Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1903-07-02
APhilopena
Il :-==.:-.
~ BELLE MANDATES /:
$9s :

: ~. 9S . .....'
nHYLLIS was introduced to him at
a dinner dance, and straightway
forgot his existence. Later he re-
called himself to her notice by dane
ing with her one Of the abs urd fig
ures of a cotillon in which they had to
!. eat q philopena.
ct carries me back to my school
days, she laughed.
I Not very far back" he insinuated.
s'Oh, yes; this is my third season.
..Then am right" he persisted.
II should dislike to tell the number
of seasons that I have been indulg-
ing in cotillons." 5=
Thou hast all seasons for thine
own she quoted. ,.@
Here the figure ended, and Phyllis
returned to her partner.
55 ..Who is that man / just danced
with?'' II .@
He Is cousin Of our hostess" re-
piled her partner. .His name is Steph-
y en- jerome, and he has recently come
here from Philadelphia. He lis distin-
guished for succeeding in everything
hey undertakes"
How fortunate!" she exclaimed. Il
Just ate philopena with him. / had
taken no interest in the fact, but /
shall now. twill be an incentive Il Q
bring failure to SO successful a man"
How unkind!"
s'No; it does person good to be
.thwarted occasionally"
81 don't question your clevernesss,
Miss Courtney. but I warn you that
you have a brilliant antagonist; he is
a diplomat
The subject Of X6eir conversation ap-
preached wjth'a favor, which he Of
fered .tn~Miss Courtney.
II regret to decline" she said, look
ing up at him with shining eyes, "but
you know our philopena was give
or take"
@5 Some one claimed her partner, and
Jerome appropriated the vacant chair.
.'sWe might dispense with the favor, Z
he suggested, 'and yet have the dance,
but II you gave me the dance, I should
be it, No; I shall have to await my
opportunity to take q mean to give)
you unawares."
.sYou will wait in vain" she re
Piled. N
Its a challenge, is it," /.
EYES," she laughed.
II was tempted he said, ito allow
4 myself to be philopenaed in order not
TO forego the pleasure of a<dance, but
I shall fight it out to the sure end
'sYou are so confident, them
.'Why should I not be? You say
this is your third season. have been
counting mine, and find it is my thir-
] teenth. Should not ten years major
ity be to my ADVANTAGE
'sBut IS is the unlucky number, and
This is the year you will meet your
Waterloo see I must leave you
again !, i.
Towards the end Of the evening Phyl-
4 lis came to him with a favor, which he
courteously refused to take.
Il didn't expect you to forget SO
soon, she observed. II simply want
ed to return your. compliment in offer
ing me one. <4s355
His partner having been favored,
Phyllis occupied her chair.
81 want@to ask your permission to
CALL" he said. "You see, in order to
test this case thoroughly, we must
have frequent opportunities to meet. "
II cannot give You permission" she
i replied. eff you call, you must come
without j."
certainly SHALL" he replied. s.
And he certainly did. His calls be-
came frequent and informal. They
met at the opera, at dinners and recep-
tions. Phyllis enjoyed the novelty of
a devotee who could not present her
with books, flowers, music, confection-
ery and invitations to the theater.
There was Q zest in constantly being
on guard and in triumphing over his
adroit subterfuges to induce her to
stake"
She tried various devices to trap him,
but was always met by that slightly
cynical, aggravating smile.
Meanwhile. their intimacy grew
amazingly. In spite of the ever-pres-
ent little feeling of mutual strife, there
was an irresistible charm in their com
panionship. n.
Spring came, and still they were
both baffied in their quest. Their
common acquaintance were aware OF
their motive. and made the subject an
amusing feature Of conversation.
One night Stephen jerome pulled
himself together and acknowledged
that he must be up and doing and
Z bring matters to climax. He had
4 allowed himself to drift pleasantly
along, easily foiling her attempts to
give, hoping to find her mapping. But
he realized that she was ever on guard
+ and was not likely to forget, SO he
must resort to stratagem and force
her hand. He had been content with
the equal match through the early &C.
quaintance, but it was different now,
He wanted the philopena question set.
tied before he asked her to give him
something of infinitely more value than
trifling philopena. He gave himself
thorough mental shaking and
worked his wits out of their sluprish