San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-01-27


"To be sure. Alice said she suspected
that You were fishing for refusal, and
SO she accommodated you.
"I wish l had not given her the OPP
portunity to accommodate me quite so
early in the season. 1t might have
helped me out of this difficulty had
been less premature with my proposal "
Tom did not choose to have it known
that he had been so carried away by the
charms Of the lovely Alice that he had
proposed without a thought of the con-
sequences. 1t was a mistake which he
did not make very often. He almost en-
We'd Sander, but he did not propose to
have that known either. He was glad
now that Alice had believed his love
making to have been for the purpose Of
securing a refusal, yet he could not help
wondering whether it would have made
any difference had she been undeceived.
It was something he should never
know, for he did not care to have the
wife of another know that she came
nearer to his heart than any lady whom
he had ever met.
"Why don't you become engaged
again?" asked Sander,
81 have gone my limit in that direc-
ton, replied Tom. ''If am party to
another broken engagement, l shall be
subject to a heavy fine"
"You are in bad fix, old fellow,
and that's fact. Still you might let
the next engagement run for the three
years allowed, and then perhaps you
would be better fixed financially, and
the fine would not trouble you.
"I wonder how that would work. /"
Toms face frightened perceptibly. 81
would have meantime the money that
would otherwise be spent in the matri-
monial tax to apply toward the payment
Of the fine, and it would be a great
help out of present difficulties.
"If you could find some girl in whom
you could confide-some one who would
agree to dismiss you at the end of the
three years.
81 should be in trouble if she did
not. When man breaks the engage
ment at any time, it is bad enough, but
if he does so after allowing it to run
three years the law has no mercy on
him. It would mean financial ruin. "
"Clarissa Pearce is sensible sort Of
girl''-
"I'd rather be dead than be obliged
to marry her. She would never let me
off of her own accord. Besides she is
28 or 30 years old. She would not male
such an arrangement unless she thought
me in earnest, for it would deprive her
of her pension. +"
81 don't understand"
Don't you know that if a woman
receives no proposal of marriage be-
tween the twenty-fifth and thirtieth
years she receives an extra amount of
money on pay day which is called
pension for the unprotected? This pen
sion is paid once in three years, after
the age of 80, to those who have not
rejected sutton since the last payment.
Even if 1 could make uR my mind to
act as Miss Clarissa's escort during the
next three years l doubt if she would
be willing to consent to the arrange
ment, unless she meant to hold me to it
at the end of that time"
ST had forgotten the pension law. 1t
would deprive Miss Clarissa of two
payments"
"And I should be taking an awful
risk No, Sander, it won't do. We must
think of something else"
For several minutes there was silence
between the two young men. Then
Sander startled his friend by springing
to his feet with most exultant shout.
81 have itr' he said. "Tom, can
help you out of this scrape like magic.
I know the very girl
"You do? Old boy, if you help me
now, I'll never forget it."
81 have a cousin
"Have 1 seen herr"
"No; she lives in the country"
pretty"
pretty as a picture-graoeful, too,
and very we'll read. She is sumner
and no mis- axe, but
"Well, don't hesitate. But what?"
"She has an awful temper"
"That doesn't count. l may show
you an interesting case of Tanning of
the Shrew.' 1t would add variety to my
humdrum existence. Really, I believe I
should like it. "
"Well, suppose you sit down and
write a note explaining the situation
fully. Daisy hates anything like de-
ceit.
"Do you mean that must tell her
that want to be engaged to her for a
period as long as the law allows that