Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-16
THE VILLAGE
VOLUNTEER.
E. Bruce chesterman, Jr)

4
had never for one moment thought serl
ously Of '13ig Bill Jones'" as he wa
] familiarity called by nearly every one II
the little town. Why should she. a gil
with her tastes, culture. and wealth, lool
at a great. awkward clod like BIZ, VIII
was well enough I'm his fathers corntieid
but who whenever he appeared in com
pany," looked sadly out Of place. sn'
was n girl Of sentiment, who IoVed IN
romantic side of life, while plain, method
cal Bll was far too prOsaic TO see TO
nance In anything.
He was content 10 look after the broad
and rich acres Of his fathers farm, whicf
would one day be his. and could not see
that he would be any better of by leaving
the old place and going 20 some college
a. so many Of the town lads did, to study
either law or medicine. II is true that
when these boys returned and hung out
their shingles they bore themselves with
| quite professional air and were looked
up 90 and made much Of and I'm the eyes
of sleepy little Summersyi!le were con-
sidered men Of importance, whose opn-
lon was well worth having on all mat
ters concerning the welfare Of the town.
10 was very nice 10 be called Doctor
instead OF plain John BIZ. or Joe. TO
which they had always before answered
or 10 be looked upon and pointed out as
the future Judge" but then Bill didn
| notice, as the years went by, that they
| grew rich very fast, or that their health
was being injured by too much work. He
| had vague idea. too, that his own ac-
count i'm the one bank that Summersyille
boosted was quite as large as that Of any
| other young man in the town.
| And so. IN his slow way. Bill plodded
on. quite content TO 1--we his quiet life
| and only now and then heaving a sigh
| when he noticed the attentions shOwered
upon pretty Florence Bradley by the
smart" young men OF the town. and
saw how his own efforts TO gain her favor
were Of little use. Not that he was con-
stanty at her feet. as We're some of her
more favored admirers. Oh. no. Sum-
mersyille was eight miles from the great
farmhouse in which Bill had made his
home since the day OF his birth. and
sturdy though ne was, at night he was
usually far too tired TO care TO ride over
to the town. lie knew that he must
rise with the lark. and that TO follow the
example of that blithe bird he could not
emulate the owl. Thus it was that Bill
saw Florence Bradley very seldom. AT
one time ii is true he had driven to
Summersville regularly once a week and
called upon that young lady, but 10 the
quiet bashful farmer boy these visits
had proved very unsatisfactory. 1t was
by the rarest good luck that he ever found
her alone, for her admirers were NUM-
bered by the score And Bill himself
though dressed in his very best was con-
scious that he Looked out Of place in the
presence Of the popular belle Of the VIII
lage and the dapper young men whom
he generally found installed I'm the front
pardon when he was ushered in. Bill was
not entirely without a knowledge Of his !
own worth. modest fellow though he
was, ana for many Of the spick and span
soft-tongued young men Of the town he
almost felt a contempt. He was fairly
well educated, and coupled with that
possessed what many Of his rivals did
not-good, hard, common sense. He was
just the man 10 make success Of life. |
and possessed just those qualities which |
q girl Of IS seldom appreciates.
Bill Jones was not an Adonis; tAere was |
too much of him for that. and his every |
movement bore ample testimony TO that |
fact. He never sat down on one OF those /
misunderstanding. spindle-legged chairs I'm |
the paror Of the Bradley residence. that |
he did not first hesitate and make a men, |
tel calculation as TO whether the frail !
piece OF furniture would bear his weight. |
For Bill was not built for q dollhouse. |
and whenever he walked into that hand |
somely furnished room he felt just as |
though he were I'm one Of those miniature /
parl0rs constructed for the delight of lit |
tie tots Of T. An awkward sweep of |
one of his great arms would have played |
havoc with the bric-a -brac while his |
long legs often endangered the safety of |
some dainty piece of furniture that was
below the range Of those deep blue eyes, |
set in q head that lowered like a giant |
above everything else I'm the room. And |
so the very fear that his great body |
would do some damage in this fairy-like |
bower in which Florence Bradley pre- !
sided with such grace caused him to be |
even more awkward than he otherwise !
would, and his slow and cautious move |
ments often made the big fellow appear /
very ridiculous.
lie was conscious Of all this, and he |
often lOnged TO be out i'm the cool night |
air. where he might stretch his mighty /
limbs and let his muscles have free play. |
He sometimes argued with himself. did !
this young giant. that this beautiful and |
elegantly-furnished room was not the |
place for him. nor its occupants his fit |
ting companions. Not that he did not |
consider himself their equal in every |
way. He knew that he was, and so did |
every one else. But then he could not !
enter with any spirit into the enjoyment |
of these occasions, when he found him
self. i'll at ease, in the company Of |
Florence Bradley and her suitors. lie |
could not make those soft little speeches. |
that seemed to so tickle the ear of the |
fair young girl nor was he skilled I'm the |
art Of fattery Indeed. he was far too |
blunt and outspoken, and too prone TO |
commit the objectionable offence OF tell |
ing the truth when Il sugar-cOated story |
should have been substituted instead.
And so Bills visits 10 the Bradley resi-
dence gradually grew less frequent, until |
there came a time when he seldom saw !
the fair occupant of that house except |
on Sunday. when he would find himself |
forgetting the sermon which the good |
man I'm the pulpit was preaching. and al
lowing his eyes 10 rest long and attentive
~ on the pew i'm which sat Florence Brad
ley. But though he met her so seldom.
he Gid not allow her 10 pass from his
mind 10y any means He was very serious
and very earnest for IL must be remCm-
bered that this was his first attack OF
the malady called love And then. too.
he was not doing anything to arrest the
progress of the disease. There came q
day, however, when Bill Jones aroused
himself and emerged from the lethargy
into which he had fallen. And the event
which caused the slow-gOing farmer boy
10 become wlde-awake for once In his
life was one that had a similar effect on
thousands and thousands Of others
throughout the United States. 1t was no
thing less than the gathering of the dark