, during his journey,
he was dimly conscious that two
schoolgirls were mimickiug his pose,
as, with hands clasped behind his
neck, he sat dreaming. The long
drive over n winding country road
aroused in him sensitiveness to ex-
ternal objects, and, as he stood at the
door, he saw and resented the twinkle
in the eye of the neat maid servant,
who replied to his inquiry with an ef-
feet of jocose sympathy:
'Yes, sir; she's to home; she'll be
down torrectly."
All, she is coming. Her eyes are