The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-05-29
A Comedy of Broken Hearts.
By L. PARRY TRUscOTT.

| CHIeu hOlniug lOI Ills tHhlEe VI IIhi'
AS he sat brooding on his deck chair
he seemed 10 hear them laughing
boisterously together over the frail
fancies he held so sacred. There are
as good fish In the sea as ever came
out OF It," they seemed to say. (Waves
and winds are proverbially clustering
and coarse OF witt "Why, she may be
fat; she must be nearly forty, 10 judge
by you! In England, the land Of
healthy, pretty women, man may
soon find healing for lovesickness. Man
| alive! What is one woman among
many, when all are fair? Choose n
maiden fresh and youthful, and in her
smiles forget pale myth Of an out
| lived age. You have managed without
her all these years. and not done so
| badly-come now. own up! How much
pleasure has there been mingled In
your pretty pretence OF sorrowf Even
now you might he In far worse case.
Why, you might he bound irretrievably
| bound. 10 woman worn and aged,
and changed in a thousand ways from
the girl you remember-a woman you
would not know II you passed her In
the street! And. instead, you are free
as air-as free as We are-to make a
fresh choice; 10 make love anew TO n
fresh heart-how much better than
you could teach II were you raw and
ignorant yourself you alone know"
But he put his lean, brown hands
over his ears; he would not listen to the
voices OF winds and waves. He
clutched with all the desperation of n
drowning man at his frayed belief In
his own perfect faithfulness. He de-
fed the pagan creed of the untamed
seas. He passionately vowed, for the
sake OF his cherished middle-agcd self
respect, 10 marry no young girl.
ACT III.
And he kept the letter Of his VOW.
did not put; as though she was sur
He certainly married and only few
months after his return: but the wife
he chose was nearly OF an age with
himself-a widow, frail and delicate.
and family reminiscent Of n byegone
prettiness. The first time he saw her.
minded him of his old love. lie could
not have said how or where. but II
proved an attraction strong enough to
chain him to her side, to bring him
quickly TO her feet-he who had never
done anything before without the ut
most deliberation and thought And
she was not by any means generally
fascinating, only one Of those gentle.
colorless women who fail TO interest
even their friends, but who generally
succeed in obtaining ana holding fast
the warmest attachment Of a certain
class of quiet, shy men.
Her past was pcopled by her former
husband and her ailing children. now
all lost TO her, hut she did not find
much to tell him about them. She spoke
to him more about an early attachment
that had proved unfortunate. She
shook II out of the rose leaves and
lavender Of memory I'm which she had
long laid II for his inspection-a
crumpled, faded relic of her girlhood
I'VE were both very young. His name
was Brown. too" she said, with her
uncertain smile.
He remembered afterwards that she
seemed to look at him rather curious
ly. as though expecting n question he
prised but not ill-pleased that he should
let the subject drop. At the time he
was only afraid of distressing her with
continuing II. He believed she had
made n special effort on his behalf, and
he was unwilling that she should take
trouble to please him when he was SO
well pleased without. He had been
her little ailments and the most trivial
passing events. few things stirred her
! to conversation.
Yet he fell honestly In love with
her; fought and conquered for her sake
his ingraiEed reluctance to set any
woman in the place of The woman who
had failed him This was the sort of
woman she might have grown into, he
said in self-defense. An occasional
trick of speech or gesture in his new
idol would remind him quite startingly
Of his old idol; but he decided that
women were more clike. after all. than
he had thought them. Although he
half-despised himself for unfaithful.
ness. he half-excused himsel. because
at least, he was faithful to type. The
love Of his youth seemed very near to
him as he gave himself unreservedly
to the love OF his middle-age. lie
seemed to know this woman by in
stinct. He had no question or need tC
worry her to learn all he required tC
learn about her
Then, one day. she returned TO tn,
dropped topic of her early love. and
there was the merest trace of excite
ment in her voice.
His name was Charlie" she said
that boy told you about. Don't yoI
think that makes IL morr than evei
coincidence-our love-since you
name is Charlesr'
II used to he aiways called Charlie
once" he said. absertly. for he wa
looking very intently n. her.
Her pale cheeks flushed almos
youthfully. IL wosder," she went on
J you have no story to tell memo oil,
, romance. Surely you met some on'
abroad-or before you went abroadT'
5 She was looking younger and brlghte
P than he had ever seen her. IL wa
marvellous. the transformation OF jus
2 that touch Of color I'm her cheeks-hov
] IL rounded them. helped her to shak
b OF the marks OF trouble. the hand o
81 Etssan IL. n n l.