The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-02-12
\ LOVE AFFAIR.

and she dresses well. She has been
graduated from a seminary of good re-
putc, and>h"r disposition is amiable to a
degree which more han a year ago
brought all the young men of the neigh
bOrhoOd at her feet. think she wuna
tennis championship in singles some
where last year. but ! am not certain
about that. What | can recall among
her most pronounced accomplishments
| will put down here later on. | met
gotten the circumstances Of our meet
ing, hut | guess they were of the ordi-
nary sort. | live two doors from her
house. and | drop in to see her and Mrs.
Burke at least once a week. Even her
marriage, which hurt me so much at
the time, did not separate us for very
long, and | think have lived to forget
my first rash determination never to
look upon her face again. | called the
night of the wedding, and l have been
calling regularly ever since. l am be-
ginning to believe that it was a good
thing. after all, that she didn't marry
me.
What | want to tell-and it wont
take long to tell it in my dry fashion
is the story of old Brownies courtship.
[ make my living by keeping the cash
accounts of a big Market street whole
sale house, and Browne is the man
whose desk is next to mine in the count
ing room. Our salary is about the same
and although he is two years younger
than l am, l being 81 now, we both
have held the same positions for 90
years. Browne weighs more than 200
pounds, and | weigh a trife less.
Mrs. Burke, VII, is Edith's mother,
came to Inc this summer and had quite
a long talk with me about her personal
affairs. She said that her late husband
estate was pretty much e%ntangled, and
that to keep her present establishment
on Arch street going she would have to
rent some of the handsome rooms in the
house to bOa1ders. OF course she didn't
want to do that, and of course I depre-
Gated the plan, but in the end it turned
out that We both had to give in.
Old Browne rented the second story
front room the day after l told him
about it. He had been living away up
town, and he vas glad to get a little
nearer to the Office, besides enjoying all
the social prestige which geographical
conditions could give him. He moved
into the rooms with a dozen trunks and
a wealth Of bric-a-brac, which, to my
mind, did not become his age. Mrs.
Burke Was glad to accept the reference
to me which he gave her, and Edith
smiled upon him when she gave him his
night key.
l thought a good deal Of Edith. and
every night or two we played cards in
her mother rooms. She and | played
partners against young Bob Smith and
Mrs. Burke. We were pretty evenly
matched, too, for Bob played a stiff
game Of whist, and well, you may
Lemember that l was one of the Pente-
cost clubs prize team last fall. Edith
and | won most Of the games, though,
for Bob was too Internally lazy ever to
do anything well. And then be never
seemed to mind it if he lost.
The presence Of old Browne annoyed
me "a great deal, and | don't mind say
ing so. About a week after he took his
room there l found him occupying my
seat at the whist table when | called.
He was fumbling the cards in his awk-
ward fashion. and Edith was laughing
at him. Bob was engaged in giving an
imitation of me telling a war story, and
even Mrs. Burke was approving the II
diculous proceedings. | coughed, and
that stopped the game, but | was I'M
comfortable all the evening. But Bob
had the good sense to apologize, but old
Browne simply Uttered fer an hour ovel
what he seemed to consider II good joke
on me.
After that all my affair seemed tC
90 wrong, and | began to seriously con,
slider whether | shouldn't rent every
room in Mrs. Burke's house myself.
was actually contemplating this propo,
sition n night in my apartments,
smoking my last bowl of tobacco the
while, when the colored girl who waits
on the door said that a man had called
to see me. | have few callers, and
thought it might be Mr.. Phipps, the
managing partner Oh lily HOuSt, "LOHl
had invited to come to see me more thar
a month ago.
With this idea in mind l told the CIR
to delay the man below stairs for Il mo
ment while | slipped into other clothes
Then the dCor opened, and old Browne
came ambling in. | was disguised OF
the instant. but ! managed to concea
my real feelings and invited him to bt
seated. He looked all around him tt
see if | was alone, set his hat on the
foor and then accepted my invitation
with a kind of sigh.
Thank you" he said, Il only wan
10 see YOU tor a moment
| offered him a pipe, and he declined
it. | told him my cigars We're out.
} 1t doesn't make any difference, " b.
said. I'D rather not smoke. | cam
here to ask you some things about thu
l Burkes.'
The Lord only knows how ! looked a
| him as he hesitated fol a moment.
II have seen enough of them" III
went on. Ito believe that they are per