The record-union., 1898-06-05
A CRIMSON VICTORY.

Mr.. Forester had not found his drive
from the city out to Soldiers Field as
agreeable as he had expected.
Kathleen Duer smiling upon him IN
preference to any one of the croWd
of young men. so-called the gang -
when Mr. Forester was in college less
vulgar phrases had been used ac-
cepting his invitation to the game
promising to wear his colorS, had peen
charming to behold; Kathleen Duer
unsmiling and taciturn, keeping her
promise indeed, wearing the blue, but
wearing it most ungraciously, was al
together a different person.
Mr. Forester did not like college
boys They We're SO disgracefully
young and so little ashamed of it. They
had so much more hair on their heads,
so much less on their faces, than he
could boast of They were so exuber-
ant, so ineXcusably cheerful. they had
so little money, and yet seemed quite
unconscious of the vast superiority OF
his wealth.
1t had been one Of the many charms
Of Miss Duer that she had been ap-
preciative of his claims to considera-
ton: never was she more attentive and
delightful than in the presence of those
young cubs. There was one young
Grant whose mere appearance at the
door always seemed to make her espe-
cially interested in Mr.. Forrester's good
stories which he related SO often and
so well: at such times he felt he had
never delighted a more absorbed list
ener.
But to-day Miss Duer gave scant at
tention to his anecdotes; yawned a
little when he quoted poetry; was in
different to the details of the games
Of his youth She looked out of the
window when he dropped his voice, and
asked if he would mind sitting op-
posite instead of beside her; she did
not want to crush her skirt. Mr.. For
roster had not known that tailor-made
skirts We're crushable.
He had studied the girl carefully all
summer and fall, and the outcome of
his study was a certain blue velvet
case in his waistcoat pocket at that
moment, containing a ring with a dia-
mond in it big enough to block the
horizon of any girl. He would not
speak yet; it would be tantalizing to
have her so near and yet so far during
the game, but driving back triumph
antly, his colors victorious on the field,
he would say the important words sit
ting by her side Then the skirt, the
great occasion being over. might be
crushed with impunity. OF course, it
was just as well to have it fit now;
Mr. Forester was an authority on wo-
mems clothes, and liked everything
correct about the girl he honored with
his attentions There was almost a
thrill under his waistcoat as he looked
at Kathleen and realized how near he
was to sober rapture.
But Kathleen Duer's calm exterior
covered perfect volcano. Two weeks
Lago, on the night when Donald Grant
had been particularly and objections
ably sheep" had first glowered over
in the corner and then been unneces-
sarily attentive to her pretty cousin
Sarah. it had seemed a simple matter
to say that she would go to the game
with Mr.. Forester Spurred on by the
indignant glance she had encountered.
she had gone still further, had prom
ised to wear the Yale colors-this, how
ever, in tone not to be overheard.
Two minutes later she would have
given her pretty head to be released
from her agreement, but she could not.
She had had such a miserable time
since! Her cousins had been kind to
her, but she had felt that they and
"all the rest which generally meant
1.-The gang" had been kind with pity
ing tolerance that was simply mad
dening. The crowning enormity had
been known to them only two days
since the Yale violets began to arrive,
and since then the gang" had never
been mentioned in her presence. Com