River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-06-04
A PhiIopena
By BELLE MANDATES
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forgot his existence. Later he re-
called himself to her notice by dane
ing with her one of the absurd fig
ures Of cotillon in which they had to
eat a philopena.
1T carries me back to my school
days she laughed.
Not very far back" he insinuated.
"Oh, yes; this is my third season!"
''Then ] am right" he persisted.
'I should dislike TO tell the number
of seasons that / have been induIg-
ing in cotillons."
Thou hast all seasons for thine
own" she quoted.
Here the figure ended, and Phyllis
returned to her partner.
who is that man / just danced
with?'
"He IS a cousin of our hostess re-
piled her partner. ''His name is Steph-
en- Jerome, and he has recently come
here from Philadelphia. He is distin-
guished for succeeding in everything
he undertakes"
"How fortunatei" she exclaimed. 81
Just ate philopena with him. ! ha !
taken no interest in the fact, but :
shall now. 1t will be an incentive to
bring failure to so successful man"
How unkind!"
"N0; it does n person good to be
thwaIted occasionally"
81 don't question your cleverness.
Miss Courtney. but I warn you that
you have brilliant antagonist; he is
a diplomat"
The subject Of their conversation APP
preached with a favor, which he Of
feted to Miss Courtney.
Il regret to decline she said, look
ing up at him with shining eyes, but
you know our philopena was give
or take"
Some one claimed her partner. and
jerome appropriated the vacant chair.
"We might dispense with the favor"
he suggested, "and yet have the dance,
but if 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."
You will wait in vain," she re-
piled.
ITS n challenge, is it?'
Yes" she laughed.
81 was tempted he said, "to allow
myself to be philopenaed in order not
to forego the pleasure of dance, but
I shall fight it out to the sure end"
you are so confident, then?"
"Why should I not be? You say
this is your third season. / have been
counting mine. and find it is my thir-
tenth. Should not ten years major
ity be to my Advantage"
''But 13 is the unlucky number, and
This is the year you will meet your
Waterloo. ] see / must leave you
again"
Towards the end of the evening Phyl-
lis came to him with favor which he
courteously refused to take.
az didn't expect you to forget so
soon," she observed. II simply want
ed to return your compliment in offer
ing me one"
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"
''I cannot give you permission" she
replied. eff you call, you must come
without it"
Il certainly SHALL" he replied.
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-
There was zest in constantly being
on guard and in triumphing over his
adroit subterfuges to induce her to
take"
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
partnership.
Spring came. and still they were
both baffled 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
bring matters to a climax. He had
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 ac-
uuaintance 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
a trifing philopena. he gave himself
a thorough mental shaking and
worked his wits out of their sluggish
state of inactivity. He pondered I'M
til late hour over the ways and means
but was compelled to go to bed with
no solution of the problem.
The next morning was Sunday. At
breakfast the husband of his cousin
and hostess announced that he was in
disposed. and facetiously rendered to
jerome his Office of passing the plate at
morning service.
Jerome began laughingly to decline.
with thanks; then an idea struck
him.
SPRING IN THE VALLEY.