The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-01-20
why, yes, II you ma 1t comrorc
able" she answered, laughing.
willie blood WAS boiling

van . csSS~ "s' AAhAo
Il am going to see his out" he said.
ut may be one OF those COMPOUNDED
mistakes men make in stories. 1 WON'T
peril my WI happiness by needless
jealousy; but it looks bad
1t looked worse the next moment, for
Perry took the little hands in his and
kissed them.
Have you been away Il hundred
years." he said. lit seems So
The girl laughed.
And the voyage was it pleasant"
he went on.
lawfully stupid" said She.
ut could not have been stupid for
you," said Perry You must have been
surrounded by admirers"
"AdmirerS!" cried the girl; don't
talk Of admirers. There was one man
who tormented me all the way over
the most conceitod, insufrerable crea-
ture. The captain thought he was MAX
ing things pleasant for me by intro
ducing him, but, oh, how dreadful he
was. l really believe he thought l
should accept him"
And she laughed.
Am l going mad, or dreaming a
dreadful dreamT Wheaton asked HIM
self.
DO you know, I've been afraid you'd
accept some OF them," Perry was say
ing. 1--WE been ~reproaching myself for
letting you 20 without telling you how
l felt-but | was afraid. Miss Van
Wyck, I don't bore you as that fellow
did. do I|'
"Or course not" the girl said.
I'm glad" said Perry, for l love
you so dearly. Darling, can you like
me enough to marry me? l cannot five
without you.
The next moment Will Wheaton saw
the mar take her in his arms, and she
hid her face on his shoulder; and when
he said: 1T is yes, dearest!' she an
swered; "Oh, yes, and l am very hap
py."
For a moment Will felt as though he
must dash through the pOrtiere and
stand before them, and upbraid the
girl with her falsehood. Then he re-
membered that he would only make
himself ridiculous. 1t was plain that
she had accepted hin because she had
abandoned all hope Of a proposal from
Perry whom she had loved all the time.
Now she did not even remember his
existence.
He must 60 away while he could,
leaving no token Of his presence be-
hind him, allowing her to think that he
had only amused himself with a girl
he met on the steamer.
That would be some revenge. Tread
ing softly, and clutching his bouquet.
he stepped out Of the long, French
window and hurried away, walking
hlindly in his wrath. and not needing
the way he took. lie was stunned
stupefied. AS yet he scarcely realized
what had befallen him.. .
He had walked ON for fifteen minutes
before the spasm Of acute agony which
was sure to come fell upon him; be-
for he realized what this thing meant
to him-that life was 10 longer worth
living; that he should really care for
nothing any more.
All unhappy lovers think that for
awhile, and it is in this first flush Of
misery that suicides are committed.
VIII Wheaton turned his unhappy
glance upon the spot to which he had
wandered unaware, and saw that he
had come to Il lonely and unguarded
portion of the railroad. AT that mo-
ment he heard the shrek of an ap-
preaching train, and the thought of
self-destruction flashed upon him.
Il will end it ALL" he said to him.
self. Il will stand quietly here until
it will be impossible for the engineer
to stop in time, and then walk upon
the track. No one will know anything
about it; it will be reported as an acct
dent. Nothing could be better"
He took his place close to the track.
AS he did so he lifted the roses he had
brought for Bertha to his face.
The rush Of the train was in his ears;
he did not look up.
"Good-bye," he whispered to one.
great, white rose that had seemed to
him so like her. Il loved you, though
you never loved me. I loved you so
we'll that 1 cannot live without you"
His foot was lifted for the fatal step,
when suddenly four hands seized upon
him, and two female voices screamed
in his ears:
"Oh, come farther back! Oh, how
reckless"
Il nearly tainted when I saw you.
Oh, how could you:"
Amidst these shrieks the train whiz-
zed past, and he saw that Bertha held
him by one arm, while an elderly lady
chung to his coat-tails.
L SuppOSC yOu EoSI SOl1SCl1 dlU I'LL
the wrong way" said Bertha.
II never saw any one do such a STU
pid thing before" said the old lady.
mar here"
ooh, if you had killed yourself before
my very eyes l should have gone mad"
said Bertha.
Il think I have been mad myself"
muttered the young man, staring at
her.
"Well,' said the old lady, I'VE all
grow bewildered occasionally. l come
very near being drowned nee by trying
to get on a ferry boat after it had start
ed. l was thinking Of something else;
but l haven't been introduced yet, have
/? Bertha. do your duty"
Miss van Wyck, this is Mr.. Wheat"
1ine. And, by the way, I have some
reached home I found my sister there
my sister Dolly-who had returned as
unexpectedly as myself. Dolly and I
are twins you know, and people say
they cannot tell us apart"
''They dress alike to make the resem-
blance greater" said Miss van Wyck.
Really, this morning l called Dolly
Bertha myself"
'Twins!" gasped the young man,
twins! Good heavens! what an idiot
I am-that isl find that very interest
ing. I am glad to hear it. T think it
would prevent mistakes always to men,
ton it ut once. Good Lord! how thank
full I am"
Miss van Wyck decided at that mo-
ment that Bertha's sweetheart had been
drinkfng--unless he was out Of his
mind. But Bertha herself guessed
something rather near the truth.
However, not until the double weG-
ding had taken place at Miss van