The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-28
Short Story Of
|dbe Day. s5 ssE7ss..r.
San Francisco Argonaut.

0gVN INV 70 1o-9l A101. 5
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
San Francisco Argonaut.
Once in a way constancy, long enough /
persisted in, meets with its due reward.
That the reward is apt to be like pear
which does not fall TIL it is oVer-r1pe'
and Is, in falling, bruised to bitterness Is
neither here nor there. The principle re-
mains the same; and It is an entirely ao-
mirable one.
The case of Hiss Barrett is one In
point. Miss Barrett was the daughter OF
Capt. Barrett, and she loved PatIaore
almost az sight-thaA is to say, from the
first week that he came, fresh from tlio
Point. into her fathers troop. IT was
natural enough that 1t should have oeen
Patmore was a good looking fellow,
whose worst faults were that he used
too much perfectly unfntelligibie acaa-
envy French, and that he took himself
/ oyer-seriously. The former, time would
probably remedy; but the latter meant
! that at the close of his career he would
! be one of two things, according az the
Fates-in the guise Of his superiors, from
! his captain to the adjHtant general ana
/ the president of the United St3tes-sheuld
] deal with him. fte would either become
/ an efficient officer Of considerable RANK
! and renown, or a disgruntled martinez OF
/ the service going-t -the-dog -and-politic-
| ians type Always provided, of course.
/ that he lived long enough to become any
| thing which is not to be calculated upon
! with as much certainty now as II was
+ before a country brought up to mind It's
I own business turned Mrs. ParOlBSte On
! its executives hands.
| The love at first sight was entirely
upon Miss Barrett's side. Patmore him
/ SELF was not thinking about anything oil
| that kind. Not that he was prig or a
cyTfic; only that his interest IN housekeep-
| ing was directed to running the troop
mess, and his affections centered In a
pointer puppy which ne was training to
hunt and to eat sardines. But he was
! at a three-company post, remote from
everywhere, Miss Barrett was the only
girl and he was the only bachelOr-ex-
cept a surgeon who hated women and was
getting on in years. So, after time,
he reached the conclusion that he ought
to be getting married and settling down.
He was not living riotously, for the Ia
ci1ities were few, bat very young men
may be relied upon TO pass through That
stage. as a puppy does through diStemper.
And Patmore was only lYe-2nd-tWenty
years old and the crabbedness OF the
surgeon was fearful warning to him.
That was the first step. The next was
to persuade himself that he loved Miss
Barrett The order ought properly to
have beer reversed. but he did not think
of that Besides, he WAS as susceptible
to abject alteration as the next man. And
it might, therefore, have resulted In his
taking the irrevocable step, had not a
purely impersora al war department come
to the rescue by removing him and his
regiment from the station where they had
been too long, to a much more deslraple
one, the Pacific coast.
Cant BarrettS troopers went to the
Preside. It was the first time in his
experimentation, except for West POINT
had been confined to a little Middle vest
town-that Patmore had been near q big
city for any length of time. Life TOOK
on a new meaning in his eyes-and so did
Love. For he met Miss Tyndall. Miss
Tyndau was only beautiful and clever
whereas Miss Barrett was nice AttIe
thing. and good to her mother and the
younger children. and would have MADE
| q man g good wife But Patmore was
young and foolish, and did not thlnk OF
that. He had not seen Miss Tyndau a
dozen times before he was very badly
in love with her, and did not care In the
least who knew 1t.
MISS Barrett was the last to DO so, but
once knowing 1t, beyond any reasonable
doubt. she set him free. There was quite
a BttIe scene. She had wept for days
and nights, and the fountain Of her tears
might as well have been dry. But she
went again now you used to love me, "
she told him, II know you did" Patmore
knew otherwise in the light Of the pres
emit 'HYou used to love me, but you don
any more
Patmore had an uncomfortable feel
ing that he had not behaved just right.
| and he protested.
Miss Barrett caught the false ring OF it,
and smiled through her tears-a smile of
pity for herself and him cts no use,
she said; do you suppose can't see that
YOU love hcr2 And she probably loves
you. How could she help it?" She held
out an transformations little ring to
him. and her hand shook painfully. you
are free" she told him. "But If you ever
come back to me shall be waiting for
you, always"
Patmore rather approved Of a woman s
loving that way. 1t is just as well for g
Imam to have an anchor buoy in some port
But, though he bade her keep the ring In
token that what he had given he did not
recall, and though he went forth from
her presence with an air of injured dig
nifty which was calculated to cut her to
the heart his relief was so great that II
was not to be mistaken. By way OF pun
ishing himself for 1t, he attended strictly
to official dates and did not pass out
of the posi-, even once, for an entire week
At the end Of the week he went In to see
Miss Tyndan
She was curled up IN heap Of cushions
reading love story in a picture maya
zine, and she was gotten up very effective
ly in tea gown of pale sky-blue. Miss
Tyndau always wore blue. The weekly
society sheets. which said things about
her IN every issue, called her the ''Blue
| Belle Sometimes the things they said
were not altogether kind. but she was q
very nice girl, for all that, and It was
nebodys business except his and hers
If 1t took most of her fathers moderate
salary to keep her in fine linen and pale
blue. For his part, Patmore, as ne sal
and watched her while she made the tea
thought that the greatest happiness life
could hold for any man would be to have
the right to do just that very thing. She
was all but an angel descended straight
from the heavenly vault and clothed In
its own hue.
That at least, was his idea Of her, but
she was an entirely human young WON
an, quite human enough to put spoke in
Miss Barrett's wheel If she were ito gel
the chance.
WHO was that sweet girl you wer,
with on the Tiburon ferry the other day?'
she wanted to know. She cuddled dowr
| daintier hand than Miss Barretts t.
smooth her soft brown hair.
You can call another girl sweet and
little in way that makes the praise very
faint and damning
Patmore looked uncomfortable as ht
told her
But Miss Tyndall was all interest. ''Misl
Barrett she exclaimed-'was it really
And you are engaged to her, are yol
not?"
81 was" said Patmore, 'ebut 7 am not