The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-11-24
A SHAFT BY CUPID.

dinner was a good one in every de.
tail; for stringy fllet and wing with q
harsh metallic twang closes the heart OF
man TO generous communication and
binds his tongue hard and fast 10 common.
place.
Corned beef, crimson TO the core with
saltpeter and hanked by underboiled onions
and fabby cabbage, will make the customer
see in The host or guest an enemy lying IN
wait for some unguarded statement or caro-
less admission Of which he may take advan.
tage.
"I never told you about my old girl back
in New Hampshire, did IY asked the en-
gineer, knocking the first feathery mar
gin Of ash from his cigar and stirring the
Jumps Of sugar in his coffee.
New Hampshire" repeated his friend.
"No, don't believe you ever did. Hold on,
Thoughts Dernerport in New Hamp-
shirey You told me about girl there
once"
mo; did II What, about Polly Peter.
sonH
THAT wasn't the name. 1t was Mabel
something-Mabel Nichols-that's what II
was"
"Why, yes" said the engineer, smiling
rather fooishly, "your memory is better
than mine. Mabel, of course; Polly was
now let me see, where the dickens was Pol.
ly? Well, 1t doesn't matter anyway. Neither
+ Of them has anything to do with my New
Hampshire girl. Dernersport is in northern
PENNSYLVANIA. No, this New Hampshire
girl was the real and only. 1t wasn't any
ephemeral, light weight, buggy gy-ride-and.
cream-soda attachment; 1t was fierce un-
reasoning Ella Wheeler Wilcox passion-a
burning love that has left scars. Honest,
Mosely, II / had married that girl / would
have been a better man."
That's what you said about Polly. She
Scared you up some, too, If I remember
right"
II shouldn't wonder If she did," said the
engineer, "and might have been a better
man If had married her. I'm not con-
tending that I'm absolutely perfect now.
Sayl Women are remarkable things, Nose
ly. Did you ever stop TO think of it in that
light?"
"Quite frequently" said his friend.
"What was this ones name? 1t isn't i'm
pertinent curiosity. / just wanted to get
her placed to avoid confusion"
"Her name was-no. I'm not going to
tell you that. There are some things that
are too sacred TO tell even to q friend like
you. 1t wouldn't do you any good to know
her name"
al l had any way of proving il I'd bet
five dollars you've forgotten it,"
"Have 1t your own way" said the eng-
neer. "I loved her just the same. If she
had wanted me to I'd have laid me doom to
dee, like the fellow in the song, at any
stage in the game. l think l may say that
she felt the same way about me. How is it
we never marry the girl we passionately
adore, Mosely" ..
eve do. The trouble is 1t wears off and
/ then we get to thinking that the one with
| the blue eyes was the lS-carat Fair Imo-
| gene. 1t works that way every time. Did
| she pass you up or was it the other way?"
| II guess it was little Of both. 1t was
| too hot to keep. There was something
fated about it from the first, and we often
talked the matter over after l had de.
clared myself. 1t wasn't week before She d
yet up to the piano just about the cleaning
and sing:
'Perchance II we had never met,
I had been spared this mad regret,
This endless striving to forget,
Forever and forever"
"That shows how it stood. We each had
presentments, don't you know. What
d'you think she called me, MoselyH"
"Baby?"
"No, I'm not fooling"
"Was it My king?' How should know
what she called you? 1 give it up. I had
a girl call me 'Pigsey' once, but you can't
prove anything by that
The civil engineer sighed heavily ant
picked out fresh cigar. 81 guess l won't
tell you that either" he said, "but / cur
never love another woman as l did thai
one. They don't thrill me in the same way
any more. can sit down and hear a CIR
sing Sweet Alice or something like tina
and it never feazes me-"
at does me-" remarked the friend. "Ex
cuse me when they sing Sweet Alice"
ut was funny thing about u.s." returned
the engineer. 1--WE didn't have to talk mucl
to make love. We understood each othel
SO we'll that words would have been an i'm
pertinence. 1t was enough for us to b,
near each other-perhaps to clasp hands
and look into each others eyes"
"Holy smoke" CALCULATED the friend
az went to see her about year ago-tht
first time in six years"
"She had grown fat, suppose, and hRG
seven children and an incompetent dress
maker"
"She was n little stout, but not enough
to hurt, and only had four children. wal
naturally rather agitated at the thought o.
meeting her again, and I anticipated some
slight degree of awkwardness, considering
everything, I needn't have worried about
it, though"
'Did she turn you down"
mo, not by any means. She seemed
quite pleased to see me when I explained
who was, but it seemed to bother her a
first to place me. She said she recollectet
my father and my cousin Joseph quite well
however"
THAT was something"
at was. We talked about Cousin JOSEPH
and my parent for some time and then she
asked me If had ever met her husband.
81 called her bluff. told her that had
never met him, but had often heard my
cousin Joe speak of him. That husband ot
hers was the boy we first quarreled about
was little hot, she was so comfortable
aud unembarrassed about it, and / asked heI
if she remembered that little slippery horse
hair sofa in the back parlor.
at never touched her, though She
| laughed and said that she remembered II