The Opelousas courier., 1900-10-06
Ned's Proposal to Flora.
A ROr1ANCE OE CITY LIFE.


AAN SSA" AoAA NA AR-
had been such since he could remember,
He had grown to manhood and bore
no particular prospect of ever being
anything more than a policy clerk In
O LaSalle street insurance Office, but
he was earning q fairly comfortable
salary and was reasonably solid with
| the head of the firm, SO that he was In
no danger of peremptory dismissal for
any trlfling cause, and it was certain
that he would never lose his job for
any misdemeanor of Office, so he felt
| tolerably well settled and had begun
to think Of a possibility Of marrying
and settling down when Jessie came
into the Office as a stenographer and
was assigned q desk in close proximity
to that occupied by Tom.
Tom and Jessie eventually prepared
to get married. Jessie was an orphan,
struggling to make her own living in
the great city, and was boarding at a
semi-fashionable north side boarding
house, where it required only three
quarters of her weekly stipend to settle
with the landlady on each Saturday
evening. When the time had arrived
for her and Tom to begin to talk about
definite arrangements for the wedding
and their after life they found that
they were as ignorant as two babes
about the practical affairs Of life.
Neither Of them knew the practical
difference between a gasoline stove
and q steam radiator, or between tap
estry Brussels and Accent ingrains.
1t was ut this poilt that the valuable
assistance of Ned and Flora came into
play. Ned was the lifelong chum of
Tom and Flora occupied a similar place
In the retinue of Jessie's friends. Ned
had been q member Of a bachelors
housekeeping association. Flora was
a longhand copyist in the insurance
Office and lived at home with her par
ents.
Tom went to Ned with his troubles
and Jessie went to Flora. OF course
the expert opinion on some things
would tally exactly. and when they
did Tom and Flora would congratulate
themselves and forget all the points
upon which there had been a disagree
ment.
Tom and Jessie had set the day, and
had concluded that, all things con-
sidered, they would better be married
right in the minister's parlor, because
neither one had a home, and they both
quailed at the bare suggestion Of a
clearinghouse wedding, and they
hadn't the outfit for q church wedding,
and though Flora had warmly invited
them to accept the hospitality Of her
parental roof for the occasion they
had concluded that it would be better
to have it all to themselves In O strictly
modest and becoming way, and only
Ned and Flora should be there to give
them q send-oh. Then they would take
a run up to the country and come back
to life in the little nest they We're pre-
Jessie wrote to q few Of her
distant relatives informing them of
the forthcoming event, and one Of the
responses was from her aunt in Watt
Jessie had never
seen this aunt since the days
when first she had come to
try her fortune, and she was not a
little surprised at the tone of the letter
she received. when she had been ex-
only formal congratulations at
the most. The aunt insisted that the
wedding should be held in the little
of her home; that is was a SIN
and o shame to have u wedding, which
vas In unusual event in arp ones life, |
In such q barbarous manner as they
had proposed.
Tom read the letter carefully when
Jessie showed it to him. Jessie" said
be warmly, "your auntic is q brick.
What would be the matter with accept
ing this invitation and then taking a
little scoot up to Oconomowoc for a
few days? That would give us a wed
ling trip both before and after the
ceremony, and it certainly would be a
little more civilized"
So it was settled. And, strange to
say, both Flora and Ned approved of
change in plans. "Why, cert"
said Ned; freeze to that invite with
both hands. That's a snap from Snaps
Tom and Jessie had invited Flora to
accompany, them ON their wedding
and Flora had made arrange
nents for a weeks vacation from the
,fiice to accompany them. The firm
a remarkable ~lcniency in thus
three vacations at once, but
he manager said he had been young
once.
Tom and Jessie and Flora went up
o Waukesha on Wednesday. The
Wedding was to take place on Thurs.
lay, but Jessie wanted to be sure that
Ter trunk got there safely, and Tom
wanted to look the ground over, ais he
and of course Flora had to be
here to help Jessie get ready for the
Important ceremony. Ned came up on
he morning train the next day to zee
hat THE show was pulled or without
break rs he expressed 1t. Thurs
10y was ~ beautiful q day as ever
lappened.
During the day the relatives arrived,
there vera ~ ID oil. sundry cousins.
'ncaes and 20 forth, orlS three Of four