The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1897-06-17
THE BROTHER OF = = Il
r. s. T. g. A GENTLEMAN.
r T e saw her coming along the
Fl street, and he paused, hoping


RI street, and he paused, hoping
"A a she would care to stop and
speak to him. She always bowed and
smiled, or said word or two. and he
lived on the memory of 1t until he met
her again. That, usually, soon happen
ed, for In a little town of 500 inhabi-
tants the said Inhabitants are llabs to
meet often.
She was sweet girl, a pretty girl,
every one thought, but these mild
terms did not half express Ernest VIII
sons opinion of Ruth Adams. She was
a perfect woman In the highest and
purest sense of the word, and to Il 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 VIII. 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 poke tbook,
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
little WEAKNESS of the injustice of
fate. Not that he imagined for no
ment that he deserved such a woman
as did his handsome brother, who was
gentleman" only he would have
loved Ruth tenderly, been very
thoughtful of her, very kind to her, If
she could have cared for him-and VIII
was so careless.
Ruth did not pass this time; she Daus-
ed and looked up into his good, honest
face, and then said, little timidly:
Ernest have you heard from Will
lately?"
NO" he said, kindly. There was a
letter In his pocket from VIII, received
n few moments before, speaking of
hard times and asking for the loan of
n 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.
81 will walk with you, Ruth Are you
worrying about it? If you are, then
don't"
81 will tell you honestly that am.
You are one Of the people. Ernest. that
no one would ever think Of deceiviug.
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, | know it Is only
carelessness on Wills part. He has
given me his word. There is no one
who could say otherwise than that VIII
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, ''in a case Ike this |
would scorn him, If he wera a thou |
sand times my brotherw
Il would not have him keep his prom
Use 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"
'<ro be a man-not a gentleman he
said, savagely.
ITO be BOTH" she said. But her lin |
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 l think Is this-that no man.
and | make no exceptions whatever.
would possibly throw away the chance
OF winning you If he were In his right
senses If 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 1t may have been
one that Ernest wrote refusing the
loan. but for some reason VIII came
home few days later He had learn
ed 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
brother. AS for Ruth-well. 1t may
have been that she had grown tired
Of giving admiration, love and every
thing, and receiving In return a 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
owe knows no comparisons. She did
hink. and often. of the way Ernest
lad spoken to her. and of the manner
n which VIII talked, as II she were the
me favored in their love affairs.
And yet to her Ernest was nothing in
he world but Wills brother. When En-
lest thought Of 1t seriously. he has
lever been anything to any one but
Wills brother. He had been so un-
and cared so little for APP
,earances, and VIII had cared so
much. Ernest was an excellent bus-
less man; he did the thinking. WIN
lid the talking; VIII used all of his
IDEAS as If they were his own and trans
Lcted business for his father In an