Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-08-06

Of letters she would like her husband
to be writing If she were married.
Then, thought the girl, che has chill
dren. Let's see. He mentioned Amy,
Tom, Catherine and Baby Hugh.
Umph! I think he is pretty gay for q
man of family" It was not till he be-
gan the practice of leaving, flowers and
bonbons on her desk that Helen awak-
ened to realization Of Capt. Bald
wins possible villainy. Without re-
aecting that his character, good or
bad, should in no way interfere with
her peace of mind, she began to worry,
grieve and get pale. She knew that
his wife was urging lsm to come home,
and she was sure THAI his trumpet up
excuses were either frivolous or Ut
terly untrue. Finally she asked him
to ''please stop giving her presents"
but try as she might she couldn't find
an excuse for mentioning his wife and
his duty toward his family. I'm not
supposed to know anything about
that" she thought, and yet she puz-
zled over the question whether his
candid display of his own duplicity
was not proof positive that he was
shameless wretch, making love to an
innocent girl without even taking the
precaution to conceal his life obliga-
tons.
And yet she could not suppress the
consciousness of pleasure in his pres
ence. He quit his gift giving and die
tated more letters, which proved that
his wife was suspicious and had per-
haps accused him of intidelity of some
kind. He never discussed the con-
tents of these letters with Helen, but
ratified away as if she were a mere ma
chine, and then changed the subject
to any of a hundred delightful themes
of which he seemed to be anxious to
hear her talk. When at last he seemed
to drift into more serious frame of
mind and habit, Miss Barr found her.
self unreasonably gratifed. Her heart
gave joyful bound one day when
she heard him tell a friend one day
that he was ION the water wagon"
but an access of virtuous anger seized
her that same evening, when, for the
first time, he came to her and asked
quite calmly and respectfully, if she
would go to the theater with him. She
made a pitiful effort to ''freeze him"
with her answer, but her eyes were
trimming before she could turn away,
and she said nothing. He walked away,
and from the corner of her downcast
eye she could see that he went into
the buffet.
The unhappy girl spent a sleepless
night, for she had neither parent nor
relative to share her troubles. A
dozen times she resolved to beg OF
Capt. Baldwin to quit the hotel and go
home to his wife. She thought OF
writing to him, or refusing to take his
letters, of ignoring him, and finally
resolved to do his work if he persisted,
but remain deaf and blind to his per-
sonal attentions as she had done with
every other man at the hotel. But her
tired heart was in futter again the
moment she got behind the railing OF
her little Office, for she saw the cap
tain strolling nervously about the ro-
tunda. She kept her eyes on her work,
but she knew he was watching her.
Her work was cleared away and she
was ready to leave for luncheon when
he came suddenly to the desk and
said:
Take a couple of letters, please,
miss?" She did not look up, but she
was aware of a strange, hard note in
his voice. He began with letter to
Dear Catherine" as usual, and Miss
Barr was wondering what new SUBJ
terfuge he would palm off on his wife,
when he began: you have been a
good sister-in-law to me, and hope
you will succeed in satisfying my
brother, that"
Miss Bars cheeks were aflame with
Catherine was not his
wife, then! She could hear her heart
beat the music of those words. But
when he came to the end of that letter
and said: ''The fact is, I've made up
my mind to get married and settle
down if the girl will have me-" Miss
Barr got pale again and trembled.
But the worst was to come. She could
have struck him when he leaned
across the rail and said: "Now, want
you to write out proposal for me-
She didn't hear exactly what followed.
Her trained fingers flew mechanically
over the keys as he dictated a stilted
and very formal proposal, beginning
''Dear Miss and ending "Your anxious
and devoted Hugh Baldwin,"
whats the address," she asked.
coldly.
Here's the envelope" he said in
frigid tones.
She picked it up with quivering
fingers, said: Fifty cents, please"
and read the address-'Miss Helen
Barr, Hotel Buckingham, City,"
And they stood there smiling into
each others eyes.--Chicago Record
Herald.