The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1900-01-20
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
! The Judges EaVSdroppins
By George Lincoln.

THE JUDGE fell into the way o.
watching them naturally enough
After the court adjourned in the early
afternoon, he always took a ride OF
his bicycle and never failed to visit
the beautiful stretch of boulevard re
Gently opened along the string of lakes
They both came of well-to-do fami,
lies, and their manner led him to think
there was breeding behind them. How
then did he come to know that they
loved each other? you ask. How was
it possible not to know it? He was not
always past so and he had a good mem.
DRY.
So when the Judge noticed the way
"he" looked at 'her" and the way she
looked at him" and the tenderness OF
the young mans courtesy, the judge
knew well enough how matters were.
She was a beautiful woman, not over
20, and gave one an impression of trig-
ness and n%eatness.
He was a manly chap of %, athletic,
bronzed and thoroughly 'ft," as my
nephew says. My nephew plays on the
varsity football team and is authority
in our family on such matters.
And they noticed the judge. After a
while he got into the way of bowling to
them, although they didn't know he
was Judge Storrow, and he didn't know
them.
One dreamy, Indian summer after
noon the judge went up among the
trees on the side of the lake to a shell
tered nook he knew, and lay down to
rest. There had been a puzzling case
before him hat morning, and while
thinking it over he must have fallen
asleep.
He was suddenly aware that just out
side his shelter a man and woman were
talking. He soon discovered that they
were his l~overs,' as he called them,
and they were discussing some unhap-
py circumstance regarding their affec-
ton.
What should he do? There was no
way out except past them. Would it
not be more delicate to remain till
they had gone, not listening, and they
would never know anyone had ever
heard them.
But try as he would, it was impossible
not to hear their whole conversation.
But what difference does that
make?" asked the young man. You
know perfectly well, Alice, that if it
were a thousand times worse, that if
it were you yourself, 1 would marry
you"
20, but think of it, Ned! Think what
your friends would say! Ned Grant
married the daughter of an embezzler
serving his time in jail!'"
The judge couldn't help wondering
if this were the son of Grant on the
supreme bench. whom he had never
met, although he knew his father in
timately. The girls gentle voice broke
as she said this and Ned cried:
SO, Alice. l wish you wouldn't think
of that. 1t just breaks me up to see
you cry, you know"
Then followed a silence during which
Alice must have been in some way COM
forted, for she said, in a steady voice:
NO. my dear boy, 1 have been very
weak to see you so often, and have
these rides. 1 should have refused and
tried to- forget you. But, Ned, 1
couldn't. 1 can't think of anything but
you-and-I do love you sol"
More silence. Then:
"And Ned, this really must be the
last. 1 can't marry you. No, dear,
please don't go all over it again. l
know that it would be a great wrong
to you to say yes. 1t would always be
a hindrance to you. We would have no
friends, and a young lawyer must have
friends. Who would come to your
house if they knew your wife was the
daughter of Rand, the embezzler?"
That was where the judge almost dis
covered himself. He sentenced Rand to
20 wears hard labor and he had still Is
years to serve. 1t was a queer case
and not quite clear. So this was the
mo.herless girl he had heard so much
about.
HNow, zee here, Alice" the Young