The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-10-22

1n6 ca4leQ Them dear l1lJle innings, anu
proceeded to give me a sweet little lecture
about tho usefulness Of humble things,
using the pawns az an illustration. And
when I explained thatsthey might possibly
become queens or castles, then she was in
raptures and declared that it was just like
a private soldier fighting his way up to
the rank Of general.
BY this time / felt quite bold. and we
chatted away about the game for some
time until at last she remarked:
II wish I could write stories; I'd write
one about chess. First, / should make
my king and queen live in the castle and
go out and fight the opposing hosts of the
enemy inc return victorious, escorted by
their faithful knights and pawns, and
then'-
"Then what?' I exclaimed eagerly.
why, I should use the bishops for the
inevitable Wedding of course, she said,
looking hard at me and blushing, oh, SO
prettilyl
I turned crimson to the roots of my
hair and suggested that we had better
to play, so that I could make
more progress as a tutor. She readily con
sented, and the game that followed was
very, very nice and extremely Interesting,
but it was anything you like-except chess.
She moved in a most unconventional
manner and t~.ansgressed every rule of the
game, but she seemed to think she was
progressing, and / had not the heart to
urdeceive her. However, / ventured to
demonstrate feebly when she naiyely at
tempted to annex my queen in spite of
the fact that it was protected by two other
pieces and a pawn.
"You can only move your queen over
the unoccupied squares, : / informed her.
dear me, what "a nuisancep' she re-
piled. "How can I move 1t, then?',
/ endeavorcd to elucidate the mystery
to her, and she leaned over the beard and
looked straight at me, her face all aglow
with attention and interest. Uncon-
/ s~oiously / also leaned forward until our
faces nearly met over the center OF the
board.
Twas looking at her; she was looking at
me. Who was looking at the chessrnen I
cannot say. Then I noticed the smell of
violets-my dead mother always wore vio-
let's. This decided me. l would
Crash The white king fell to the floor,
displaced by her sleeve. She picked it up
and tried to replace it, but she had forgot
ten its exact position, and after vainly
trying several squares she rave up in de-
spair.
I watched her dainty fingers posing
over the board, and | reproached myself
because a certain ring that Ihad long car
ried in my waistcoat pocket was not yet
in it's proper place. At last she sighed
slightly and said:
.Chess is a difficult game, and how
clever you must be TO play so WE'LL /
wish l could. But they say that it takes
= fo4s~~xo - 11,r II, ,1a- o1nrc -
Eyes" I replied, land I will use my
lifetime in teaching you how to play
that is, of course, If you will consent"
Many years have passed since the par
son cried Mate" and stopped our little
game, but it was only the other day that
I discovered the real truth.
In turning out some old papers belong
ing to my wife l came across an old copy
of a paper for ladies. and, noticing some
thing underlined with red ink, / read as
follows:
ssReply to T. N. Tiff your lover is
bashful, try to divert his attention away
from yourself. Pretend to take an inter-
est in his work or play, and he may come
out OF his shell and propose"
"T. N. IT," were my wife's initials be-
fore our marriage, and when visitors to
our house ask me to describe the deepest
game at chess l AVE ever played | only
look at my dear wife and smile. She un-
derstands perfectly London Sketch.