Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1894-03-16

= 4 IN vi i l. yDullUllClS SuW III tdCll
IK-IsEl\AlI'l -Aother to make them
|R5F ElAN H ESQ mutually infat-
} ~G Mo- Suated. Both were
IN ~ Ethe reverse Of hand
ure, and the only construction that
could be put upon their attachment
was that the uglineSs of each acted as
a bond of sympathy between them.
True, every eye has beauty of it's
own, but the optic that could detect
anything lovely in Sallie's cross-eyed,
pug-noSed, freCkle-faced, carrOty-
headed, lop-sided person was not the
kind of vision to be either envied or
commended. Nor were Johnnie's
beetling brows, receding forehead and
sloping chin the class of features that
usually enamor female. His short,
chunky, fore-shortened body would
not have attracted one woman in a
few millions, but Sallie, strange
to say, happened to be eccentric
enough in her tastes to imagine that
Johnnie was a perfect Adonis.
And, to her lovers thinking, there
wasn't a girl in all Lockton half so
pretty and graceful as Sallie. They
had, OF course, a supreme monopoly of
their opinions about each others
beauty, and neither of them had the
slightest cause for jealous anxiety.
Neither Of them were rich in this
worlds goods, but both were comfort
ably situated for people in their sta
tion of life. Their parents were dead
and each was left alone in the world
with a small farm and a little money
Johnnie was about twenty-five and
Sallie just of age, so they had no one
to please but themselves and were not
long in making match of it,
But the week before the appointed
wedding day Sallie fell i'll with the
smallpox, and the doctors came and
ordered her to the hospital at once.
She was taken away in the town am
bulance and Johnnie followed, weeping
bitterly and begging to be allowed to
accompany and nurse her. His re-
quest was finally granted so far as to
permit him to occupy an adjoining
room to the ward in which she lay,
and in the presence of the female
nurse Johnnie's uncouth figure would
often be seen bending over the uncon-
sciouS form of the delirious Sallie.
She never spoke Of anybody but her
lover in her rambling, incOherent
speech, and yet she never recognized
him from the first day he was allowed
to see her. Those were hard times for
Johnnie, but he was told to hope for
the best, and after a period of two
weeks the doctors gave him encour-
agement by telling him that Sallie
was out of danger and would not be
marked at all by the ravages of the
disease.
Bnt just as Sallie improved Johnnie
began to grow i'll, and it was soon evil
dent that he had taken the disease
from her. He was put to bed in a Sc
cluded ward and great care taken not
to excite him in the least. When his
delirium set in, his calls for Sallie were
incesSant, but owing to her weak con-
dition she was not allowed to see him.
She was sent home to convalesce and
prayed night and day that her lover
might be spared to her
But though her prayer was granted,
Johnnie left the hospital marked for
life. His had been more dangerous
case, and he only came out of it with
great ugly pits all over his head and
face. Still, that did not make any
serious difference to Sallie. She had
not loved him for his good looks in the
first place, so the loss of little more
physical beauty was not crying mat
ter. She was not really well herself
The malady had left her in very
weak condition, but she was strong
enough to take Johnnie by the arm
and escort him around the little town
whenever the wants of either necessi-
tated any shopping. The marriage
was postponed for several weeks and
now they contemplated an Easter
wedding. About the queerest looking
pair of lovers in the whole state of
Pennsylvania was Johnnie Grout and
Sallie Smithers.
But Johnnie seemed to feel, away
down in his sensitive heart that the
accident which had married his fea-
lures was naturally one that would, or
should, diSqualify him in the sight of
his beloved. He never thought of how
cruel Nature had originally been to
him, he never considered that it was
through his devotion to Sallie he
had caught the disease now dis
figuring him. He brooded over the
thought that he was no longer pre-
sentable to her view, and all the low
ing care she could lavish upon him
failed to have the effect of convincing
him that she still loved him as former.
ly. He attributed her present actions
to resignation rather than desire, and
morbid feeling of Sullen diSappoint-
ment crept into his nature and made
him irritable and peevish.
Sallie could not understand the
change in his disposition. Had she
known that he regarded her in the
light of martyr, willing to sacrifice
her happiness for his sake, she coulC
easily have undeceived him. But
Johnnie was morose and silent. HI
could not bear her to talk TO him even
He resented her expressions of affec
ton, because, without any reason be
, You'd his own superSenSitiveneSS, h
) imagined them to be simulated.
She did not like his little petulan
ways, which were entirely ditferen
from his former manner and gradual
ly there grew a GOODNESS and reSery,
between them which finally resulted
in a severance Of the engagement
She told him fatty that she coult
V never live with him on account Of hi
a temper
5 There was a considerable sensation
e in the little town when it becam
s known that the marriage was off. S
: many people had commented upon tn
engagement and also upon the devC
T tion shown by the odd couple in thei
n sickness that such a thing as tn
r breaking of the engagement was cor
/ sidered well-nigh impossible. But tn