Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-01-16

If she would wait a decade or '"e
for him. But-again the hateIui
thought-she might laugh at him. An
that ''but!' His heart turned faint'
and he did not propose. -.
Quite fanciful and impossible, IS III
1 tell you that there is many a palu"
headed and supremely dignified fath-
err of a family who need turn but a Re"
leaves in memory's book until he
reaches a page wherein is written the
story-oh, of course my dear Sir, d
very absurd story-of a time when he'
too. an awkward, stumbling school
boy, was tremendously in owe with
some sweet-faced, gentle-souled wo-
man, anywhere from ten to twenty
years his senior, whom, having small
est conception of the real meaning OF
marriage, he hoped to marry some day.
if she would be good enough to walt
for him; to whom he would have pro-
posed such a blissful waiting but for
an inexplicable fear of her laughter.
Jones, Brown, Robinson, how Is 1t!
Honestly, now. Why should we hes
itate before the confession? What un
f1edged love in life Is more beautiful!
nj touch of grosser passion about
it; wholly ideal, unselfish, and sin
cere.
With the little boy entirely recovered,
it seems almost a pity not to terminate
the story, but there is one other incl
dent so directly connected with 1t that
it probably should not be omitted. 1t
was in the long summer vacation, and
the little boy now had grown to ex-
tremely big that he was nearly eleven
years old. For several days he had
seen little of Miss Hattie, who appear
ed to be very busy and ~preoccupied
and kissed him only in an absent
minded way. He had noticed, how
ever, that John was not hanging about
neighbor Griscom's house as much as
usual, and was glad to feel that at
last he was learning his place; it cer-
tainly was time!
On a certain day he had visited the
Griggs boy, who lived quite at the 9th
er end of town, and when he returned
his father and mother, were crossing
the road from Neighbor Griscom's.
The little boy wondered why they were
arrayed in their best, and so he asked
I them:
what you been doing?"
His mother smiled as she answered.:
1--WE have been attending a we'd
ding"
"Whose wedding"
Cant you guess?
mo-
:, But a great fear had seized upon the
heart Of the little boy even before his
mother replied:
well, we attended the welding of
Miss Hattie and Mr.. John"
The mother smiled again. How was
she to know, how was she ever to sus-
pect, that the iron had entered his
soul? Without saying a word, he left
the room, sought his little chamber,
and here threw himself upon his bed.
So this was woman's love. This was
the woman's constancy! This was all
that her kisses meant. For his heart,
he never would love again. And that
John, too! Well, the woman who could
be content with such a love could
never have been worthy of his own.
1t had been a fortunate escape for him,
he said. All, we are human, and grapes
are sour, ever when we are but three
feet high.
In an hour or two he was playing
one-old-cat with two other boys. He
would hide his crushed and broken
heart; and, besides, he said to him.
self, what he had read in a particu-
larly fascinating book, that it would
be dishonorable to continue to love
the wife Of another. Fortunately, the
tragedies of youth do not strike deep.
but they leave a mark on the lives
we lead none the less on that account
His mother watched him for a time
as he played, then turned to his father
and said:
what do you suppose made him
act so Queerly when | told him about
the w%edding?"
His father. who had forgotten a thing
or two, responded:
81 can't guess"
And as the little boy never told a
soul the story Of his first love, even
Miss Hattie herself never having the
slightest idea of the real state of the
case, the reader must decide for him.
self, If he can, how l came to know
SO much about it.-Public Ledger and
Philadelphia Times.
Motion for a New Trial.
1t is fold Of tho Lotto So~