Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-02-08
WON BY WRESTLING.

Hartley. or rather, his wife. had been
giving a musical lat home
AL hour or so later, the crowd hav-
Ing dispersed, Birdy Jackson. Hartley
and ! were idly discussing the events OF
the affair in the sm-oking-room. Jack
son and | were stopping over night
with our host, being old chums of his,
and living some distance out of town.
No idea you could give such a rip
ping performance. Birdy." remarked
Hartley land when your wife joined in
! was perfectly astonished.'
Jackson laughed softly.
NO. she doesn't do it at all badly"
he admitted. You know, Dick. there's
@ bill of romance attached to that whis-
tie OF hers; in fact. it was the NEAR of
bringing our matrimonial desires to
an abrupt point at an extremely criti-
Cal point in our courtship."
Hartley gave me a gentle kick.
Then your union had Il spice of ro-
nance about it," he said.
Rather. Unique in the annals of
love-making. l should say. But folks
are so COMPOUNDED incredulous nova
days. I've never attempted TO tell the
yarn but once and then l swore I'd
never DO it again"
But lie had to on this occasion, and
soon began to interest us as follows:
First of all. you must know. Mr..
Kinc"-addressing me-Im called
Birdy on account Of having practiccd
from earliest infancy n cheap form of
musical recreation. Though cuffed as
q boy. reprimanded for warbling in
slack business hours and soundly exc
Grated 10y the neighbours, | nevertheless
pcrSevercd.
~ year ago last ummer | came in
for q sun of money. which rendered
me n practically wealthy and independ-
ent man. and to celebrate my good for
tune L thrcw up my business berth aud
%cnt into Yorkshire TO spend a few
weeks with a professional bachelor
friend and to idle generally.
While there | was introduced to n
Colonel Alton and his daughter Evelyn.
aged 80. who lived at The Chase and
wee intimate friends of my chum.
Nice girl she was; plenty of go with
out being the least fast In less than
a fortnight | was over head and ears in
love with her. The subsequent after
nOODs AT The Chase were too hot for
tennis. Colonel Alton spent them snooz-
Ing IN his study; Evelyn's elderly com
panion aud her fathers housekeeper-
for Airs. Alton had beer dead some
ycars-nodded in the shade of her fa-
voritc elm. and my friend had invaria-
bly, to leave for an important case be-
fore tie tea came out. Very nice of
him, | thought.
Thus thrown together. Evelyn and
i monopolized the arbor. and / used TO
amuSe her by trilling selections from
the operas. latest airs Comic and seri-
ouS), and she would occasionally io;n
GnceS. Though Il woman in every re-
spect. she could whistle. In most of the
w~cli-l,nown tunes up to date or pathct-
ically aged. she excelled. owing to tn
fact that during the winter months for
some years past she had always off
ciatcd at the piano for the village pop
ular concerts, when the vocal and in
etrumeLtal items were naturally of an
amusing and light ordcr-at times
scarcely high class, perhaps.
"Then came the time when the colo
mel had TO be approached. The old man
gave me Il prompt and curt refusal
He had other views for his child.
tried remonstrance, then logged per
sistency. but with no avail. Evelyn
stood out like n brick. This burst of in
dependence resulted i'm her inim,d iate
bs nishmcnt to regions unknown to me,
under the surveillance Of a relative OF
mature age and experience. and all
communication between us strenuous
ly denied and f~Orestalled. All chances
of elopement, even, were reduced to
nil.
"A few days later | left my friends
for BournemOuth, there to recruit my
shattered health and hopes, and think
things over quietly. l was crushed
for the time being. AS l aligbted from
my cab ut the entrance to Tie NORTH
Cliff, where l had taken rooms, an 81
derry lady came down the steps. Hcl
face seemed somewhat familiar to me
though I could not mt the time recall tC
mind when and where / had seen 1t be