The Van Buren press., 1895-06-08
LOST OPPORTUNITIES.
BIZ ". j. LAmPrOn.

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and lovely place picked ont to spend
them both in to my hearts desire
The place was q charming resort,
where the best people congregated in
numbers Of the proper proportion to
maintain the standard of exclusive
ness, and there were five young women
there, any one Of whom could have
made me happy for life II she had
been 30 disposed. OF, course. there
were others = there always are at
summer resorts but they lacked
those Qraces which made these five de-
li9htful OF contemplation TO me, see-
ing that no one Of them had less than
one hundred thousand dollars Of con-
tinrent fund in case of matrimony or
other emergency.
As was about to say, the name Of
this charming place was Sal-Soda Spa,
snd .s shall now say, though 1t may
be bad form to mention lady's name
In print, the names of the young
women were Katherine Stewart, Mary
Hertone, Edith Harmon, Frances Bar
ton and Gertrude Gray, all represent
atives Of rich and rare-as they say in
the bric-a-brac shops-old families, ad-
mission to which was seeking on the
most liberal terms.
Ihad chosen Sal-Hoda Spa because l
had understood men were ridiculously.
mot to say painfully, scarce there.
When registered the debonair clerk
behind the counter smiled on me
beniQnantly.
.Ah, Mr.. Vivian" he said. 1--WE are
glad to see you. We expected you
three days ago. At least, the young
ladies are."
How well ! remember that night
after dinner, when, as the others were
dancing in the great ballroom, Miss
Gray and I sat In the silver shadows OF
the piazza with the insistent NOON
light making strenuous efforts to reach
rs, but coming no nearer than the hem
Of Gcrtrude's pretty gown.
had hardly thought the fates would
b 80 propitious, but they were, and IL
was mot my province to question, but
70 act, and was making my prePara-
tions to do 10 when. In answer to a
query OF mine concerning the men at
the Spa, Miss Gray went into rhap-
sody over fellow she familiarly drs-
ignated as Charlie.
Il beg your pardon" said, with
damp, cold something clutching at my
heart, "but who Is Charlie, Miss Ger
trude?"
l said Miss Gertrude" to her as
gentle reminder to her that we were
not entire strangers.
"Oh," she exclaimed, in the hatefully
rapturous tones woman can use when
she is talking to one man about an
other man she admires, don't you
know Charlie? But of course you
don't. How could you? He has gone
away; but when he comes back you
must see him. He is the loveliest fel-
low, and"
ut occurs to me-" interrupted, not
unmannerly, hope, 'that Charlie, as
you call him, has made very deep i'm
preston upon your tender young
heart, Miss Gertrude
Possibly there was n tinge OF sarcasm
In my speech; possibly was rude
possibly but what matters 1t? Miss
Gray was offended, and the few re-
maining moments she gave me were
devoted to patching up peace, and
one OF my glorious, golden opportuni-
ties was gone forever.
However, there are just as good fish
In the sea as were ever caught out Of
It, and though don't care for fish, ex-
cept In Lent, took heart again, and
the next morning at breakfast asked
Miss Stewart to go walking with me
and show me the sights Of the Spa. As
no other man was In sight, she fairly
jumped at the chance, and we strolled
away in the bright sunlight Of sum
mer morning in the mountains. have
no record by me OF what we talked
about for an hour or more, but when
we had reached point overlooking the
hotel we sat down to enjoy the view
and rest u bit, and from that point on
] remember quite distinctly what WAS
said.
SLOW beautiful everything is
murmured In a semi-rapturous manner,
casting my eyes around the horizon,
and finally letting them rest upon her,
for really she was the prettiest thing
IN sight
Perfectly lovely, isn't it?" she re-
sponded in the highly original manner
Of young women whose impetuosity
and appreciation are always so largely
In excess of their command Of Ian
guage, in quality, at least, II not in
quantity.