The Tupelo journal., 1902-12-19
A Romance of the
Agony Column.
By Marion Morris.

MEITHER of them-that is to say,
IN neither Dick Beresford nor Olive
Bassett-quite understood how the
disagreement which had led to the
breaking off of the engagement had
come about, but then it so frequently
happens that people who are fond of
each other quarrel about nothing at
all, and wonder how they could have
behaved so foolishly Anyhow, the
misunderstanding had arisen, and a
certain gold ring, purchased by Dick
only six weeks previously, had been
returned to him by registered post,
with a cold little letter that well nigh
drove him to the verge of despair.
Another man in the circumstances
would have refused to accept his
congo and would have gone straight
to his s~weetheart's house and de-
manded a reconciliation on the spot.
But Dick Beresford was not as other
men. Pride was his predominant
fault, ever as it was the fault Of the
girl he loved, and pride rose up in
his path and barred all return, unless
Olive made the first overtures in the
direction of reunion. Thus did it
come about that two people were
made intensely miserable, and doubt
less would have remained so but for
the Intervention of an extraordinary
incident which the lines that follow
will endeavor to describe.
One evening, some six months after
the canceling of the engagement,
Olive sat with her teacup in her hand,
looking intensely woebegone. Her
mother, who was the only other oc-
cupant of the tea table, regarded her
with anxious expression.
"You look miserable, DEAR" she
said, softly.
81 am miserable" replied the girl.
There was a short pause, and then
Mrs. Bassett observed:
ever since you sen young Beres-
ford away you have been anything
but yourself"
Olive laughed bitterly.
81 wish I were anybody but my
SELF" she made answer, putting down
her cup with an abrupt gesture, land,
better still, / wish | were dead"
"Olive!"
Mother, it is the truth. I've moth
ing left to live for, and the days seem
to me like weeks"
cit is your own fault. You dis
missed poor young Beresford in a
moment of temper and now you are
sorry for it,"
6Snrr-u or not II woo DC TnI1nh hJC
doing as mine. He had no right
positively no right-to use the words
he did"
81 think you were both in the
wrong, and if you were sensible you
would write him a nice little note
suggesting a reconciliation"
81 would sooner be burned alive
first"
The girls cheeks famed, and she
stamped the floor with her small feet
so ~passionately that Mrs. Bassett
looked up in alarm.
81 love Dick now as ] have always
loved him." she said presently, ''but
do you think / could ever humiliate
myself to do what you advise? It's
out of the question"
"Suppose he came back to you of
his own accord, how then2"
Olive shook her head decisively.
"You don't know him as I do,
mother mine," she replied quickly.
"He used to say that we were a well
matched pair, for both of us were as
proud as Lucifer. And so we are.
Each of us wants the other to speak
first, and so we're at a sort of dead
lock for ever and ever"
an my young days." returned Mrs.
Bassett, 'men were different. If a
man loved a woman he put his pride
in his pocket and did not pause to
consider who should be the first to
a~pologize for a fancied grievance.
But that was 80 years ago." she
added, with a smile, "and times have
changed"
Olive made no comment on this re-
Election. She was thinking of the
happy days which she had enjoyed
with Dick-of the long, delightful
evenings at the theater, of the pleas
ant Sunday afternoons, of the myriad
v o hours that go to make up the
courtship Of. a man and a maid, and
for a moment her eyes grew soft
with happiness. But soon the dull
reality forced its way back into her
brain, and she sighed heavily.
That same afternoon Dick Beres-
ford was lounging in the smokeroom
Of his club, feeling intensely de-
pressed. Already he had had re-
course to several drinks to revive his
dropping spirits, but these adjuncts