The Portland daily press., 1899-10-07

"
am also. By the bye, do you sec that tai,
awkward looking fellow. who has lost all
his hairY Yes. Wei, be is going to mar
~ my sister,"
II the heavens bad fallen upon my
head. as our Gallo forefathers had
uniquely dreaded, | could not have been
more stunned nor depressed.
The greatest griefs are speechlcss. 1t
Is enc OF those indisputable truths, one
knows not what to say, therefore l made
no comment. My friend continues:
Rose Yesterday demanded three DAYS
for reflection, but in the end il viii be all
the same. Why would she not acquiesce2
He has 100000 income. He is known
count, to be sure, no longer young, but
no. one seems young in these times. Now
acknowledge that he is tempting NOR
sell"
Recovering my self possession by a
heroic effort, | admitted with all sinceri-
~ apparently, that my friend was most
just in his process OF reasoning. Yes,
wealth and noble birth were the greatest
blessings in this life. AS to youth, not a
word could be said in its favor, for moth
ing comes to those who possess it only.
Had ! put vague accent of bitterness
in that last Affirmative? Montague had
said, Perhaps" and Rabelais. what
do know of it," and l uttered the word
Probably" for Roses brother suddenly
looked Mt me with curiosity, and replied:
"You speak like an anarchistw Then
he turned and quickly left me to join the
young ladies.
Alone in crowd. Where is one ever
more alone than amid a throng of
strangers? / painfully collected my
ideas, as scattered us q flock OF spar
rows after the report of a gun. A cry
escaped me:
''Ah, the womenr'
An old gentleman passing at the time
heard those words, saw the expression of
my face, ! suppose, and spoke to me:
Believe me, my dear child, there's
just as good fish in the sea-
That man had evidently never suffer-
ed. continued, but in suppressed tones,
and this time in furious monologue:
where am L? Darkness and horror
have invaded my being. Rose to marry,
and not me-to marry that preposterous
looking man for his money! Oh, wretched
childr'
At that moment l saw her seated apart
in a little reception room. She had
FASTENED there, without doubt, from the
heavy atmosphere of the other rooms.
Thereupon i remembered that l had not
as yet presented my compliments to her,
and so l advanced toward her, dissimu-
lating my distress Of mind. She saw me
coming and looked with softness in her
regard that seemed like a caress, and as
! watched her / could almost read her
love for me in that sweet face. She
stretched out her hand to me, accepted
my courtesies with pleasure. There,
standing before her, had no longer the
courage to hate her. All. far from that;
truly. very far from that.
We uttered words never to be forgot
ten. She said:
II really believe that there are over
200 people present this evening. 1t is
suffocating. l have a headache"
| replied: "At least 200, and all your
friends. Yes, it is very close. We are
having an early spring. There are some
Champs Elysees."
"Really?" she said.
Absolutely" affirmed. :,
"Oh,"
"Yes."
While speaking she toyed with card
case OF light blue leather, and among
other things | said, "That is n very
pretty cardcase." Then Roses face sud-
denly frightened.
"If it pleases you," she said, do pray
accept it."
She held it out to me at the end OF her
gloved fingers, and l thought her hand
tremblcd.
"But may II"
eyes, l desire you to-" she replied au-
thoritatively. Take tit will be-
AT that moment some people entered,
and we were forced to separate. had
the cardcase in my hand. put it in my
pocket, thinking all the time of Roses
generous nature.
All that evening Rose waltzed with
her old fiance. who so awkwardly spread
his legs out when he turned. When l
reached my room. threw the little card
case in a drawer, not dreaming for a
moment of opening it.
Reason had triumphed. had resolved
to rcnounce her, to 20 away and to try
and forget, and all this did.
Rose married.
Twenty years have passed since that
adventure. and now only the other day,
when | was arranging some old. yellow
papers, ! found little. light blue card
case that | had entirely forgot possess
ing ln> the bottom OF an unused drawer.
Perplexed, endeayoring to remember the
incident pertaining to it. l opened it. In
the right pocket there was folded pa
per. Then. mysti6ed, l read the follow
ing lines:
Theodore:
You are the I love Do you care for me?
They want to marry me to another. but II have'
your love viii refuse this offer and become your
betrothed. If you are not indifferent, be in
front OF Trinity church tomorrow at 8 O'clock
II you do not come, | shall understand. and then
care net vino marry.
1t was signed "Rose."
Suddenly it all came back to me. i
had ruined my life by not having exam
ined the little case. l cried for my lost
youth. Then thought of seeking out
Rose and. once finding her. to tell her
that ! still loved her, that had always
cared for her. However, | soon came to
my senses again. was 45 and she 40
years old. l made face, burned the
letter and cardease, but while the flames
from my solitary hearth destroyed this
| relics no doubt / had a heartbroken