The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-01-01

was accepted, anC early J. the eV0-
ming went for her. attired with great
care in . rakish sort Of .ltflt much 81
fected BY athletes.
All went well or. % viewed n the
perspective. Ill. Ny fellow conspirator
was In readiness and showed u to .
table in quiet corner. Drinks were
ordered light non-intoxfeants. 70 !
could not be accused afterwards Of be-
ing unduly excited from artificial
causeA. 80 VI ##' - pig
Presently the waiter came and stood
facing Mamie ut q short distance.
When she glanced his way he winked
broadly. She flushed to the temples.
then turned deathly pale a. he threw
kiss at her. @
what is the natter" I exclaimed.
"Oh, look at that awful waiter" Z.
she replied, In frightened voice.
glanced at the waiter just in time
to notice him ogling violently. !
chuckled at the success of my plans.
"Here, fellow. what do you mean?"
I demanded. loudly, rising.
He came forward with such a prize
fighter swagger and SO wicked an ex-
preston on his face that I was bit
frightened myself, while Mamie
screamed: - III.
"Oh. Arthur. be careful; he will
hurt you'll" y~i
This inspired my very best efforts. .
"Apologize to this lady Instantly" /
commanded, imperiously. = y
mot me-" he responded. with lees
that really did make me angry. Il
know that sort too well to apologies"
Then I struck him, and in an instant
we had closed in. q grapple. I was
badly. frightened for moment He
weighed some 40 pounds more than /.
and had an arm like mill-post.
But the moment we grappled 1 saw
that he was on the square. Ills blows
were feints and served only to disar-
range my clothing, but not to scratch
by precious hide. In the meantime
Mamie was screaming and shouting
murder and walters, ushers, policemen
and people were rushing toward US. !
"Now,"~1 whispered; ARE you
ready?" III,
LET 'er co." he grunted back. -
swung of with fine right-hander
and caught him full in the face, and he
fell with howl Of pain.
Insult lady, will you?" shouted.
loudly. as they closed about me. while
two policemen fell on my assailan,. 4;
There was a buzz of excitement and
much wonder at my feat. I'D
''Why, man alive, Ted Murphy is tho
worst bruiser in the Sixth ward" ex-
claimed an excited usher. HE nearly
killed a man in the prize ring. Are
you hurt?" In
NO." replied. indinerently. "only
a scratch or two," and turned to Ma.
ME, who was regarding me with
proud and happy eyes. 4.
"No. I won't prosecute him." said.
lightly, as we left. Il guess he has been
punished enough"
That night was the proudest in my
life. NAMES adulation was balm in
deed to my pride. She chung to me in
alteration and I ventured to put the
question had so long hesitated over
and the reply sent me into the seventh
heaven of bliss. ,-.-
The next day when Murphy called
for his little balance he had q black
eye and was distinctly surly.
Il didn't give We no license to poke
me in the eye the way ye did," he
growled. Better make that $25: an
even hundred"
Upon my refusal he leered at me sig
nificantly. Better" he said, "or III
tell the lady all about the deal. Oh,
know where she lives I just thought
I'd foller We last night, SO know. An
I'll take q poke at We de next time
ye're out wild her, on the SIDE"
counted out the hundred with q
sinking heart. I didn't care about the
money-the end was worth it. But I
had forebodings about being in the
fellows power. d,
My forebodings were not in vain.
The way Murphy worked me during
the interval prior to my marriage was
something fierce. When we were
married gave q sigh of relief.
But the sigh was premature. I had
not been home from the honeymoon
trip month when in walked Murphy
with fresh demand. When laughed
at him and told him was married and
he could do his worst he looked puz-
zied.~ Then he started toward me.
"1ll give We good lickin' fer luck"
said he. t. @r ~.~ ..G .-,-.
jumped for the fire escape and
started to climb. Murphy seated him
self in my chair. helped himself to one
of my cigars from q box in the. desk
and proceeded to reason with me.
Better come back and give me $500
and we'll call it square. an I'll leave
We alone. he said. Whats that?
Blackmail? Well, Jest try it an it'll
be nice readin' in the newspapers.
Big type, How Arthur Montgomery
won his wife. Hired q slugger to let
him lick him to git rep wild his
girl" And the brute laughed loudly,
while I regarded him cautiously from
H>~ H.