The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-03-08
he. BROTHER. Of 4. GENTLEMAN,


of Ruth Adams. She was perfect wonl-
an, in the highest and purest sense of the
word, and.to 4 man who looked upon all
women as being far superior to men. this
meant a great deal That was what he
thought Of her; she did not think of him
at all. except when She happened to sec
him, and then he reminded her Of his
brother WIN. ~
Ruth was engaged to Will. she, had
been for two years: he had been by far
the hindSomest. man i'll town, and she
was the prettieSt girl, and he had been
proud Of her: That was before he went
to the city. Now he thought there were
girls galore better looking than Ruth:
but he said nothing of the kind to her,
for it was pleasant t" have solllt.o one to
make love to when he was obliged to
go to the country: and he was, obliged
to go to the country something's, for Papa
Wilson had a. full pockethook and Win
had not.
So. in the soft fight. of an afternoon
sun. ERNEST Wilson stood ainl5 waited for
Ruth to pass, and Watching her as she
approached hun, thought with a little
WEAKNESS of the injustice of fate. MOI
deserved such Il woman as did his hand,
some brother. who was "gentleman.
only he would have loved Ruth tenderly,
been very thoughtful of her, very: kind
to her, if she could have cared for him
aud Will Was so careless.
Ruth did not pass this time: she paused
and looked up into his good, honest face,
and tiien said. IL little timidly: -'''
Ernest, have YOU heard from Will
lately?"
no" he said. kindly. There was !.
letter in his pocket from Will. received
few moments before. speaking of hard
times and asking for the loan of few
dollars. NO. not lately; he is busy, you
know. Ruth: you must not think any
thing of not hearing from him-he does
not like to write.
Ernest when he first went away wrote
to me every day.
He looked down at her flushed face
with IL world Of love and pity in his eyes;
but she did not see that-shc was think
ing Of Will.
Are you going home?" he asked. ~
worrying about it? If you are. then
don't
Il will tell you honestly that | am.
You are one of the people, ERNEST, tha t
no one would ever think of deceiving. |
am unhappy and | am annoyed: it is not
pleasant for a girl of spirit to hear the
things people are beginning to say. At
lessness on Wills part: he has given me
his woril there is no one who could say
otherwise than that Will is a gentleman.
and IL gentleman keeps his word
Ernest took off his hat and stood be-
fore, her with bowed and uncovered
head. =
IF he does not he said and in his
voice there was that she had never heard
before, lin a case like this l would like
to kin him, if he were thousand times
my brother
II would not have him keep his prom
Use to me against his will she said.
proudly. ''Never that. If he has
changed toward me. then he owes it to
himself and me TO-
TO be man-not gentleman he
said. savagely.
ITO be BOTH" she said But her lip
quivered.
They were at the gate BY this time,
and he opened it and waited for her to
pass. Instead. she stood and looked at
him. -
you think
What l think, is this: That no man,
and | make no exception whatever, would
possibly throw .:lway the chance of win
If il man is not in his right senses,
he is deserving of our pity. not our blame.
l wish you good evening" And. he. left
her looking after him like one bewillered.
It may have been letter she wrote
to Will that night, or it may have been
one that Ernest wrote refusing the loan,
but for, some reason Will came home IL
few days later. He had learned new
way to carry his cane and his bows were
more profound than ever. but his accom-
pf1shments seemed to have small effect
upon his father and brother AS for
kuth-Well, it may have been that she
had grown tired Of giving admiration,
love, everything, and receiving in return
kind of Indifferent attention. When Il
woman begins to draw comparisons be-
tween her sweetheart and other men
things are not as they should be, for love
knows no comparisons. She did think,
and often, of the way Ernest had spoken
to her, and of the manner in which Will
talked. as if she We're the one favored in
their love affeir.
And yet, to her. Ernest was nothing
~ the world but Wills brother When
Ernest thought of it seriously. he has
meyer ! been anything to anyone. but
Wits brother. He had been so. unas-
sumlng' had sarcd SO little for appear.
ances. and Will had cared so :4snueh.
ernest was an excellent business man:
ile did the thinking, Will did the talking;
VIII used all of his ideas as if they were
his own, and transacted business for his
father in an easy. Off-hand way; forgett-"
ing to mention that Ernest. had spent
hours of careful thought and study be-
fore the line of action had been de-
eided upon. 1t had been the same when
they were Children. Ernest read book
carefully: Will read Il criticism OH it.
combined it with Ernests opinion, and
carried on brilliant conversations u,,on it
with other people, impressfng all with
his remarkable mind. while Ernest sat
by and said nothing
Ernest had realized this for Il long
time, but there had never been any rea-
son to care before; he did care now.
II am not good enough for Ruth.' he
said to himself. Il do not know anyone:
who is; and l would not for the world
make her think less of viii if thought he
loved her or would make her happy;
but he would not: so [ intend to let her
see how superficial is his knowledge, and
what Il shallow man he is -
When Ernest Wilson made Il resOlu-
ton it was as good as accomplished, but
this was the most difficult Undertaking
OF his life: for he intended not only to
prove to Ruth that she was wasting her
affections upon man who cared nothing
for her, but to teach his little world to
speak of him as Ernest Wilson, not as
any mans brother.
J. He was SO accustomed to sit by 81
lently when. questions were discussed.
knowing all the time that he had more
Knowledge of the subject than those who
were talking, that it produced 4 sur
prise that amounted almOse to q sensa.
ton when he first began to express his