The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-05-20
TIE saw her coming along Il


smiled, or said q word or two, and hi
lived on the memory of It until he me-
her again. That usually, soon happen
ed, for in little town of 500 inhabi
tants the said inhabitants are liable to
meet often.
She was sweet girl, pretty girl
every one thought, but these mild
terms did not half express Ernest viii
sons opinion of Ruth Adams. She was
perfect woman in the highest and
purest sense Of the word, and to man
who looked upon all women as being
far superior to men, this meant great
deal. That was what he thought OF
her. She did not think of him at ALL
except when she happened to see him.
and then he reminded her of his brother
Will.
Ruth was engaged to Will. She had
been for two years. He had been by
far the handsomest man in town, and
she was the prettiest girl, and he had
been proud Of her. That was before
he went to the city. Now he thought
there were girls galore better looking
than Ruth, but he said nothing Of the
kind to her, for 1t was pleasant to have
some one to make love to when he was
obliged to go to the country sometimes,
for Papa Wilson had a full pocketbook,
and VIII had not.
So, in the soft light of an afternoon
sun, Ernest Wilson stood and waited
for Ruth to pass, and, watching her
as she approached him, thought with
q little WEAKNESS of the injustice of
fate. Not that he imagined for mo-
ment that he deserved such a woman
as did his handsome brother, who was
a gentleman" only he would have
loved Ruth tenderly, been very
thoughtful Of her, very kind to her, II
she could have cared for him-and VIII
was so careless.
Ruth did not pass this time; she paus-
ed and looked up into his good, honest
face, and then said, a little timidly:
Ernest, have you heard from VIII
lately?"
"No," he said, kindly. There was a
letter in his pocket from VIII, received
a few moments before, speaking Of
hard times and asking for the loan of
a few dollars. mo, not lately; he Is
busy, you know, Ruth; you must not
think anything of not hearing from him
he does not like to write.
"Are you going homer" he asked.
Il will walk with you, Ruth. Are you
worrying about it? If you are, then
don't"
81 will tell you honestly that I am.
You are one Of the people, Ernest, thst
no one would ever think of decelving.
am unhappy and am annoyed 1t is
not pleasant for girl Of spirit to hear
the things people are beginning TO say.
At the same time, 1 know it is only
carelessness on Wills part. He has
given me his word. There is 10 one
who could say otherwise than that Will
Is gentleman, and a gentleman keeps
his word"
'If he does not" he said, and in his
voice there was that she had never
heard before, sin a case Ike this
would scorn him, If he were q thou
sand times my brotherr'
81 would not have him keep his prom
ise to me against his WILL" she said.
proudly. "Never that. If he has
changed toward me, then he owes it to
himself and me to"
''To be man-not a gentleman" he
said, savagely.
ITO be both,' she said. But her lip
Quivered. They were at the gate by
this time, and he opened it and wait
ed for her to pass. Instead, she stood
and looked at him.
ernest" she said. "tell me just what
you think"
"What think is this-that no man,
and make no exceptions whatever,
would possibly throw away the chance
Of winning you if he We're in his right
senses. If a man Is not In his right
senses he is deserving Of our pity, not
our blame. l wish you good evening""
And he left her looking after him like
one bewildered.
1t may have been : letter she wrote to
VIII that night, or it may have been
one that Ernest wrote, refusing the
loan. but for some reason Will came
home a few days later. He had learn
ed a new way to carry his cane, and
his bows were more profound than
ever, but his accomplishments seemed
to have small effect upon his father and
hrn -
have been that she had grown tired
of giving admiration, love and every
thing, and receiving in return kind
Of Indifferent attention. When wom-
an begins to draw comparisons be-
tween her sweetheart and other men,
things are not as they should be, for
love knows no comparisons. She did
think. and often. Of the way Ernest
had spoken to her, and of the manner
in which VIII talked, as if she were the
one favored in their love affairs.
And yet to her Ernest was nothing in
the world but Wills brother. When Err
nest thought of it seriously, he has
never been anything to any one but
Wills brother. He had been so un-
assuming, and cared so little for ap-
pearances, and Will had cared so
much. Ernest was an excellent busl-
ness man; he did the thinking, Will
did the talking; VIII used all Of his
ideas as if they were his own and trans
acted business for his father In an
easy. off-hand way. forgetting to men
ton that Ernest had spent hours of
thought and study before the line Of
action had been decided upon. 1t had
been the same when they were chill
dren. Ernest read a book carefully;
Will read a criticism Oh it, combined
it with Ernest's opinion and carried on
brilliant conversations upon it with
older people, impressing all with his
remarkable mind, while Ernest sat by
and said nothing.
81 am not good enough for Ruth" he
said to himself. 81 do not know any
one who is; and l would not for the
world make her think less Of Will. II
] thought he loved her or would make