The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-07-28

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| Smithers, with surf boat and life
preserver in the shape of stylus
and pad, started that night for
Cripple Creek to take his tide at
the flood, while Joe Hardy, i'm
maculately dressed but very much
abashed, escorted Miss Neil to the
lawn party.
Cripple Creek, May 8.
Dear Joe:--
1 arrived here o. K. Am quartered
at the National. Trouble galore here.
Sent in my first copy this morning.
Yea, verify my tide is in. In haste,
Dick.
S. Did you enjoy yourself at the
lawn party?
This elegantly concise letter was
penned to Joe Hardy by Dick
Smithers on the day following his
arrival in Cripple Creek. Follow
ing is the reply received few
days later:
Denver, May II.
Dear Old Pail
Yours of the 9Th at hand. 1 had the
time of my life at the lawn party.
Everyone asked for you and Miss Nell
explained. All wish you success in
taking your tide at the flood" as you
expressed it. Sammy Coates says he
hopes you will not get your feet wet.
seemed to enjoy herself altho I'm sure
she missed you greatly. You are in
deed lucky fellow, and it's shame
that that hammock rope broke the
other night. By the way, she invited
me over to fix it. Trusting everything
is going we'll with you, am,
Yours supernumerarily,
Joe.
A week later another letter was
dispatched from Cripple Greek to
Denver. 1t read:
Cripple Greek, May 10.
Dear Pal Joe:-
Yours of the 18th came yesterday.
Nell writes that you make capital es-
cort. Keep it up, old man, it's splen
did practice. BY the way, in her last
letter she said that the circus would
soon be in town and that she wanted to
attend, but thought she'd let ter not do
so without male escort. L wrote and
told her to ask you to accompany her,
as this, being leap year, gave her that
privilege. Good joke, hey! Should she
ask you, you accept, as she is at the
height OF rapture when in the presence
of elephants, calnels, monkeys, donkeys
and-No, I'm not taking shot at
you. Ha, ha.
This strike bids fair to last several
months, consequently it's impossible
to say when l shall return to Denver,
but of course my absence should not
hinder Nell from enjoying circuses,
lawn parties and all that sort of frivol-
tiles so dear to the feminine heart, so
it's up to you to see that she misses
none of them. 10 with her to this cir
Gus as we'll as to any other old thing to
which she sees fit to invite you. Re-
member this is leap year, which gives
her the privilege of asking, besides it
will be splendid practice for you.
Well, so-long for the time being.
Dick.
And so it happened that Miss
Nell did invite Joe to view the
wonders of the circus as we'll as to
innumerable other ''frivolities'
during the ensuing two months.
And Joe did accept because, as
Dick had said, it was splendid
practice"
Meanwhile the correspondence
between Joe and Dick continued
without interruption, but their
letters, not being requisite to this
story, are omitted.
One afternoon two months after
his arrival in Cripple Creek, Dick,
the ''tide taker," sat in his rooms
at the National Hotel, perusing
the following letter:
Denver, July, 10.
You Lucky Dog
Congratulations, Dick! Miss Nell in
tends proposing to you at the first OPP