The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1897-01-21

TURNED AND FLED.
BILE specimen of a true lover | was! My
brain reeled with p~erpleXity. Yet
surely the situation had eXtenuating
circumstances. Although for a time
l had completely forgotten Mollie Top
pington and made love to Mollie For
sythe, | should never have given her
a second thought had she not so Won
derfully reSembled my Mollie. In fact,
to all intents and purposes, she was my
Mollie. l honestly do not believe |
could have told them apart. [ do not
expect people to believe this statement,
but it is true nevertheless. 1 could only
partly justify my conduct by assuring
myself that 1 had been under the delu-
sion that it was really Mollie Topping
ton, but l felt in my heart of hearts
that such an explanation would hardly
be satisfactory to Mollie herself-and,
besides, there was Mollie Forsythe to
be considered. l have always hated
male f1irtS-even when they were free
and had the right to indulge-and 1t
would have been putting it very mildly
to have called my conversation with
Mollie Forsythe a Irritation. I thought
of everything, even suicide-for 1 felt
that I had proven myself unworthy of
Mollie Toppington, but 1 didn't do any
thing quite SO rash.
Instead L determined to forget Mollie
Forsythe and that evening at the Gas
kells Is completely as if 1t had never
been, and by rigorous self-denial and
self-sacrifce for her sake to atone to
MOllie for the deviation from faithful
ness to her, of which l hoped she would
never know. ComfOrted somewhat by
these high resolves, 1 sought my hotel
and was o lost in dreams of Mo1lie
T%oppington, Of Boston-the only Mo1lie
I ever really loved.
1 wrote to Mollie the first thing the
next morning as cheerful a letter as I
could under the circumstances, for I
knew the dear girl missed me terribly,
and I would have given a good deal for
a sight of her. Then I started out to
attend to my business. When evening
came 1 was bluer and lonelier than
ever. Oh, for five minutes talk with
my Mollie! Was ever a lover so un-
happily placed? I walked aimlessly
up Fifth avenue, hoping to find some di-
version in watching the throng of peo-
| pie, the fashionable hurrying home to
dinner and the working people return
ing from their day of labor. Suddenly
my heart gave a great thump and I
rushed forward to meet my Mollie-
then 1 remembered that it was not my
Mollie, but Mollie Forsythe, Of New
York. She seemed very glad to see
me, though, and in an instant the same
shameful thing had happened again
1 had forgotten Mollie Toppington, of
Boston, in the presence of Mollie For
sythe. Oh, the pity of it!
In a few short minutes 1 had spoken
words which l would have given half
of my life to recall. AS we walked
slowly toward the Gaskells told Mol
fie Forsythe that 1 loved her-that it
was a case of love at first sight, and
that I could not live without her-that
she must promise to be mine some day;
to try to learn to care for me then If
she could not now. When a fellow
makes love for the second time he
learns how to go about it, and l don't
think I said a word to Mollie Forsythe
| that did not carry weight. But never
one word did I say of Mollie Topping
| ton, of Boston. We parted at the Gas
kelrs door, or rather just within it. For
| Mollie Forsythe had promised Inc l
had gathered her into my arms ana
pressed a kiss upon her warm, red
| bps.
That night l went to Boston by the
late train, meaning to see Mollie Top
pington, confess my duplicity and re-
lease her. 1 meant to do the same with
Mollie F%orsythe, for I felt 1 was IN
worthy of either of them. But the
nearer I got to Boston the stronger my
love for Mollie Toppington became,
and the more indistinct the memory OF
Mollie Forsythe. 1 saw Mollie Topping
ton the next morning, and the dear girl
was SO glad to see me that 1 completely
forgot Miss F%orsythe. I determined to
write her a letter explaining the
strange case, ask her forgiveness-and
never see her again.
But my business in New York had to
be completed, and I thought after all it
would be better ami manlier to see