The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1895-12-19
UNMAkING LOVE.


Imagine my CONSERVATION. I am by no
means insensible Of the great good luck
Of a man who Is loved by a good sort
Of woman, though quite capable Of pre-
tending not to envy him. But this
wouldn't do at all. She was the pref
test girl there, and 1 had gravitated
toward her beauty as a matter OF
course. 1 always pick out the prettiest
face, and go straight for 1t mechanical
ly. or course, l don't often arrive;
there may be obstacles, and l am quite
content to make my bow to the next
Venus. 1t would be a real shock to
discover that there was a degree, a pos
sibility between what I had achieved
and what l had abandoned, that | was
paying my homage to a star of lesser
brilliancy than necessary. The fact Is,
l have quite enough of reason and ideas
and intellect generally when l am at
work, and we are all of us eternally APP
plying some principle, and that's phil
osOphy. When I join the ladies, all l
care about Is to have my eye and ear
~agreeably stimulated. not because they
are not capable of making me think,
though l don't say they are, but be-
cause at those times l want amusement,
not instruction. That's why | am so
severely logical about feminine charms
Of person, and feel a personal loss when
l worship at a shrine Of ninety beauty
power instead of 100. However, l am
not often in this dilemma, as nature
doesn't cut things 80 fine.
Well, what was I to do? AS l said,
1t wouldn't do; she had no ideas; there
vas nothing for me to cling to. We
mighthave gone like that the rest Of our
lives, l admiring her beauty and she
existing beautifully. l don't think I was
to blame; | faced the question fully,
and hOrOrably acquitted myself. l
never sought her society, but when we
met l certainly did enjoy her musical
small talk: she had a charming voice.
can't remember her saying anything
worth remembering, and / certainly
didn't attempt to converse. There was
a string Of questions and answers, just
Ike a royal commission. and about as
romantic. But the whole thing, her face,
her voice, her easy chat, the frou frOu.
was a perfect holiday for me, and I
felt some Of the acQuiescence Of sleep
without any Of it's Inconsistencies. l
am a utilitarian person, but l never
reckoned the time wasted. The sun
shine warmed my fallow mind and
made 1t stronger to bear more drastic
impressions. 1t strikes me now that
may have looked like patience to her
righteousness, and that there may
have been a trace of gratitude for the
implied compliment, though all the
thanks We're certainly on my side. How
ever it came about, it did come about.
OF course, l might be wrong; in that
case it wouldn't matter what | did.
but knew was not wrong. At any
rate | elected TO assume | was right,
AMI | had to do something.
Clearly. l couldn't run way. In the
first place. this was practically incon-
venient. Like other people, | am teth-
cred in the shadows of circumstance
And, secondly, it smacked Of the heroic,
Of which, Of course. | have Il horror. |
was afraid. too, that she would take Il
feminine pleasure In feeding il senti-
ment for the absent, and my obvious
policy was to discourage. not intiame.
her imagination. Externally I had tn
maintain the old attitude, but it would
have been a false pretense to do so with
the old nonchalance. | took the first
opportunity of denying myself.
"Have you been To see the pictures:'
she said.
"Not l." / replied.
"What do you mean? Don't you like
beautiful things"
"Only when | am looking IT them,
and even then | am haunted by the fear
that l am wasting time and might be
more probably employed
"More prOfitably:'
"Yes; storing up sources that will last
facts, thoughts, goods, money, any,
thing but fa~ncies."
"You are coming u In a new light
she said.
"a new darkness. you mean." re,
piled.
." suppose you are what IS called a
dark horse" she rejOined.
We both laughed and She went away
puzzled.
Next time l managed to startle heI
We were talking Of the latest novel.
"Romance,"I said, 'is all very we'll, but
1t mustn't be contemporary. Put 1t into
bygOne days In IS large quantities as
you like. but the tale of to-day, which
deals with us and our friends, Ough'
only to encourage sober business prin
Ciples."
She ought to have retorted Such a.
answering a fool according TO his fol
ly." or by referring TO the fact that mos
fiction was designed to Staye OIL bank