The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1904-08-12
n !! ] Z, 4 ! ! J
/ q DenniS On
7ltc y ~ 3 navy ssesy PaA os.l

Itsn years since he had enjoyed my H.
tionA pleasure. Day and night. night;
and day Of unending and re-
lentless ! worry and strain that
had been the history .of q dec
ade.. OF course, he had played for big
stakes with little or no capital to start
on But he hadd5not been altogether
unsuccessful. HeA had jumped from
goal stos goal with marvellous rapidity.
No sooner had one point been achieved
than the proceeds. moral as we'll as
physical. had been staked on . further
achievement. q The world looked upon
him as a marvelously successful young
man, but the world did not behold the
precipice over which u. he perennlially
hung. sss $JioA Nth tss$ "a {f N $S% ii. Z
\ It seemed now that the end certain
" must come. A slip here not his
3fault-a disaster in 10 distant state, q
.tightening of the money market---alll
things Impossible to foresee, and ne
was pushed hard against the wall. IT
WAS not sosmuch thsat thought Of losing
Iall he had gained in a. financial way.
He felt he had the strength and cour-
age ito begin over and he knew he
could makeSa better; living than he had
ever Had time to take. ut was not
that. It was the bitter thought of fail
ure, the sneers and criticism Of the
men on the street-that was what he
strank from. 81 $ &!,:r r., S.
v He gritted his teeth as he often had
done before in supreme moments. 1t
vas not MI over yet SIIe had vet time
u make X turn before Wednesday
week, when he must 1ace his banker,
his principal cred itors and the men who
had backed him in his enterprise. And
he had q card or two left to play. He
walked on unloading place or time,
his eyes set and intro spectivs, his
face drawn and h9ggard. His poor,
tired, forced brain was trying Its best
to heed the lash he applied. sss#s1 h, e.
Then a strange phenomena oc-
CURED. v. Coming outsof his trance for a
moment he looked straight into the
flashing, jet-black eyes5of a rollicking,
saucy schoolgirl, who was regarding
him mischievously. The eyes were full
of life, intelligence; vitality and We're
were. framed by the daintiest oval
face, the dainty red' on the olive Skin
telling Of perfect health. Dennison
had been SO absorbed in his thoughts
that he had not been 5consci Gus of his
surroundings and consequently when
he looked upawas bearing down direct
~ upon the girl. She had noted his
absorption and had planned, mischiey-
ously,s to give him aslittle shock. But
he had; looked up Just In time and
found himself looking into those
splendid black eyes. a strange thrill
went through; him. The physical, ef-
fectsof the face he saw and especially
the eyes was most deanite and power
full. For: an instant he was paralyzed,
then sheered rapidly to, the right to
avoid collision, But, alas for the best
laid plans, thegirl had planned all along
to dodge him on that same side, 80
the result was disastrous. He sue
Iceeded IN preventing a. head-end COL
slision, Int brushed SO violently against
her that he Knocked her books from
her hand and scraped her watch from
the bosom Of her dress where it was
pinned. ! ;<%4 IF% !: %'E$S5 Z
I. "A thousand pardons," he exclaimed
flushing deeply. :.t'.TrhAre is really no
excuse fol-. q man walking down a
public street in trance. I am an
idiot. Pray forgive me- s51 1++ :.
She stood Sdemurely watching him
struggle with loose leaves and scat
tered papers and all the debris. to be.
found ina school book, while he sput-:
tered away at himself. Then he found
that the watch was broken and had
stopped and insisted on taking it to:
q nearby jeweler, to ascertain the ex-.
tent Of the damage. It was found to
be slight, and while the jeWeler wasre-
pairing it he remained and talked to-
the5girl. His business cares had rolled
from him and he found his brain en-
gagged in new and delightful problems.
How was he to further his Facquaint-
ances with the girl: how, prevent the
episode to end his contact with those.
brilliant eyes. y Whit Al &Ssk Il. } H
:a@:s The watch being repaired, he insist:
ed on walking with her; carrying her.
books. III 3,5 $5.f Y II %sa# S$5s "a AK
y .Is it quite proper, sir?'' she asked.
Indeed it is," he replied, earnestly
Then he went on desperately telling
her his name and business q name he,
knew was we'll known throughout the
city. She accepted the situation: with
the careless abandon Of the schoolgirl.
Her feminine intuition told her that
he was gentleman and his blunde1-
ing earnestness amused her. She saw,
too. that her charms had impressed
him, which she could not help but
like, being q woman. II NJ. \ /. 555@55
He learned that she was from q
small town in the west and was stay
Ing with an uncle in the city in order
to enjoy the advantages Of the city,
schools; he also, judged that the uncle
was somewhat +of crank and that the
.girl sWass afraid Of him. He learned
L = ~ - ~f.>a.