The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-07-08
EAR c.: Meet me at the
] Wheelmen's Rest ON the

evening. We can talk the matter over
on our wheels. Very affectionately.
ELSA"
Clifford Swan sat on an office stool
and turned this little note In his fingers
at the same time that he turned Its i'm
port over in his mind. The clerk who
sat near him could not resist an In
quisitiye impulse to look at Mr.. Swans
face, and he saw that Mr.. Swan was
smiling satisfaction at himself; also,
he saw that the little piece Of paper in
Mr.. Swans fingers was a feminine
note, and he drew conclusions. That
clerk would have greatly amused him
self with putting teasing questions to
Mr.. Swan If the latter had not been his
superior In the bank. SO the clerk
held his peace and wondered what
there was In the note to make Swan
look so happy.
Clifford Swan took another dive into
the four lines of very modern feminine
handwriting to refresh his memory as
to the wording, and then he meditated
again. 1t was, no doubt, an original
way Of answering his rather old-fash-
ioned proposal, but her originality was
always one of Elsa's great charms to
this devoted lover. The idea of meet
ing a girl at n clubhouse on purpose to
discuss a proposal of marriage with
her while taking a spin! And then
there was something so peculiarly SEN
sible In the phrase talk the matter
over" Elsa really was q very sensible
girl-so sensible as to be all the more
piquant for this quite extraordinary
good sense of hers. She was not the
sort of girl to do anything rashly; she
would calmly talk the matter over"
while riding out in the cool of the
evening. Swan liked that deliberate
way Of looking at serious matter; he
judged from 1t that Elsa would be for
ever constant when she did make up
her mind. True, she had already had
four days to reply to his letter. but he
had not the least doubt that in the end
her decision would be favorable. Was
he not her Dear c." to begin with?
SO Clifford Swan smiled as he sat at
his desk. Then he looked at his watch
and resolved to 60 and have lunch. He
put the watch into his vest pocket and
folded the little note and looked for
the envelope from which he had some
what precipitately torn 1t when Elsas
little brother had put 1t into his hands
a quarter Of an hour before. There
it was-a pink little envelope.
The clerk next to Mr. Swan at this
point indulged his curiosity once more.
He saw Mr.. Swan look with a tender
smile at the envelope, and then he saw
observed that Mr.. Swan had turned
pale.
Are you feeling badly, Mr.. SWAMI"
the young man ventured to ask with
polite solicitude.
Swan started and stared resentfully.
'Feeling badlyY What do you
mean?"
You look so pale. thought might
get you a glass of water-or some
thing"
THANK you. Mr.. Edwards" said
Swan with a forced laugh. ~ don't
know that ever felt better In my life.
1 believe I'll go out to lunch now-very
light breakfast this morning."
So Swan took up the envelope and
the note and reached for his straw hat.
He walked out of the bank, gazing at
the address on the envelope. which
was: Miss Clara Henderson. Ad-
dressed" The Inference was plain.
That young brother of Elsas-"Young
Nick"-had had two notes to deliver.
He was, In his own conceit born
courier and scout, and it delighted him
to ride his wheel all over the city, leav-
ing notes and messages. If there had
been no note for Swan the boy would
not have stopped at the bank at all.
The wretched urchin had no doubt
whirled into the Henderson home, as
he had whirled into the bank, dashed
down n's-fate-fraught letter
with curt, Letter for Miss Clara-no
answer" and then sped away to chalk
up his last record of letter-carryfng.
Therefore 1t was certain-morally-
that Clara Henderson by this time had
had the satisfaction Of reading through
her friends reply to Swans offer of
marriage. So did Clifford Swan argue.
He ate no lunch worth mentioning.
about all over him, although the ther-
mometer was far above 70 In the
shade, and the sun was shining bright
ly. This was because he knew Clara
Henderson SO well. If it had been any
one else but that feather-headed-
That afternoon a ring at the door bell
of the Davis residence was soon follow
ed by a sound as If hurricane had sud
denly been let into the front hall The
rushing and rustling was mingled with
laughter.
"Oh. must see Miss Elsa. Yes, right
away. Tell her I'm coming up to her
ROOM"
In less than one minute Clara was at
her friends door, standing behind the
servant. who was supposed to be de-
livering her message.
ELSA! Won't you let me In? I'm in
a tremendous rush, dear"
I'm 50 glad to see you, Clara
Couldn't you go tomorrow"
go? Go where? Ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!
Elsa, don't be angry. 1t wasn't my
fault. I'm awfully sorry. Young Nick
brought this for me. and 1t was meant
for-for Mr.. Swan. Ha, ha. ha! He,
he, her,
And with that the tempestuous young
woman fell upon the bamboo couch.
helpless.
CLARA! Did you open It"
For answer Clara held out a bulky
packet, the flap of the envelope torn.
II give you my word of honor, Elsa,
/ only read as far as can confer on n
woman'-'man can confer on a wom-
an. Then | nearly had fit"
A less evenly balanced mentality
than Elsa Davis might have been tenn
.noratflv unset by flliS revelation. As