Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-12-17

were well enough in their way, but
what ground of hope did they furnish :?
Would not blush, sigh, have more
meaning? frequently ] read disserta-
tons of the symptoms of the love mall
ady. but surely nowhere had ] noted
good-fellowship set forth as a distin-
gushing mark of passion. Then, too.
there was the difficulty of the bread
and-butter problem. What business
had I to contemplate matrimony, with
no well-def1ned idea how even one
mouth was to be filed. in the event of a
break with the man who would remain
my paynaster no longer than suited his
convenience? My savings would cut
but 4 poor figure on war-chest for a
family campaign. .,esides, the girl
was supposedly well-&o-do. and certain
~ was the heiress .-t her aunt. whose
wealth appeared t. be sufficient to en-
: S5-c ner to travel wherever she de-
sired, and to pay the bills of high-priced
specialists, who charged with an appre-
citation of the fact that their patients
would need to take nothing with them
out of this world. 1t would not be
pleasing to be classed as a fortune
hunter. All the philosophy available
would not remove the sting from that
reproaeh.
Meditating these things. I fell into
habits entirely reprehensible from the
standpoint of everyday sanity. L sat
up late o nights. smoked more strong
tobacco than was for my good. took
to moping and violent language. On
the whole. it was fortunate that my
practice was limited-fortunate for
both nd NV
Whether anybody guessed the charac-
ter of my thoughts, or fathomed my
moods, was matter almost of indiffer-
ence. I told myself that the mask
should always DE worn in the presence
of Mrs. Loring and her niece; as for
the others, their opinion did not count
AS a matter of fact, imagine that my
secret was known to all the women
whereabouts, and perhaps to some of the
men. Banks now and then cracked
jokes at my expense of a character
which gave ground to believe that he
had made a shrewd diagnosis of my
nalady. But, when all is said and
done, the simple truth is that 1 was
as nearly at my wits end, even with
the ghost of the coloneFs rivalry ex-
orcised, as probably half the adult
selves to have been on various occa-
sions, would they but make confession.
Mrs. Loring was unquestionably the
better for her life in the country. She
still kept herself under the discipline
of an invalid, though the precaution
was entirely unnecessary. Her appe-
tite was excellent, her nerves were al
most forgotten. the daily record of her
symptoms was limited to an entry of
a few lines, in place of the pages she
had covered at first. She often failed
to remember that was her physician,
and suffered me to depart without
hearing a word bearing on her long
cherished aches and agonies. She had
become acquainted with everybody in
the village; nobody knew better than
she the true inwardness of every piece
of mild scandal retailed from one end
of it to the other. She was hand in
glove with the ringleaders in its social
diversions, and was the moving spirit
in an enterprise which promised to
eclipse anything of the sort ever at
tempted in Rodneytown. This was no
less than a ''Fete International" as
the programme had it, in which youths
and r3aidens of many lands were to be
personated by the young people of the
village. There were to be tableaux,
Rotations, music and dancing, and al
together q somewhat ambitious list of
advertisement. Mrs. Loring had as
siln1ed the responsibility of designing
the costumes, a duty which she was
we'll fitted to perform, for she was
blessed with keen eye for color eff
fects, and her travels had made her
trustworthy source OF information re-
garding the details of the picture it
Was proposed to present. There were
no suggestions of invalidism in her as
she hustled about on her congenial
tasks; the buster she was, the greater
her content. The fete was to her
mental and physical tonic. more bene-
fetal than any possible combination of
chemicals. This I realized, but with
the Perverse pessilnism brought about
by my season of unrest, feared that it
would result in opening her eyes to
the truth that she needed no physician.
And when that discovery was made.
how long would she and her niece tarry
in that quiet neighborhood?
The weather about this time took
turn for the worse; for 48 hours
dense fog hung over the coast. It
thinned somewhat by the third morn
ing. The banks of mist were drifting