The age-herald., 1899-03-26
IAN EASTER ENGAGEMENT.
BY EVEN M'PHERsoN-


 In that city, and in those days-things may be different now-they did things in free-and-easy, neighborly fashion For instance, there were no telephone pay sta- tions, and not many private houses were furnished with telephones of their own you went to your favorite corner drug store, smiled at the clerk and nodded to the tele- phone with which every drug store was equipped, then the clerk would say, Help yourself" and you helped yourself, gratis. to the use of the telephone. Not only that, but, if you lived near a really obligng drug store, the clerk would receive messages for you and send them by a chance mes- senger to your house.
 In that way 1t happened that good deal of neighborly conversation, over and above what went on around the store, was held in the drug store And sometimes one overheard what was not at all interesting to hear, and sometimes what was
 Julius Canby overheard something that interested him very deeply one day while he was waiting at the counter for the clerk to rummage out and open a new case of cigars. Julius did not know the lady by name, though her face was familiar enough. She went to the telephone and asked for certain number which Julius knew, it may be said, intimately. After that he overhead the lady say, 'Is that you, Maud?"
 Julius often rang up that number himself and talked to one Maud
 What he made out afterwards was: q want you to tell me about Easton. Yes?
 Yes? Now you're quite sure? It is an en- gagement, then? So glad. Goodbye"
 And when the drug clerk had got out those new cigars, and Julius had sampled
 one, he did not like the flavor nearly as
 we'll as he expected to. He bought a few
 Of the cigars, so as not to disappoint his
 friend, the clerk, and then, as he walked
 home, he meditated bitterly on two things
 the sureness of his insight and the fickle-
 ness of woman.
 II knew it all along'' he said to himself "I was blamed fool to let myself be taken in by a transparent flirt like that Didn' Billy Herbert give me a plain hint? And didn't Mrs. Capston tell me-or as good as tell me-she had seen Maud Andrews go through all that more than once before Never mind. A fool must learn by ex- perience. It's Easton's turn to learn now
 Wonder how long it will be before he gets his lesson"
 The Easton mentioned in this soliloquy was strapping youth just from college. Most people in the settlement liked him. Maud Andrews among them, but Julius did not, chiefly because Maud did-too much, Julius thought
 It was dusk as Julius strolled home from
 the drug store, meditating bitterly A large dog met him on the sidewalk and stopped as if expected to be noticed, but Julius passed on until, a few paces further, he was stopped by the salutation, "Hi, Canby, what are you dreaming about?" It was the voice of the dogs owner Easton.
 "Helo!" said Julius "Oh. wasn't
 dreaming at all. Ha, hal Congratulate you, Easton."
 "Ch, so you've heard eh? Well, I
 thought I'd pull it off, you know" You did, eh?" said Julius, with a snort
 of sarcastic significance. "It's great thing in these cases to have confidence I
 suppose"
 T don't see that that makes any differ ence," said Easton. You can't influence judges with a show of confidence, you know
 "Well, must be getting home" said Julius anxious to end the interview And after he had left the other man, he said to himself, That's about the tallest piece of gall I ever encountered. Wonder what the fellow meant by Influence the judges"
 A few days later he met Maud Andrews, WHO dSkeO HlHn why Sne ndu seen nothing of him since the week before. "Oh, nothing" he said. "I only thought"
 "What?" said Maud. "Thought you might not be particularly anxious to see me just now" That was a funny thought for you to have,' she remarked. What made you think it?'
 "Oh, don't you know?" he said. "No, don't" Cant you guess?'' "No, can't guess.' "Then don't think there's any particu- lar reason why should enlighten you.' They parted, and Maud bit her lip, calling
 Julius Canby in her heart "a horrd
 wretch" and swearing she didn't care if she never saw him again. Julius did some more soliloquiZing, and 1t went something like this: "Of all the out ,ssssesseesessseseeesssessssses
 story of Shakespeare's time that trans
 ports the reader in easy enjoyment to the
 foreign scenes and old-time peoples it so
 quaintly describes. The author is not so