Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-02-01

yon know, and then I'll ask Dorothea
owes to tea with us, and then-and
then--oh, then you'll have to do all
the rest yourself!'
So Frances very wisely brought him
his pipe, filed it for him and left him
thinking woman wasn't bad thing
to have about, after all.
The young professor turned to his
books and looked up st. Valentines
day and its history. He found the
original st. Valentine was pious old
bishop who was put to death in the
reign of Emperor Claudius. That didn't
help him out very much. He made q
note Of the fact, however, and said he
would see Professor Inchcape about it
in the morning. But, after all, this
had little to do with the matter. He
would never get through this thing,
he told himself, if he stuck at details.
So he took his Indispensable notebook
and wrote under Feb. 10. "See about
valentine for d. D." Under Feb. IA
he wrote: "See Brown about plumb
ing. Write to DR.. Roberts re mating
plumage Of Cincinnurus regius and
Parotia sexpennis. Ask Dorothea if
she will marry me-"
That evening he stole out and Sc
cretively purchased a gorgeous valen-
tine, bewildering creation of poetry,
perfume and pink and white satin. On
the back of it he wrote, with the
very sincere regards of Edward Wis
ington." That did not seem satisfac-
tory, so he carefully erased it and
wrote in its place. ITO d. D., with love
from q. W." That seemed better. AS
he dropped it into letter box he saw
a group Of undergraduates coming
down the street. He turned pink and
fed hurriedly up a side street. He
felt that the Rubicon had been crossed.
The young professor spent most Of
st. Valentines day in the university
library. When he came in for tea late
in the afternoon, he had forgotten ev-
erything in this world but the fact
that he had found most precious Ger
man monograph on the generation Of
pedunculated cirripeds. and it had CIV
en- him at least dozen new ideas.
His jaw fell when he found Miss
Dorothea Davidson in the big chair by
the fire, with Frances sitting at her
feet. The arms of that big chair SEEM
ed to hug Dorothea in an almost hui
man way. The young professor did
not run away, but he was oppressed
with sense of something forgotten.
he felt sure it was something to do
with both pedunculated cirripeds and
Dorothea, but for the life of him he
could not remember what it was.
While taking his tea he decided to
slip over to his Uttered desk and look
for his notebook. He felt sure it would
be In his notebook. Frances thought
he was trying to escape.
"Now, Teddie, you mustn't work
him by the coattails.
mo, we really won't let you work!'
said Dorothea. holding out her arms
and blocking the way to his desk in i
very tempting way. The young pro-
lessor noticed she looked very lovely.
But, Frank, dear, r.
mo, no! Teddie. you mustn't! Not
today. Take his notebook there, Dol
~. That'll fix HINT!
Dolly promptly did SO. Yet she held
1t with a certain reverence, for she had
always been half afraid Of this big
young man whose name was known In
all the scientific reviews.
II wonder what is so important, Dol
"? Let's find out. Something about
isometric projections, is it. dear?"
Dolly ran her eyes down the open
page. Then she turned pale, dropped
the notebook and said she-she really
must be going?
"Why, Dolly, what is it?" said Fran
ces, picking up the fallen notebook.
Then she read aloud: Feb. 14-See
Brown about plumbing That's all
right. Write to DR.. Roberts re mating
plumage of Cincinnurus regius and
Par-parotia sexpennis.' That seems all
right. 'Ask-Dorothea- if-she-will-
Why, Lob, there's, there's-yes.
I'm sure there's somebody ringing
down stairs, and must see about it!'
And ,l,,% 49, S.. a..:A.