The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1900-03-15


Ell keep my promise I'll be your
best man. Not that 7 wouldn't like
10 gel, out7of it." I went on; ''but you
insist, and I suppose that
'tOh, come now,' said Tom, don t
20 In for cynicism; that's cheap. OF
course, Tn, willing to admit that
rom your point of view, perhaps, Dor
sthy Melton may have treated you
badly enough, bu* I wouldn't curse
:he whole sex and rn;l at matrimony
ind all that. You'll get over it in
lime, you know"
Tom is an old friend, and allows
himself liberties. / kept my head, and
replied calmly:
.'I am not cynical, and I'm not
railing at matrimony. Moreover,
;hat little affair with the young woman
you mention, which I have quite for
gotten"
Tom smiled il peculiarly trying
manner
(Which have entirely forgotten"
repeated.
ssAnd will forget anew every day
you live," said Tom.
staas had nothing whatever to do
with my Termination to devote myself
sntirely to my profession. I have al
ready frittered away entirely too much
ST my life on what we are pleased to
al society But of course I'll keep
} my promise to you.
s.Now look here, old man." Tom
began; but he saw, suppose, some
thing in my face which warned him
!: that Twas NOT 20 be moved. st any
rate he laughed and shrugged his
shoulders, and then said: -
ssWell, I'll count on you for best
hn June seventh is the day, and I
spe you won't find it such al awful
you seem to expect. " ...
marriage was to come 9vs
!: Ton, and I congratuI hteo~ myself
aaseuests, with fs exceptions.
B9ot know. I could do my duty by
y Tom, take last farewell of butterfly
society, and then settle down for good
upon the career which I fondly hoped
would end upon the supreme bench.
would work, and work hard. Dorothy
Melton, with whom I quarreled six
mouths ago, should never think that
she had broken my heart, or shattered
my life, or anything of that fol
she hadn't. She simply had revealed
TO me the Eckleness of her sex and
brought me- TO the realization that 8
career, after all, is the only thing tina;
can really satisfy man worth any.
thing.
As the time of Toms wedding ap.
preached I wrote him that T should
run down to RiYerton "a hours in adj
vance in order to attend to all the
thousand aud one duties which de-
volve upon the best man; but at the
last moment my one really good client,
man rich and cranky, succeeded in
getting so hopelessly involved in al
Injunction suit that nothing but I'M
mediate and earnest personal attention
could keep him from going to Jail for
contempt Of court. I saved him from
that ignominy, but only after spending
the entire morning Of the wedding
day in court, and barely caught the
last train by which I could reach Riv-
erton i'll time for the ceremony. Tom
and his friends would have to look
after the details Of the wedding which
I was compelled to neglect.
T had forgotten that Uncle William
Clarkson lived at Riverton, or I might
have been prepared for him; but be-
fore the train had fairly stopped at
the station Uncle William was at my
side, grasping my hand and reaching
for my bag. F:Here you are at last, y
he was saying. Tive been at every
train that came in today. You've got
to go up to the house with me and get
little snack Of something to eat be-
fore the wedding
'But Tom I interposed.
ooh, that's all right" said Uncle
William. ''I've arranged it all with
your friend Tom, and I'll have you at
Christ church in plenty of time for
euC SOSto1US. w CoulC SOoI
snnt's waiting for YOU
Really, what could I do? I looked
about helplessly, hoping that Tom or
some Of his friends would appear and
lay claim to NE, but Uncle William
had evidently impressed upon them
that he was going to have his own
way with me, and they came not.
Of course, I should have been very
glad to dine with Uncle William and
Aunt Margaret, but when fellow is
going to be best man at his best
friends wedding, and has only two
hours aud a half before the ceremony,
he is not exactly in the mood for visit
ing even his nearest and dearest rela-
tiyes. I tried to say something of the
kind to Uncle William, but he retorted:
'sOh, pshaw, now! There amt a
thing to do, and what's the use Of your
going to the hotel or to one of Toms
friends houses where they are already
running oser with company? No use
at all. Your Aunt Margaret will give
you a nice little dinner right away.
You can get:on your wedding togs and
get 10 the church in plenty of time
without any Of the fumiug and f1ssing g
the others will go through. There's a
phone in the house; you can let Tom
know YOU are here, and that's all that's
necessary
remembered that 7 did not espe-