River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1905-08-24
MAKING a
SHOW
BY D. j. FENLAY

Uncle George than for any of my rel
atiVes. The reason of this was, doubt
less. that he was more communicative
and companionable than any relative
outside of my immediate family. He
would sit down and spin yarns for me
by the hour whenever we were together;
but there was one subject on which, for
q number of years, had failed to draw
him out; and that was often matter
of serious thought to me. and | deter
mined to find good opportunity to get
at the facts of the case.
One evening, as we sat together in my
uncle's comfortable mansion, | found
him in very communicative mood, and
partaking rather freely of his choice old
sherry, of which he kept good supply,
and, to my establishment, he preached
the subject which | had promised to
bring up.
my dear boy" said he, Il suppose you
have often wondered why remained all
old bachelor"
Yes, uncle I said, in an airy, or
hand way, which did not at all betray the
depth of my curiosity. II am sure you
must have had ample opportunity to see
the cream of society and make suitable
choice of a companion"
WELL said he, Il will tell you; and
the story may be good subject for your
dreams of future speculation.
when was young man was rath-
er fond of making good show in So
ciety. At times this was performed on
a very limited capital. Shortly after |
settled in New York, | made the ac-
quaintance of beautiful and estimable
young lady, Miss Clorinda Swan, and :
lost no time in paving the way for a
matrimonial alliance with her.
"One evening the subject of converse
ton between us ran upon operas, and
the upshot of it was that | invited
Clorinda to go to the Academy of Mu-
sic the next evening. AS have said,
my means were then rather limited, and
now had just enough left to pay for
the tickets, but no surplus for carriage.
supper and ct ceteras. With these de-
termined to dispense, as | thought my
fair C1orinda was too sensible to be
affected by the loss.
Fortune favored me at the start;
the evening was fine and the weather
dry, so at the appointed time l made
my appearance, dressed in the best
could afford. and waited patiently for
CIorinda. She soon put all my fears on
the carriage question to flight by assur-
ing n that she preferred walking.
eve chatted gayly on the way to the
Academy, and were in due time for the
performance, which was the opera of
Martha with popular prima donna
In the leading role. OF the performance
| need not speak. The opera was all
that we could desire, and was rendered
most admirably.
when the performance was over we
descended the stairs amid the gay
throng, and soon reached the sidewalk.
But, oh, horror of horrors! 1t was rain
ing! What was l TO do? To get car
riage, without having cent to pay for
it. made my blood run cold. A happy
thought occurred to me in moment.
and in a nervous whisper | asked
Clorinda if she had rubbers on; but, to
my dismay. she answered:
mo; my boots are very light, too.
and l could not think of walking. We
must get carriage.
"Of course there was nothing left for
me but TO face the music. and I hailed
one of the many drivers who were anx-
ious to get passengers. | assisted my
fair Clorinda to seat. and in few mo-
ments we were whirling along through
the rain Hardly had we gone two
blocks when Clorinda said she was hun
CRY, and asked me to stop and get sup
per. My feelings can easier be imag-
med than described, as thought of my
empty pockets, and tried to reason her
4 out of eating so late at night. All my
arguments were fruitless, however, for
my dear Clorinda was not to be
thwarted.
Thinking that fortune might be-
friend me by some means then a mys-
terry to me. | ordered the driver to stop
at the nearest restaurant We entered
the saloon and took seats at a table in
the center of the room. | determined
TO eat as little as possible, but Clorinda
was not by any means so delicate, and
quietly tookthe liberty bordering what
she wanted. In vaiD looked around
to see if by chance the saloon contained
an acquaintance; but. to my dismay,
not familiar face was visible.
AS you may imagine, | was not in a
hurry to leave the table, but my com
panion began to show signs of restless
anxiety to get home, so thought had
better start and have it over as soon as
possible
Il had formed many plans of how
was to pacify the cashier at the desk,
but the wretch had more human nature
in him than I imagined.
While walking down the saloon /
turned to Clorinda and suggested that
she had better go out and get into the
carriage while was settling the bill
and buying some cigars. which want