The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-04-11
What the Matter
Was Witt DaVIey
DEoPLE speaking of Egbert Daw-


times real bright" and sometimes
finely edgercated," but they not in
frequently added that he was a trif1e
conceited, or various equivalents in
the vernacular. AS a matter of fact
he was well informed and he certain
ly had the self-confidence that a GER
tain degree of knowledge begets He
was a good-looking young man, too,
with lofty, pallid brow and trim
little dark mustache. He wore eve
glasses, which increased his appear
ance of intellectually, and he dressed
very neatly-rather too neatly, if any,
thing.
Dawley felt that he was naturally
fitted for a diplomatic career or some
thing of that sort. He had artistic
tastes and might have gone in for
painting or sculpture or even music,
but fate had pitchforked him into
commercial life-specifically into a
wholesale dry-goods house-and he
was obliged to make the best of it.
He was not popular with the rest of
the men in the house, but they were
common, ordinary lot, and they nat
urally felt his superiority. Some
times a feeling of this sort is mani
Tested by ''joshing," but Dawley was
not "joshed" to any great extent.
Either he showed lofty Indifference
to 1T or else he retorted with some
aggravating sarcasm. The best thing
was TO let him alone, and that course
was pretty generally pursued.
In society Dawley was the arbiter
of taste and an all-around authority
on things in general If he was con-
fronted with pottery he would begin
TO bubble over with the distinctive
characteristics of Wedgewood Ores
den or Sevres, and bark back to the
Roman and Grecian art, with perhaps
and airy offhand allusion to the
Eleusinian mysteries in connection
with the Portland vase. If he was in
Vited to give an opinion on some gem
from the picture department of a
downtown store he would discourse
very impressively of breadth and
depth of treatment and chiaro os-
euro and would ring in Douw and
Poussin and Gliotto. When he talked
about the theater his listeners soon
became conscious that most of the
actors of the present day were en-
tlrely wanting in delicate apprecia-
ton of the motive of their parts,
and in HIS intellectual communion
with the Sevignes and Thrales of his
circle he was literary Daniel come
to judgment Nevertheless he was a
good dancer and he had his mus
t.che, so the buds did not shun him. |
He rather prided himself. too, on his |
small talk. On the whole. he liked
the society of women. They came |
nearer to approaching him than men |
did. Still, he never particularized in |
this respect. The boys down town !
said he was too darned stuck on
himself
One morning there came a new |
stenographer to take the place of |
Miss Grigsby, the dignified. middle
aged lady who had resigned her po-
sition to become companion to a |
prosperous invalid aunt in the coun-
try. Dawley saw her at her desk at |
distance for several days before he
took the trouble to go close enough |
to get good look at her, and he |
might not have gone then had he
not noticed that her hair was of
the true Titan red. For one thing
he had heard the men speak of her
rapturously as "a peach" and he
thought he knew the kind of young
person that would interest them.
She was busy when he passed her,
and he saw that her hands were
plump and white and fairly well
shaped, but the nails were disfgured
by being bitten. Next his critical
glance took in her little double chin,
her tip-tilted nose and the Wilderness
and fine texture of her skin. 1t had
got to this point when the young
woman finished the Sheet on which
she had been writing; then she
raised a pair of rather prepossessing
blue eyes to Dawley's, and, nodding
at him in afriendly, offhand way, said:
Good morning"
Dawley smiled in his most winning
manner, and, returning the saluta-
ton, passed on.
For week or two this morning
greeting was about the extent of
their communication. Then Dawlev
felt disposition to linger and sound
the little stenographer's mental
depth, if she had any, which he
feared was not the case. He premedi-
tated little opening remark apropos
OF the typewriter on Babyloric
bricks, but he forgot that when she
told him there was a smudge on his
nose.
rs there?" he asked in some con-
fusion, fumbling for his handker-
chief.
"On the right side,'' she said.
There! No, now you've only made il
worse. Here, give it to me. Stoop
down." She took the handkerchief.
and, moistening it with her tongue.
rubbed Dawley's nose vigorously and
then looked at it with her head on
one side. Just then Sparks, one of
the coarsest beasts in the place.
came along, with his face on broad
grin.
Here, | amt going to stand for
that, Miss Dixon" he chuckled. "Of
course Eggie is a nice boy and all
that and you don't mean ANYTHING bv