The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-03-11
GOING
BY KATE THORN,

0esAN AA VIC AdSI lAhl oAS NoSo v
aaye ITO go a-courting."
1t must be confessed that, in these
lays. the modern belle does her share
If the wooing. but she does not have
% dress up in a stiff collar. and a pair
of boots w sizes too small Tor her,
md walk up to the lannon's mouth of
her lnamorata's family, consisting of a
..ather. and mother. and grandmother,
and maiden aunt, ana halt a dozen,
brothers and sisters, and inquire in a
trembling voice, rs Miss Araminta at
| aome?"
Whenever a man goes accounting.
everybody seems to know all about it.
His demeanor tells the observant spec
tator the business he is intent upon.
with the legend-"I go Accounting"
Everybody is cognizant Of 1t, and looks
knowing; and asks him IF the north
brn lights We're bright last night about
| O'clock 'and how the market is for
kerosene up to Daddy Brown's,' n
Of place.
We have in our family, at present. a
young man who is deeply. we trust
successfully, engaged In going %a-court-'
ing; n our warmest ~sympathies have
been aroused for him.
When Sunday afternoon arrives 1T is
plain to see that something is about to
happen.
Our young nan is 1dgety, and ION
communicative, and cannot sit in one
place half a minute at a time. He is
continually interviewing his watch, and
comparing it with the old eight-day
,off1n-shaped clock in the corner. He
iooks in the glass frequently, and
lraws his forehead locks first back and
then forward, and combs them up, and
| pats them down, n Is unsatisfled
with the effect throughout.
The smell of bay rum n bergamot
IS painfully apparent. When he shakes
out his handkerchief an overpowering
odor is %perceptible. His boots shine
cardamon seeds in his breath when he
yawns.
He smooths his budding mustache
with affectionate little pats, m feels
his invisible side-whiskers continually,
to make sure they are still there, a fact
which is not established to outside OBJ
servers by the sense of sight.
He declines soup that day ut dinner.
He says it is because he doesn't feel
hungry, but we know 1t is because
there are onions in 1t, and onions, as
every one knows, do not sweeten ones
breath to any great extent.
If spoken to on a sudden, he starts
and bushes, and looks as guilty as If
he had been caught stealing something,
and the moment one does speak to him
he goes back to the delightful occu-
patton of staring at nothing, and wait
Ing for the hour hand to creep around
to Z.
AT I he sets forth, clean and tidy
from top to toe. looking precisely as
IL he had just stepped out of a band
box.
In sympathy and in Imagination we
follow him.
Affairs are not fully understood be-
tween him and Mary Jane. He is still
In a state of anxious, though somewhat
b~lissful. uncertainty. He does not feel
quite sure she means business, or is
only flirting with him.
Consequently he is somewhat tinid.
He steps through the gate into the
yard of Mary James domicile with in
ward t%repidation. He is not entirely
certain that his visits are welcome.
He wonders IL the old folks will be at
home. or If they will have had the
grace to go to evening meeting and
leave the coast clear.
He devoutly hopes that those W. lit
tie brothers are in bed, for they are the
torment of his life since he has been
trying to court Mary Jane. And if
that other fellow" is there, he mental
ly VOWS that he'll know what such car
ryings on mean--yes, hat he will.
BY the time he reaches the door steps
he is in q cold sweat, and almost wishes
he hadn't come. He rings the bell with
a nervous jerk, and then feels ar in
sane desire to rush off down the street
without waiting for any one to answer
the summons. But he hears footsteps
within, and knows hat it Is too late TIC
make good his escape. So he remains,
and puts a bold face on 1t. and feels
those side whiskers, and smiles hope
fully, and says to himself that he does
hope Mary Jane will come to the door
herself, and not send that grinning SER
want girl. who invariably giggles in his
face, and then rams her apron into
her mouth to stop further developments
when he inquiries, rs Miss Mary at
home?"
After he gets inside the house he is
still in a state of p~erpleXitH. VIII his
welcome be warm enough to admit OF
his removing his overcoat n leaving
it in the hail? or will the state of the
atmosphere be such hat he will feel
chilly around his heart with his over
coat on?
Wherhe is seated in the parlor, the
problem he is called upon to solve is
what shall he do with his feet and
hands?
His hands he can put in his pocket
when everything else fails, and he most
ueNoullS WloleS llldI Nv sSould dlSPooo
of his feet in the same manner.
What shall he ak about after the
topic of the Weather is exhausted? Does
she notice his side whiskers, and think
| them becoming? Does h like the
way his hair is parted? n does she
think a blue necktie becoming to him?
All these veXed questions pass
| through his mind. n he sits on the
| corner of a chair, and ook at her. and
thinks how charming she is. and would
give all his spare money for the courage
to rise and take a seat beside her on the
sofa, where she has left room for him
and wants him to sit, no doubt. But
then a woman may not express her
mind on such a thing.
His heart sinks as he hears in the
next room the old mans sonorous
"Ahem!" and knows by the rafting Of
things generally hat the parents of
his love are preparing to retire to their
bedroom, which joins the parlor and is
separated from it by a thin partition,
which gives an easy passage to sound.
end conveys to ears maternal and
taternal every kiss Of youth and
love" he may give to Mary Jane, and
the little feminine squeak which he
knows will attend every such PERFORM
hnce.
n he revolves %anxiously within his
pwn mird what diabolical scheme of
Vengeance AGAINST lovers does poSsess