The Washington weekly post., 1900-12-11
nY HENRY oA1Lup pArNE.


| Walter Wazstaf sat on q nail keg in
| his just finished ana uBfuruished house.
l uncomfortable. cherries. and alone. and
calling himself nanies that would not look
web Ia print.
( He had wanted TO be so clever. so
( smart, so self-suf1cient; but now, when
/ there was no one but himself to enjoy
| the fruits of his elavernsss. he did not
fad anything like enough satisfaction to
| so around
He loved Josephine Merrihew dearly and
had wanted 10 marry her all the time. He
wanted 20 marry her now-and that was
what made the satire OF the situation 20
Internally grim as be fingered lonely,
while the twilight deepened. in the esnpty
house he had designed TO live in with
her, and crampled il his hand the letter
I In which she told him that she vas going
away, and never expected TO see him again.
They had never been regularly engaged.
YET they and every one who knew them
expected them to marry. In fact, over
a year ago they had decided on exactly
the kind OF house they would like TO live
in. Walter had drawn the general plan,
and JospehiRe had cut of generous slices
Of the large rooms for closets and had Sc
lected a charming design for the exterior
from 4 shingle-stain advertisement I'm
one OF the magazines. II was not a very
good fit or Walters rooms and Jose
phine's closets, but with a few conces-
5ioRs here and there. the result was really
! delightful. Anyhow. il suited them, and
/ Walter declared that his one ambition
was TO build that house; and IL Josephine
looked pleased. and she did. 1t was be-
cause she knew he wanted to build IL
for both of them.
About this time. Walter made a few
thousand dollars in fortunate business
venture. enough to build the house and
to have something left over for other
business ventures
Right here was where he had made his
fatal error. as he recognized now, when u
was too late to mend II. He made up mis-
mind TO build the mouse, but without say
ing word to Josephine either about II or
his good fortune. Then, when the house
was entirely completed. he was going 10
Spring it on her. She would choose the
furniture, and they would get married
and move in.. In the meantime he was
going 10 have such fun. all by himself
preparing his great surprise.
And he had had it,
Now, however. he was beginning to
realize what kind OF a time Josephine had
been having. Josephine was an orphan.
and she had inherited the family home
stead and a large mortgage. Some m
congenial cousins had consented to work
the farm. pay the interest, and board To-
sephine; and every night when she went
10 bed. she wondered If she could stand
the combination for another day. Fer the
sake OF being near Walter and being
cheered by his companionship. she let the
arrangement stand. Otherwise the old
place would have TO go.
But Tor months Walter had been a less
and less satisfactory lover. He had quite
suddenly dropped the subject Of the
mouse. III Josephine spoke of IL. he
seemed uneasy and turned the converse
ton into other channels. Naturally.
Josephine ceased to talk about II. AMI
equally naturally she did a great deal OF
thinking, the burden of which was-again
naturally-that Walter probably regret
ted having committed himself SO far,
Then rumors came 70 her ears that Wal
ter had been dong well I'm his business.
yet ne had said nothing to her about that
and had even hinted at his being rather
hard pushed for money Moreover IL
was evident to her keen sensibilities that
he was cOncealing something from her.
she felt that she no longer had his COM
plete confidence. He was so interested in
watching the progress of the building.
which was in large town several miles
distant, that he was often away, and saw
less and less of her as the house nearei
completion. The eVasive answers which
he gave to her inquiries as to where he
had been were not always consistent.
and altogether she was forced to the
conclusion that lie no longer cared for
her 80
At last she could stand the strain of
the situation no longer. If Walter was
not man enough 10 make the break when