The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-04-04
BRIXTONS ENGAGEMENT
BY JOHNSON BURT.

61 SpGNSON- bCh1s
zHERE are many
varieties of matri-
/C- monial proposals
Nn:--ssSIs~\ beside those which
sHyIle appear in novels,
NGM and one of them
@ made lot OF
! ! ! !. " ] ! j ! : ! / ] !. ! /. /. !
NA2 trouble a year OF
VN&~ two ago for John
- Brixton. Brixton
was one Of the in
>-N telligent fell lows
~ who also are adap-
~ tive, so he had &C.
~ euired a lot Of &C.
ouaintances who were the envy Of every
one that knew him. Although he was
only a salesman on salary-quite g
good salary, it must be said-for
large firm Of iron manufacturers, he
was frequently accosted familierly by
bank Presidents and other business
masnates, and could slap any of these
gentlemen Oh the shoulder without
giving ofense. AS he was bachelor,
and old enough to have outgrown the
habit Of lounging through successive
evenings in houses where there were
pretty daughters, ne was available for
dinner parties given by men who knew
no better way OF spending an evening.
Everybody among his acquaintance
wished him well, and wished they
could do something for him, but they
respected him all the more because he
never tried to borrow money nor asked
for any other favors.
It seemed one day to old Builder,
President of the Forty-seventh Ma
tional Bank and & hearty admirer of
Brixton, that he was just the man to
throw a fortune in Brixton's way. The
plan came to Bidders mind suddenly,
but sudden inspirations and quick &C
ton thereon are part of the daily life
of the most stolid of Presidents of big
banks. Brixton had promised to lunch
with the bank magnate at midday, and
be appeared at the bank just in time to
see the old man bowing out lady
with more courtesy and ceremony thar
he imagined Builder capable OF.
As the old man caught sight OF
Brixton he exclaimed:
zone moment, Miss Fewse. ALLOW
me to introduce you to my dear old
friend, Mr.. John Brixton. Mr.. Brix-
ton, Miss Fewse, daughter of old Ben
Fewse, whom every one has heard OF.
Brixton bowed, and looked curious
ly at the lady. He had seen her
father occasionally, before increasing
years and doctors had sent Mr. Fewse
TO his final home, and his eyes
searched the deu9hters's face for indi-
cations of her fathers Distinguishing
traits. He found them too, although
the interview was short. Miss Fewse
was richly yet simply dressed; her
figure, like her fathers, was dumpy,
and her face, though not rude, was as
broad and heavy, and her forehead
was as low as that of old Ben himself.
Still, her manner was womanly, and
as she finally took her departure
Brixton, who had dear old mother,
as well as a sister whom he regarded
as the best young woman alive, sor-
rowed to himself that a man as rich as
old Ben Fewse could not have mar
ried some one whose blood could
have atoned for the rudeness Of his
OWN.
swell, john" said the President,
after handing Miss Fewse into her
carriage, ':you owe me one. Any one
of q thousand good fellows in New
York would give ten years Of his life
for such an introduction to Miss Fewse
as I gave you just now. Go right
lhead, now, and make use of it.
You're always doing the friendly
thing, Builder" replied Bri1ton, sink
ing into en- easy chair; s'but I don't
quite understand it this time"
ssDon't, eh?' said the President,
hastily relighting a cigar which he had
laid on his desk when Miss Fewse WAS
announced. "Well, (puf) Miss Fewes
is joint heir with (puf) her brother
her only brother, mind you. Old
Ben's estate is estimated by his ex-
ecutors at eight millions; I don't
know how close that comes to tbs
TRUTH don't take much stock in
what I can't see with my own eyes
but this much T know" Then the
President olapped two pudgy hands
upon Brixton's knees, looked squarely
into Brixton's eyes and said, in low,
measured monotone: ''John Brixton,
I know of my own knowledge that Ada
Fgwse has over one-miilion-- dollars
lin good railroad bonds right in my
safe here. 'Nough said, eh?"
Enough money, should say, for
n unmarried woman who doesn't look
as if her tastes were expensive. But
/ what have I to do withit You said--
s'Do with it," echoed the President.
"Why, yon donkey, make it your
own. Marry the girl. She isn't
beauty, I must admit; but she's re-
spectacle and honest, and she'd accept
sou in minute"
"Upon my word, Budder," laughed
Drixton, ''you'ye been in business so
long that even women seem property
TO you. Miss Fewse never saw Inc IN
I'll five minutes ago"
':Perhaps not, but she's got her
fathers level head on her shoulders
She's seen dozens of other men;
scarcely month goes by without some
fellow Offering himself to her---for the
ssko ot her money, Of course. She
doesn't Object to marrying, for, being
8 woman, che las heart; but she has
enough character to want husband
Esnom sis can respect, and none OF the
fellows who have offered themselvei