The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-02-11
You and 1 have never seen Miss La

moine'
"Derringer," said 1, you are becom-
Ing hysterical. What is this nonsense
supposed to mean"
"The simplest thing in the world,'' he
replied. ''Let me review the matter
i met the young lady whom we have
known as Miss Lamoine in New York
a few days before your arrival. The
effect upon me have described to you.
It is the rankest folly to say that she
saw anything in me worth loving, and
yet I can't help believing it. Heaven
forgive me. Then you came, and what
ever impression I had made was utter
ly effaced."
"Oh, see here, Derringer," said I,
"she never cared a penny for me.
Don't disturb your mind with wild
hallucinatiOns"
"My friend, have her own word for
. it,
He spoke with convincing earnest
ness, and 1 was staggered. My mind
was still confused by his previous per-
picking statements, and this upon the
top Of them was too much for me.
LET me try to get this straight"
said I. 'Do I understand that you
asked her to marry you and she said
something which led you to believe
that 1 stood in your way?"
Il did not commit that absurdity," he
replied. "She read my heart. She knew
that she need only lift her finger to
bring me to my knees before her meta
phorically or literally, confound it, any
way she wanted! And instead what did
she do? She told me a very pretty sto-
ry about a girl who was an orphan and
had been brought up under the care Of
one who had been her fathers friend.
AS soon as she opened her lips 1 knew
that she was speaking of herself. This
guardian of hers was the finest man in
the world. She would die to please
him."
"She?' 1 cried. "Miss Lamoine?"
1T pleased the lady to omit Names"
he replied. 'She was telling me the
story of friend. 1t appeared that the
guardian had son who had been
much away from home, abroad during
the last few years. He was returning,
and it was his fathers best wish, his
dearest hope, that there should be
wedding"
l.. The perspiration from my forehead
ran down into my eyes, and it was
cold
"He was a dutiful son, by all ac-
count continued Derringer, ''and
would undoubtedly marry to please his
father even if it broke his own heart
and the girls. Happily, however, there
would be no such double catastrophe,
for the girl loved him."
''She loved me?" exclaimed. "Sibyl
loved me? The thing isn't possible.
Why, man, was a brute to her. The
only shadow of kindness ever showed
her was to sing sad songs to make her
cry"
''The girl loved him." said Derringer
firmly. "She couldn't remember a time
when she hadn't and, being the right
sort of girl at heart, she was afraid
he would pretend to love her in order
to please his father. The idea became
a nightmare with her-a night and day
mare. So she hit upon a plan in the
midst Of her desperation. 1t seems that
her looks had undergone remarkable
change since girlhood, so that she felt
quite sure the young man would not
recognize her. He had never paid any
attention to her when she was a child,
and, besides, there's a sort Of family
peculiarity-I didn't quite understand
about deficiency of vision or some
thing like that. But you seem to see all
right"
II see too WE'LL" said 1. Its the
same with my father. 1t was so with
his father. We see face precisely as
it is, and if it changes in the least it
is another face to us. We do not carry
with us the vague and varying images
of those we know, which serve best
for purposes Of general recognition.
We hold one accurate picture, and it
either fits or it doesn't. Do you un-
derstand2 1 probably know more
about >ur real looks than any other
felloV who ever saw you. But if you
should dye your mustache a shade
lighter 1 might pass you on the street
without notion that I had ever set
eyes on you before"
Il think the young lady endeavored
to express some such idea,' said Der
ringer. "You may readily believe that
was in no condition to grasp a COM
plicated subject. However, be the ex-
PLANTATION what it may, the young lady
was perfectly convinced that the gen.
tleman in question would not know
her. She had resolved to play a strange
comedy with him. Well, she played
it in New York and was not satisfied
with the result At least that is the
rational inference. So we have had
the second act, with a changed scene,
and the romance has come to perfect
conclusion
ut has?" cried. 'Why, man, I
haven't spoken a word to her havo