The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-09-08
TRAPPED BY CUPID.

night; If the wires had been blown down by
a storm, or ii the Herald had gotten
double'lcaded lirstpage beat on us, we could T!
not have been more dismayed than we were
when we learned that Baxter had married |
We heard rumors OF the ceremony first, and |
then we had one OF the boys look up the H.
cense, and this confirmed these rumors.
Baxter was the last man in the world that
anyone expected to take unto himself a
wife He had sworn times and again that
he was a woman hater, and had even car.
Tied it so far that he moved his desk out of
one OF the rooms because a woman writer
on the Times had been assigned to the
room. He was sober solemn, somewhat
taciturn man. but he was the brightest
writer on the paper, and his name had APP
peared several times to articles in the first
class magazines, and, what is MORE, he was
beginning to be asked for stories.
AS | said, he was confirmed woman
hater; 50 much SO, indeed, that we believed
he was as firmly lodged On the rocks Of
bacheorhood rs Great Britain is on Gibral-
tar. And yet he had married!
There was no inkling OF his prospective
| marriage about the office, but after it had
I happened we recalled that he had appeared
absent minded, and also that his story,
Fighting Against Fate, running as serial
in the Alpaca Magazine for Dung Girls, was
teeming with 'ove-a topic, by the way, be
had never before attempted.
Baxter had gone on wedding tOuI--a
"spoonin' junket," the office boy called it
and every day we counted the hours before
ne would return and let us know all OF the
particulars. One of the reporters had
| learned that his wife was a young milliner
who boarded at the same place he did
The two weeks finally ended and Baxter
returned to the Office, and, what is moro,
brought his wife with him. She was quiet
little woman, and during the hall hour she
was about scarcely said word but yes
or no" and she was not very pretty; just
passably good looking.
Days went by and Baxter, am sure, saw
that we were consumed with curiosity as to
how he happened to get married, when one
day, there being a hull in the work, he spoke
up and told us this:
"Of course, you are all reading Fighting
Against Fate, now running as serial.
Well, that was an entirely new line for me.
for it tells of gay young man who was
always making love to some girl As you
ness; never spoke word of affection to a
girl in all my life, but as that Was the kind
Of a story the magazine wanted, and as
they offered me a good price, why, such a
stoy it had to have. How well succeeded
in filling their wants you must judge"
Its beaut, interrupted the office boy.
Thanks" said Baxter, and went on: Il
; studied the subject over for several days and
finally | decided that the only way for me to
get the spirit of my hero and give him life
was to do as he did When made up my
mind to do that | just put on bold face
and started out. | tacricd the landlady
first, but she did not take kindly to my ways,
and then | tried woman who lives next
door, and with whom | had slight ae.
quaintance.
THAT woman was all right when it came
down to Irritation. We were getting along
swirnmingly; had gotten so far along that
one night | actually pressed her hand.
Things were getting to be a bit dangerous
and her husband interfered. told him my
object, and he said some things about liter
airy men that my religion prevents me from
repeating.
1T was about this time that quiet, modest
little woman came to board at our house.
She worked III downtown store, and as she
9 seemed to be all alone in the world singled
her out as my victim. She had no husband
a or brother to come between us; in fact she
} was just the woman had been looking for.
2 AS soon as saw her knew that | could
3 do the story | was scheduled to write JUS
tice. So | began with her the second night
!. she was there, and | was very well satisfied
with my first experience, for | went back to
t my room and drafted the principal features
a of the story.
1--WE got along splenddly. Inside Of a
week | was reading Maud to her, and the
second week we began on Lucille, and had
tackled about all of the poems OF that kind
a Why, that's what | was doing so much Of
, the time in the exchange room-cuttins out
q sentimental poems. Then we used to talk
about the moonlight and all that sort Of
5 thing. The more | went on the more inter
ested | became. We were together all The
: time. When we didn't have anything tC
talk about we'd sit close together and hole
[. each others hand and silently look at the
e wall.
"Of course, there was some guying goinI
on about us, but didn't care, for I'd leave
her and go to my room and grind out chap
s. ter of my serial story and suffer just as much
" rs my hero did and groan with despair ove
y the uncertainty of my fate, whethe~ Gwen
- doline returned my affections or whethe
she loathed me, for, you see, was playing
n the star part in the story myself. had I
u troublesome time for few months.
e well, of course, had to finish the stor,
1T some time. | couldn't go on for all time, 20,
know. | had killed the girls father, brough
her down to sewing in family where tn
old woman was jealous of her husband; sen
her lover away because she was too proud t,
It accept him, now that she was poor, ant
thought that he simply pitied her. and ha,
L. generally got the story mixed up so that tn
=, reader of the Alpaca Magazine for Youn
\ Girls had nervous prostration waiting TO
4 the next number
"0f course, married the two after sh
=. had gone to him and nursed him through
siege of sickness, and had had some oil
o mining stock of her fathers make her a
rich as her lover, and that ended the story
y But l couldn't keep away from that Ettl
i milliner! The fact of the matter is that
h had gotten so in the habit Of ch9sin
around with her that couldn't stop it.
1t Things didn't 60 right with me at all;
was restless nights and couldn't eat, and