The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1899-11-02
p | | | II
= THE MONUMENT.
A Lazy, Handsome, Obstinate Man
Marries a Confiding Girl of Sew
enteen. Query: What Be-
comes of the Girl?

u IIlIlIIllllllIIll 10
1 think 1 may fairly claim to know
more Of Monty's peculiarities than
most people, for I have known him all
my life.
Therefore, when he told me one after
noon that he was going to be married,
1 felt in position to pity the girl from
the bottom Of my heart. Monty" by
the way, is contraction of "Monu-
ment," name specially invented, as
summing up neatly both his physical
and mental aspect.
He is tall and extremely handsome,
after the style Of the later and more
degenerate Greek gods, bearing on
every feature and in every movement
the stamp Of languor and of laziness.
is Incidence personified, and, in
q if you take that away, there re-
little or nothing but Obstinacy
a big o.. This combination,
(. ed together by thick solution of
y onplacency, produces, metaphor
speaking, stone wall.
cannot argue with him; he will
& er be convinced himself nor at
: 1rouble Of convincing you. You
< OF interest him against his will,
II he seldom wishes to be interested.
T. ally you cannot even have the salts
e. ton Of quarreling with him. for he
II Il not be reused, and looks on your
jupreme efforts to anger him with the
iasy tolerance Of a victorious Perseus
watching Medusa's snaky locks in
wine themselves around his fingers
nd strive to make him relax his hold.
At one moment Of our lives he would
ave had me believe in his lordly way
hat he was not unwilling to link my
lestiny with his. But, strange to re-
late, I remained unmoved by the gold
en- prospect Of his companionship, pro-
tracted neutrality-suspicious. eternally
and his tentative hints lapsed easily
into oblivion. To return to the after
noon in question. Being aware Of his
artistic temperament, naturally jump
ed to the conclusion that his choice
had fallen on "a daughter of the gods"
ooh, no." he said in his slow way,
"a beautiful woman is delightful to
look at, but not to marry. She would
be impossible to manage"
"Then is she young" asked, though
my curiosity was somewhat damped.
"Just IT," he observed thoughtfully
and was surprised at my exclamation,
"But, my dear Monty, you are old
enough to be-
Excuse me, Minnie, would rather
she were still younger. Marry child,
and you may hope to educate her into
the wife you would cherish in your old
age"
"Ohv I gasped. "Then what is she
like?"
"Inclined to be frivolous, but I shall
soon remedy that. The poor girl is
only too glad to find man who Is not
hunting her for her paltry five or six
hundred year."
That I could readily believe, and, in
Justice to Monty, must say that mon
ey, as mere money, does not In the
least appeal to him. Perhaps that Is
because he has always had enough to
be comfortable.
But he was not a good lover. He was
even then far more interested In the
academy than in his fiancee's charms.
There were three or four portraits Of
lovely women that he spoke OF in q
way that made me glad the originals
did not come within his sphere Of &C
quaintance-for the girls sake.
He did not carry her photo in his
pocket. It took him several moments
Of hard thought to remember her adj
dress, and-"When you are intimate
enough to call her by her Christian
name," he remarked, @"please call her
Euphemia and not Efie."
"Why?" I asked, determined on no
account to dc. so.
Because" he answered impressive
", "Efie is too Insignificant for mar
ried woman, and have strong objec-
ton to pet names"
sWhen," I inquired sternly, when
did you ever in the whole course of our
lives call me by my baptismal naneY
Monty smiled indulgently.
'That is different. You are not going
to be my wife,"
I confess I reveled in this consolfng
thought, for nothing in the world could
ever reconcile me to the peculiar atroc-
ity Of my name, and if it's full hideous-
ness were to be the hourly accompani-
ment Of my married life should be
afraid Of the consequences. 1t is Je-
NINA. Now, you may say, and with
perfect truth, that Minnie" is not