The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-12-31
WALKED THE PLANK.

ago. when [ was young and foolish. The
belle Of Fishp0nds at that time was Mar
jory Jones, the miller S daughter. She
was pretty girl too, can cell you As
you may suppose, she had plenty Of sweet
hearts
ssThere was Jack Smith, the darkest fell
low in the village. Wasn't he wild In
our opinion Jack stood the best chance
with the fair Marjory. Jack was a suck
ing lawyer then; Bill Smith, his cousin,
Ted Whereat and were farmers, and Tom
Rumins was d dealer
Eve five reokoned that Marjory ought
to belong to one of Us, and we formed
a league offensive and defensive. One
night Jack and I had staid till old
Jones turned US out, and as we stood out
side the gate we heard her silvery laugh as
the old man growled at being kept out O.
bed by passed. O. young wosbuds.
g George, said Jack Smith, I've got
an idea. You come to my rooms tomorrow
night, and I'll get Ted and Bill and Tom
to come in. Then, if they are agreeable,
We'll just make that young woman come
to a decision
The next evening we settled down to
hear what Lawyer Jack had to say.
g Are you all in love with Marjory?'
"A unanimous cry Of Yes followed.
g Look here, said Tom Rumins, we
must settle this matter somehow or some
other fellow will be cutting us all cut Let
us each write her a proposal and send at
the same time.
g Right said Jack, and let's start fair;
let them all be put in the same words
'' We had better call for our answers
ourselves
50 What all at oncef'
Not exactly. One after another, and
wen draw lots who goes first, and SO on
g You fellows will talk all night and DO
nothing after all, cried Jack. You leave
it to me- I know more about it than you
do:
''DEAR MARJORY-Knowing, as you do, the
warm affection have for you, you viii not be
surprised if I ask you to be mine and mine
alone
'sWiu you marry me, dearest viii you be
the bride of your devoted lover, -?
''P- 81 viii come round to the mill on
Tuesday evening at o'clock to know my
fate.
sTherer he continued triumphantly.
'There I think that ought to fetch her.
I've left the name and the hour blank,
you see
ssWe were not quite so satisfied with
the letter as its author; but, as we did not
feel we could improve upon it, we at
length decided to adopt it, and forthwith
sat down to copy it off. Next we drew
lots to see who should go first, and, as
luck would have it, we came out in the
following order: Myself, 1880; Bill, 745;
Ted, s.; Tom, s:15; Jack, $50.
g Just my luckr said Jack, with
eroan Not q ha p'orth of chance for mep
a Why mott said T. She knows you re
coming, and-hang IL ALL wish I WASH {
drstr
81 was quite serious when said I was
sorry was first, and I sat thinking it over
with the help of pipe when I got home.
Suddenly a thought struck me. jumped
up and cried, George, my boy, she's
vo71rs Then went to he'd
81 spent a good while after tea that
Tuesday in adjoining myself, and WASH E
ready till z. 1T was only ten minutes
walk to the mill, but then I had some
work to do before showed up there. 1t
was in the early spring, and the days were
still short.
81 must explain that al i've of US lived
on the Fishponds side of the FroOme, and
so we all had to cross the foOtbridge, IN
less we went a mile out of our way to
cross the stone bridge at Broom hill. At
that time there was only one railing to the
bridge, and it was so rotten that it was
not safe to trust TO It, The bridge itself
consisted Of three planks resting on some
piers, and these planks were somewhat in
secure.
''Now, this was my scheme; I would
cross the bridge and then remove the mid
die plank. IN the dark any one who came
after me would not notice the gap and
would so flop into the water. 1t only
meant duoking, and that was what
proposed to treat nv rivals to.
Il was completely successful in displac-
ing the already loose plank, and at 1880
precisely marched boldly into the mill
4 Evenin, Marjory, said I. could see
she WASH t in the best of tempers, but 1
didn't appear to take any notice of it.
'Evenin, Marjory- DID
% Look here, George Handbook said
CHI int 171fir
mean2 Do you boys think you're going to
make a fool Of me by writing a lot of love
letters and making a conspiracy against
me9 Is that thing to be proud OF? Is it
manly? Is it, And here she burst into
tears.
n. Now, now, Marjory, I said, don't be
angry. We don't mean any harm
9 Harm, she broke in, stamping her
foot on the floor 'Harm How dare you
you mean fellowsp
'sAfter awhile she grew calmer and said
she would hear what the others said when
they came. had hard work to keep from
laughing at this, but just then 1 heard
splash.
g What's that asked Marjory
g Sounds like a big pike jumping, said
I and went on talking.
BY and by 1 heard another splash, but
this time Marjory did not notice it. So
the zine went on, and none of the other
suffers put in an appearance. You would
not yourself if you were wet through,
would You?
60 No said I, laughing
''Weu, by and by the miller came home
and wanted to know what I was doing
there, SO I told him wanted to marry his
daughter Well, to make long story
short, made things right with the old
man, and left the house as Marjory's ac-
cepted sutton Mad with joy, was rush
ing home when-splashl I had forgotten
the missing plank and had fallen into my
own trap.
50 Served you rightr I said.
cit was a good thing for me too had