The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-08-10
Our Daily Short Stories !
1HY HAROLD IS A BACHELOR
Ny JOHN LEVIN M'LEIsH. MD.
Copyright. 1901. by Authors syndicate.)


nad once been a camping ground for
the soldiers of the revolution.
NOW IL was very evident tribute to
the striking personality of the absent
MI Harold Adsit, that the mere men,
tlon of his name should furnish the
oasis OF any congenial association be-
tween two such opposite characters as
the quiet college professor and the
sporty looking" grocer of Atlanta, Ga.
MT. John F. Van Setback entertained
a cordial dislike for gentlemen of the
cloth, while Rev. Caedmon Macnab
was possessed of an utter horror of
worldly" men. Given any other basis
OF meeting and these two men of I'M
IKE parts would have drifted speedily
apart.
AS It was, thanks to the absent Har-
OLD, Prof. Macnab linked his arm in
that OF Mr.. Van Setback and they pro-
ceeded together at a leisurely walk
across the campus. And as they went
the old professor dilated upon the stu
dlous, manly qualities of young .Adsit.
OF ms earnest devotion to his classes
and the high esteem in which, he was
neld by all the denizens of the college
town.
why, sir, Harold was the most pop
ular man in his class with the young
ladies' or Princeton. 1 used to have
him to tea quite often, and in the
evenings he and my little daughter Mel
lie were wont to stroll along Nassau
street and exchange views on Inverte-
brate Morphology and"
What building is that?" broke in Mr..
Van Setback, abruptly, as they invol-
unfairly paused before a massive
brown stone pile in ten quadrangle.
West College, SIR replied the pro-
f6GSnr a
room of the first floor. He was
hard student, sir, and night after night
you could see a light there way into
the early hours of the morning"
Mr.. Van Setback was sorely tempted
to repeat to Prof. Macnab Harold's
humorous descriptions of the poker
games he had been wont to conduct
night after night in the first floor cor
ner room of West college. Instead he
remarked:
Choosing a son-in-law is somewhat
of a problem Mr.. Macnab."
Very much of a problem" retorted
the professor. He had allowed his
mind to wander a moment in reminis-
cence of an admirable theory of i'm
variants recently set forth by DIR.
Mutt.
Now, knew you would be in po-
sition to inform me as to Harold's fit
ness for matrlmony also as to whether
in his college days he was involved in
any entanglements with females.
might as we'll be frank with you and
say that certain rumors have come to
my ears which have made it necessary
to investigate the previous career of
our young man, for, you see. he is
about to marry my daughter Mary
Rev. Caedrhon Macnab stared at Mr..
Iohn F. Van Setback as though he did
not understand. In his sudden agita>
ton he dropped the red bandana, and
his form shook with newly enkindled
emotion.
whats the matter, professor"
Nothing wrong, hope?" said the gro
cer. in a kindly tone, as he looked at
the tottering form of the old man.
II was not thinking of myself, but
of my little girl, my Nellie, who has
waited patiently these many years for
Harold Adsit to come and claim her as
his wife, groaned the professor, pite-
ously. She's an innocent little thing,
with no knowledge of the world, and
all her hopes and trust for the fu-
ture conferred in the man to whom she
gave herself in the long ago, the man
she and I thought a gentleman"
With sudden low gasping cry. al
most sob, the old professor fell to the
ground, and as the grocer Dended over
him, murmured softly:
Tel Nellie that he was-not-worthy
-of-her-love-or- good wo-
man-the-cad-''
And then the simple, trusting old
man died, in the arms of the coarse
old grocer of Atlanta on the Princeton
campus he had loved so we'll.
II.
Mr.. Harold Adsit, attorney at law,
was sitting in his comfortable offices at
Atlanta, Ga, glancing over the morn
ing papers, when his eyes suddenly
rested upon a column headed:
Dean of Princeton Dies of Heart
Disease
Mice old chap" reflected Mr.. Harold
Adsit. Rather funny joke l played
on his daughter, though"
And he puffed contentedly at his
cigar.
The postman that morning brought
him two packages, one bearing the To-
cal postmark, the other that of Prince
ton, N. J.
The first was a chilly note from the
woman he loved and intended to
marry, releasing him from his engage
ment The Princeton package con-
tanned his letters written Miss Nelly
Macnab some years previously.