Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-01-31

"MARRY YoU, COL. wHITMORE!"
fulness Of the mountains. Miss Cath
erwood liked Mrs. O'Hara, and the col
onel, well. at first we would not be-
lieve it, but finally we had to. the col
onel liked Miss Catherwood. For a
time we all thought 1t was his Vir-
ginia courtliness that made his atten,
tons to her look like devotion. but al
last we voted he was in love, deeply
hopelessly in love. We felt sorry for
him, Of course. He haunted Miss Cath
erwood constantly. strolled with her.
, rowed with her. played golf with her.
and carried her books and wraps
more of a liar for her sake. Europe
was drawn on daily to furnish start
! ling experiences. and Taunton valley,
1.-The garden Of Virginia." became a
paradise. an elysium, with his broad
acres in the midst of it.
We all felt sorry for Miss Gather
wood, too, we thought it must be rath-
er unpleasant for her to have so much
pomposity, mendacity and rotundity in
tow all the time. but we could no moth
ing. The colonel lowered around her
with feverish anxiety whenever we
tried to rescue her, and at last we gave
1t up. If she wouldn't kill him off.
why should we? -
One night l strolled down to a seat
at the bottom Of the lawn, where in
tended to watch the moon rise over
fhn NntoL--T% lovy
with just enough .yigor In the air to
make one lament that vacations did
not last forever, an evening when one
can enjoy solitude. As l sat pensively
gazing across the valley toward the
distant gorge, which was gradually
lighting up with the first rays Of the
moon, l became aware Of voices near
me. MySseat was screened of by a
clump of bushes from the rest Of the
lawn and In my musings some one had
taken possession Of another bench
close by. At first paid no attention
to the voices, but suddenly my inter-
est was aroused.
Marry you. Col. whitmore! You
surprise me-"
The reply was inaudible, but fervent.
and some minutes passed before
heard Miss Catherwood's voice again.
81 am sorry, Col. Whitmore, very
sorry, indeed, but I didn't suppose
your gallant devotion to me would lead
you to marry me. I really do like you
very well. but not in the way you de-
sire. You have been kind and enter.
tanning, and all that, have made my
little sojourn here pass pleasantly and
I'm very grateful to you. I'm sure; but
marry you-what an ideaw
l confess l pegan to feel sorry for
the colonel. she had such an airy. easy
way of dispatching a fellow without
mercy. Again he made some impas-
stoned answer which l could not un-
derstand. Miss Catherwood greeted
1t with a ripple Of laughter, yes. she ac-
tually laughed.
Il don't know but I might as well
tell you, colonel, why 1 would not mar
ry you-your remark about the Whit
more estate just now leads me to.
Don't you know there Is no Whitmore
estate? There may be a garden Of
Virginia, SIR with an imitation of poor
Whitmore's pronunciation, but there
are no broad acres in 1t that you own.
And then all your talk about Europe,
your experiences in Russia, your gam
bling at Monte Carlo, your arrest in
Germany-that's all very amusing as
fiction, but 1t has no foundation in
fact
She paused as the colonel tried to
stammer out a reply. Then she went
on:
And your pompous lordliness, your
affected manners, even your title of
colonel, as nicely as 1t fits you. annoy
me. You are not a real man; you are
a sort of summer man, created for re-
sort places and lonely spinsters-or
widows" she added. probably allud-
ing to Mrs. O'Hara.
Il want a man to fall in love with
man. Come now, colonel. don't be
mad at mel caught the sound Of a
swear word-"I may seem severe-but
a woman has ideals like men, and it's
hard to see them humbled or de-
stroyed. Wen be friends, though, just
the same, colonel. and you may lay
my heartlessness to the fact that am
almost 80 years old, and cross and
ugly"
She tripped away toward the house,
and left the poor colonel wilted as .
leaf. 1 felt sorry for him, upon my
word I did, especially when I heard
him sob. It's so pathetic when man
breaks down and sobs.
The next day Miss Catherwood and
Mil O'Hara left the hotel and before
the week was over the rest Of us had
gone.
When the next summer came l was
with the other newspaper men with
our army before Santiago. Frequently
ON some Of those hot days 1 thought
Of the mountains up north, and the ho-
tel, and once or twice actually
thought Of WhitmOre. but when did
laughed, for he did not very much
resemble the soldiers saw ase41d n