The record-union., 1899-02-27
he, SHE and THE RESULT.


They were the best of friends, he
and she. From the first it was UNDER
stood between them that there Snould
be nothing sentimental in their inter-
course. Theirs was to be purely Ideal
friendship. They were to snow the
world by example that such thing as
platonie friendship did exist.
I'VE will be friends, comrades,
chums,' she had exclaimed enthusl-
asticaiIy when outlining the course
each was to pursue, and ne nad ac-
guessed unquestioningly. S.
She was a writer of short stories. He
was a doctor For months before his
compact with her he had been haunted
by the idea that he, too, could set his
thoughts upon paper in readable form;
that the divine aff1atus from above
had descended upon him, and bending
his will to its command he devoted all
his leisure to the writing of short
story. When it was completed he
brought it to her.
They were sitting together IN her
cosy ''den'' The freight leaped and
cracked in the CRATE; close at hand
stood small table bearing steaminS
brass teakettle and dainty O'CLOCK
tea service. But it was at her ne was
gazing with a new interest in his eyes
She wore to-day the blue gown that
he liked her in best of all. 1t was COW
cred over with a filmy network OF
black and gold which glittered ana
spanked with her every movement,
and as she stretched out shppereo
foot and put it on the fender ne no
ticed for the first time that IL was
very small.
She had been going over his story
with him, and still held the manu-
script in her hand.
Its a good story she salo' Juoi-
cially, but there are one or TWO points
you should go over. Now, mere, io'
instance" and she unfolded the manu-
script and pointed to the oHenolns
passages in question.
"Here YOU have the heroine say TO
the hero when he proposes to her:
oh. Mr.. Blank, this is so SUDDEN
Don't you know" severely, that tnat
is dreadfully commonplace?
But" he stammered, 1 thougnt
that was what all girls said when they
were proposed to-
She laughed Have you ever pro-
posed to a girl?" she demanded.
"A few times" he admitted, moo-
estly.
.sWell. and haven't they all said the
same thing, This is so SUDDEN 81
unexpected ;,
.Well-er-something to- that erect,
he stammered.
EXACTLY. That is just what mi try
ing to get at" she cried tr1umphanlis-
Il life at the best is full or trlte coin
monplaces. 1t is the sacred uuty Vi
an author to invent new sltualion''
to make the puppets of their lmaglha-
ton do say and think things out VI
the ordinary. Now, when your IT,
proposes to the heroine, why don't you
have Her say something like TINS
And when she had told him ne saiu
to her admiringly:
How clever you are! never siiou'u
have thought of that.
-Then. another thing" she continued.
"Why do you allow them to marry IN
the end? Do you not know that III
the new school of modern fiction that
marrying and giving in marriage is
unite out of date? Have all the love
making YOU want" with a little seorn-
f11l tilt of her nose, but marry them
never,
He listened to her in silence.
seemed as if his most cherished Ideals
were being crumbled about his ears
Love and marriage had seemed to his
oId-fashioned notion as the keynote on
which ali fiction hung
..Oh. you'll get used to it in time,
she laughed as she handed him back
the manuscript and watched him as ne
mechanically refolded it and placed II
in his pocket. lin time. l have no
hat 8
able to write as cold bloodedly as l do
myself" and then she laughed again,
as he shuddered.
Her stories were always in demana
by a certain class of magazines where
love was used as a lever 10 hang
tragedy or comedy in which mirth
and jest were but a subterfuge to hide
keen, cutting satire beneath. There
was in all her writings a certain yelled
cynicism, a covert sheer at all that
was best and noblest in life. But she
was fairly successful; people read her
stuff and predicted a brilliant future
for her.
Take my advice, my frieni." she
now said, as she drew the table on
which rested the tete-a-tete set closer
to her and poured him out a cup of
tea, "and see in everything tragedy;
even in the most promising romance.
Then life will never disappoint you
People expect too much from their fell
lows; that is all the matter with the
world. The less one expects, the hap
pier he will be; for then, when some one
does Unexpectedly do him a favor he
viii be able to appreciate it without
wondering why they did it, or wishing
it were more"
Il don't like to hear you talk like
this the man said, you are too young
to fall into such pessimistic train of
thought
Again she laughed, but this time
there was a. hard, discordant note in
it. Let us change the subject" she
said Why do you not marry"
This was not a new subject it WAS
one they had threshed out many times
before
II thought you were just preaching
against it, he said, with a smile, ig-
noring the suddenness of the attack.
I'm books, yes; for myself, yes; but
for you, never,'' she replied quickly.
las a married man you would be a
great deal happier than you are now.
Now, as you know, take a great deal
of interest in your welfare, and 1 want
to see you properly settled in life. Mar
riage is the duty of every man and of
most women l have a friend who is
coming to- pay me little visit. She is
in every way fitted for you. 1 want
80 <.<~~ 90 4
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