The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1898-01-27
land that IL was the only thing a man

land that it was the only thing man
could do?
Tommy broke in upon the medita-
lions of the pair at this juncture with:
"Aunt Isabel, don't you think Mr..
Farquhar's dog was prettier than those
are? mean his big dog"
Now an engaged couple are apt to
have certain associations with places
and things. Dicks big dog-certain1y
noble animal-was indelibly associ-
ated, for instance, with certain aft
ernoon walk, and that walk, again.
with certain private and personal mat
tiers between the two. Tommy. uncon-
sciously, had done his worst.
"Mr. Farquhar's dog, of course, is far
prettier, DEAR" Isabel answered. brave
iy; but she felt a burning flush mount
ing to her cheeks, and hoped. agoniz-
ingly, that Dick didn't remember as
clearly as she did. Men we're so tickle
that perhaps they forgot. AS for her,
she never could forget. She wasn't
sure she wanted to. now that she saw
Dick again. She believed in him; she
knew he was good AID true and all that,
and she knew they would have been
happy together. She never should care
for anybody else. She never, never
would have broken the engagement by
herself. She wasn't ashamed of hav-
ing loved him. though she was very,
very angry with him still, and never
wanted to speak to him or see him.
She supposed she would never get over
it, for here, at this moment, though she
had not seen him for six months, she
felt worse pang than at their parting.
She was even glad that she had seen
him, that she was sitting near him,
though after this half hour she would
never see him again. But this was all
Ito speak, to raise q finger, to let him
see any trace of relenting from her
firm attitude, would be impossible and
unwomanly. Her life was broken in
pieces and 1t was his fault-and she
loved him still. Well. it was a wom-
ans fatei
Poor 1sabers eyes Allied up with tears
here. as she contemplated the tiger rid
ing on his bicycle, and reflected that the
show must be nearly over. Tommy,
meanwhile, having been disappointed
In her reception Of his remarks, pratt
tied on awhile to Dick, and finding him
also strangely unresponsive, subsided
into silent admiration of the acrobatic
lioness.
Dick pulled away at his mustache as
was his wont when in deep thought.
His mind, too, was back upon the after
noon walks. She was just the sweetest
girl in the world; he couldn't get away
from that. He had met all the prettiest
girls in San Francisco, and tried his
best to fall in love with some of them,
and couldn't rouse himself to care six
pence for the prettiest. A girl ought to
realize, when she threw q man over that
way. that she ruined his life. He never
could love anybody else-and he didn't
want to! Here he had been trying to
forget all about her, and now every
smallest part of the old overmastering
feeling had come back as he sat near
her and looked at her pretty half-avert-
ed face and graceful figure. She had the
| prettiest foot in the world. He would
he almost willing tohave it set upon his
neck! But no; that wasn't manly-it
wasn't right to yield. It was her fault,
| and he couldn't submit to it-but he
loved her just the same. And now that
that confounded lion in a velvet robe
was driving a team Of tigers round the
ring, he supposed the show was about
overland he could go back to San Fran
cisco and she would go back to New
York, and they would never see each
| other again.
The animals trotted nimbly out of the
ring; the iron doors closed upon them;
the crowd rose hurriedly to go forth in
search of more shows. Dick felt that
politeness at least required a farewell
bow; and as Isabel seemed bent upon
freeing her dress from some projection
on the bench, and did not turn. he hesi-
tated before stepping out into the aisle.
Tommy scuffied past him, and Isabel re-
luctantly left her pretense of absorp-
tion and followed. In three seconds
these two who loved each other better
than anything else upon earth, and
who were no more fools than the ordi-
nary, would have parted forever. Moth
ing could have induced either of them to
forego their evident stand on the right
of things--nothing-except nail on
the floor, which caught the edge of
Isabel's shoe, tripped her violently. and
threw her, in an entirely helpless and
undignified way, full into Dicks arms.
No resolution can be blamed for Civ
ing way under surprise like that. 1t
was all very well for them to sit apart
and argue the matter to themselves and
come to irrevocable conclusions. But
when man finds the one woman in the
world whom he loves flung close into
his arms by fate, and when a woman
feels herself in the embrace Of the only
man she ever has loved or can love, ir-
revocability becomes but u name. 1t
was all over with the resolutions in
fash. Every feeling of anger and de-
termination that had tormented the
l. u