CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1898-01-27
HALF AN HOUR.
BY Priscilla heonard.
r. WAS . lovely September afternoon

IT WAS . lovely September afternoon
in the year OF our Lord 1898. The
worlds fair WAS in full swing and the
.shite city by the lake was filled with
sightseers from every part Of the land.
People sundered from each other for
iong years by the length or breadth of
Z he continent met in the broad aislrs
Of the buildings or on the seats of gen
doia, and Kalamazoo rubbed shoulders
with Tallahassee in the endeavor to see
the jewelry exhibit or the big loconio-
/ tives. Most crowded and most cosnio-
politan of all. as usual, was that ka-
I ieidoscopic attachment, the Midway
Plaisance, where, from the South Sea
islanders to the Ferris wheel. the wide
! highway was thronged with multiiu-
dinous enjoyment. And Tommy was
taking IT all in as only small and
eageriy-curious boy knows how to do.
Tommy and his Aunt Isabel put
Tommy first because that was the or
der of things. his aunt having taken
charge of him that afternoon because
he had already tired out his mother
had been through good deal. They
had investigated the Jayanese village
snd old Vienna, the panorama OF the
Bernese Alps and the Eskimo settle
ment. and seen the Hindoc iugglers;
consequently, though Tommy was as
fresh as psint. Miss Bernard was slight
ly tired and glad TO sit down ON the
benches OF Hagenbach's great animal
chow. which was Tommy's next OBJ
'ectiye point. 1t was a good seat. with
fine view of the ring: which was prob
ebly the reason why the young man
who came in a minute after them took
/ the last seat on the row. next TO Tom
my.
| Isabel glanced up at him as be took
\ his place. Luckily. he was oblivious
] of anything beyond Tommy's seat. She
| turned quickly away-a movement
| which naturally brought the young
mans eyes upon her. He started IN his
turn with quite much dismay in
| his face as she had shown, and also
looked diligently at the stage. II was.
truly, most embarrassing for both.
When two yonng people have been
deeply in love. have been engaged. with
the consent and appreciation OF every
| body. and have broken of with each
other in a violent lovers quarrel within
meet in n ballroom or on the street:
| but to sit almost side BY side In public
| place for half an hour Ia an ordeal TO be
dreaded. indeed. And especially when
a man has left New York and gone TO
San Francisco simply in order TO put
leagues of continent between himself
| and the girl. and when the girl has
been horing and praying that she may
forget him and never see him again. il
is a little hard for both 10 seem uncon-
scious and cordial befor% a small
| nephew.
II had to be done. however. for Tom
my recognized Mr.. Dick Fsrguhar at
once. and. having a great admiration
| for his own sex and an equally lofty
| contempt for the weaker one. directed
his questions and observations entirely
10 him. Isabel. after smiling politely
but coldiy. fired her eyes in desperate
attention upon those wonderful but to
her totally uninteresting animals, the
hounds. the pony and the lion. who were
t-oftipg in some marvellous msneuyer
before her unseeing eyes. She was WV
Idly conscious. though she despissd her
| feN for IT.. OF every word which Dick
was saying TO the ipquisitive Tommy.
"Yes. he had seen t,ears-yes. he hnd
shot one or two-no. he was not living
/ in New York any more-yes. he had the
same horse-yes. this was better than
| the eircrs.- But this last remark was
-1=5e in such a paipahly perfurctory
way that II was evident that he was not
/ enjoying IL at all
| Isabel hoped he didn't. She hoped
/ he was feeling as embarrassed and mis-
| cradle as she was. He deserved IL, too.
He ought to have had sense enough. at
such a pace. not to get into the sea;
mex; to Tommy. He always did gp
straight ahead without ihinking-she
/ knew that-and then. he was near
sighted. But that was no excuse. Did
he expect her to make some everyday
remark to him? She couldn't do it
and whether she could or not, she
wouldn't No one-no girl in her place
could be expected to be more than
icily polite to ihe man who had pre-
tended to love her 10. apd then doubted
her just because she was ordinarily
courteous to a man he didn't like. and
commanded-yes, commanded her to do
just his will and pleasure in the mat
ter. Nobody ever said must" to her
he Ought to have known that. He
ough, not 10 have brought everything
10 that point and made il impossible for
her to refuse without breaking their
engagement. OF course, she had to
break it-she would have died rather
han do IL, but then. she would have
died rather than submit, too. Her
pretty mouth quivered as she thought
of the cruel unrcasonableness of man.
Dick, GU, OF the corner OF his eye
for near-sighteh people see n great
deal-noticed the rebellious line of the
mouth. and concluded that she was as
| wiilful as ever. 1t had all been her do
| ing. II wasn't her fault at first, of
| course-hc owned up to that now. He
could see that 1t was just because she
was so innocent and cordial that she
should have been friendly to that very
Objectionable Englishnan who came
from no one knew where, and had man
aged to gel into her sisters set. Blu,
then. Isabel ought to have understood
| that her lover was the authority on
such points for her. II was just be-
cansc he loved her SO that he interfered
so decidedly: and II she had one spark