The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-26

err but not until Jim had called on his friends
ana laid himself open TO invitations from
their country seats by letting people know
now forlorn and lonely he going to be
tagging away in hot city office On Coke ana
Blackstone.
People were not loath to invite Jim, for the
Stalktons were rich and Jim himself very
agreeable; he could tell story, sail a boat.
sing song, play d good game at billiards or
tennis and was a champion at golf The law
office did not have very strong grip on him
1t offered fair excuse when he wanted to
decline an invitation. but easily gwen up
when he wanted to accept one. He always
wanted to accept one when he could be
thrown into the company of Miss DumOnd
Jim and 1 saw each other in the early sum-
mer. We often took a spin on our wheels
sometimes when he had left the city streets
far behind US we would throw ourselves down
on the grass to rest then Jim would begin
to pour out his sufferings, his doubts and his
anXieties
'Confound you, Jim," I used to say, some
times; do you think that l have haven't
any troubles of my own-I am not a pail for
you to pump your dStreSSeS into.
But I have no one else to confide in he
would plead. THE one thing want to know
is if she loves me-.
You couldntN expect her to put it on a
placard and it AROUND her neck, could
you?"
Don't joke. Aleck. You see, I thought
from the way she looked at me and the way
her voice sounded when I said goodbye that
it was all right with her"
ooh, you thought so?-Humph!' said l, saw
agely but Jim did not pay attention to what
said, he only paid attention to what he said
But the next time saw her., he went on;
there seemed to be kind of GOODNESS and
Indifference in her eyes, and l did not dare
to speak to her."
ut seems you do not like her we'll enough
to venture uncertainty" said l. and l said
like instead of love because 1 never thought
that Jim Stallkton had any idea of love-
81 do not want to come to grief by hasty
STEP" he said.
Does not love always mean grief and sus
pense and anxious waitng?" l said at last
made desperate by his incoming and grooming
How should you knoW?" he said, with a
half scornful laugh.
ooh, got it out of the poetry books, said l.
The Dumonds going to give house
party at their summer place at crystal
Beach. There were a good many guests, and
in order to accommodate them they had i'm
provised some sleeping rooms in the attic
| It was a place so large and high that 1t had
sometimes been used ballroom or as
little theater, but for this occasion the car
penter was sent for to put in Studdlng for
partitions, which, instead of being lathed and
plastered, were simply covered with burlaps
and finished with a cretonne border with
ceiling like a canopy. 1t was Intended that
the young gentlemen of the party were to oc-
cupy the new rooms for the walls were so
thin that whatever was said in one room
could be heard in the neighboring ones.
Jim Stalkton, who was always very prompt
/ in getting into the society of his charmer,
came down to Crystal Beach quite early in
the day and was given one Of the old rooms.
Most of the young ladies came in at O'Clock
in the afternoon, and jim must have shone
like a star, being the only man in the crowd.
The rest of the party had arranged to get
out on the o'clock train in time to dress
for dinner and dance in the evening.
It was a wretched, one-track branch rail-
road that ran out to Crystal Beach. 1t al
ways went snailing along with clouds OF low
| hill ofh hot oT1 oyo6
on this night it ran into an open switch, and
ditched the whole train-nobody was hurt;
they do those things very deXtrousiy on that
road by keeping in constant pract1ce-but our
party hungry and eXpectant, found ourselves
twenty miles from destination with no
chance of getting through that night.
couple of hours or more we got on board of
a switch engine and were carried way
fourteen or fifteen miles more, when, at the
junction cross roads, we were again dropped
for the night, unpromising looking tavern
offering a kind of shelter which most of our
party were glad to accept. 1, however, de-
cided to walk the rest of the way. The Du-
monds' house only seven miles away,
and I was in hopes of getting there before
the place was shut up.
In this 1 was disappointed; the house was
all dark and quiet, except a glim of light in
the kitchen. 1 tapped softly on the door,
and was let in by the cook, grim old
gress who grinned when she saw me.
Law, Mr.. Monroe you amt no ghost now,
sho? We don hear dat train all got kill-den
we hear yo' all got live agan-an' now de
house has all got quiet like an everybody's
gone asleep Pears like dey ain nobody
comm but you
They are coming tomorrow-don't make
fuss, Aunt Chloe-just give me a place to
sleep and don't wake anybody up
Oars pink colored room on de top flo,
honey-Miss Jessie don fix dat room for you
took off my shoes and tip-toed up the
back stairs with a kitchen candle, which the
wind blew out as soon as 1 was inside the
door. I was not bit sleepy; the events of
the evening, the shock of the accident, my
solitary walk across the country had made