Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-02-25
Rich Man, :.
Poor Man! ~
By KEITH GORDON
Copynshs. 1904. by Frances Wilson

ing EIODuleS OF cruSneu pearl rOlleu
noiselessly through the assures of the
| hills and blotted out the village. the
bay and the towers and chimneys Of
San Francisco-in other words, the
world. In the damp air the girls hair
curled more distractingly than ever.
Never had he seen il when il framed
the low forehead in so bewildering
an arabesQue of rings and curves and
waves.
You look rather swell yourself" she
laughed In response TO his eloquent
glance OF approval. "Knickers and a
Norfolk cap and the jacket aren't half
bad OH you. Taken in connection with
your cleft chin" she went on throw
ing her head back and screwing up her
eyes critically, they make you very
presentable youth indeed
1--WE won't talk about that" was the
terse reply This walk to Point Boni-
Ia has an object"
She opened her eyes wide.
Certainly" she assented politely.
Point Bonita, for instance. IL it has
any other object" she went on sternly,
IF you're going back to that old sub
ject, won't go step farther"
BY this time they were moving in the
midst of a cloud.
1t was his turn to be innocent.
"You mean-oh." with a fine imita-
ton of Impotence, doesn't girl ever
forget it IL fellow has once happened
to fancy himself in love with her and
said SOP
The pink OF the girls checklist had
the soft. furred look that is response
BILE for the slang adjective 'peachy"-
deepened suddenly, unaccountably. Out
of the tail of his eye the youth observed
this interesting fact with cruel glee,
rejecting with a pang that he should
have chosen diplomacy as a vocation
instead of engineering.
You should forgive and forget the
sins of my youth" he resumed. You
know you insisted that you would al
ways be the best of friends. and that's
what | need now!"
You change quickly enough, l must
say she remarked with some heat.
1T isn't six months since
"Since WHAT" he challenged. But she
turned away and did not reply, while
the walls OF mist lazily closed in nearer
and nearer.
What do you want to tell me?" she
questioned at last in an oddly subdued
manner. He did not answer imme-
diately. but swung on ahead Of her In
the narrow path as if he were making
a way for her through the mist. So he
had got over his love for her. She felt
shuddering sense of desolation. Still,
she argued, she could scarcely have
supposed he would go ON caring, es-
pecially since she had explained to him
with judicial carefulness that she must
marry man with money ON account
Of her mother and the younger girls.
Strangely enough, though she had
pictured herself as married to another.
there had always been a somber, in
teresting figure lowering in the back
ground of that picture, one to whom
she meant to be so kind. so gentle, so
all sweet. that his regret should become
like beautiful. sad song-to be wept
over and enjoyed. And now the brute
was asking her to forgive and forget"
that he had ever told her that he loved
her.
They had reached the summit of a
hill, and he proposed that they sit down
upon a convenient bowlder to rest be-
fore attempting the next one. Ap-
parently her silence was unnoticed.
You see. fate's been telling Off my
buttons lately" he began in business
like tone, land the decree is that 1t has
got to be money!
What do you mean!"
Erich woman, poor woman, beggar
woman. squaw," he calculated, touch
ing the buttons ON his jacket, .'and the
lot falls to rich woman every time. 1t
seems a beastly thing to think Of
marrying for money. l would be a cad
enough to do 1t, but the thing is that
there's girl-a mighty fine girl-and
l really-I-hang II, like her. But
how am l to tell whether it's the real
thing or whether her money has some
thing to do with 1t? You see. there are
reasons why should have money right
away, long before / can hope to gain
1t by my own efforts. The governor is
breaking down, and his affairs are In
bad shape. and there are the two kids
and mother to provide for"
The girls heart was sinking as the
mercury does in falling temperature
All the joy OF living seemed to be ooz-
ing away through her finger tips. leav-
ing her cold and inert. He turned to-
ward her curiously.
"Of course you don't think I'd con-
slider such thing If were not forced
10 it by duty" he went on fervently
And came to you because thought
you'd understand. because circum-
stances are forcing you into the same
thing. They say you're going to mar
ry Bradshaw. You'll be rich wom-
an and happy one. hope; but. wheth-
er you are or not. you will have done
your duty by the family That will be
your consolation, and that's why
come TO you in my difficulty. What do
-