The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1905-07-18
THE KID
fOriginal.1

with a smile.
81 had to take that kid" said Dick,
home from church last night. Her
father stayed to help count the contri-
button"
There was something in the sweet
smile hat the girl gave him to make
me feel as IL 1 YOU like to punch his
head. Still, I was very fond of him.
though he was very "kiddish" himself
Who is b ?" l asked.
Grace Lincoln"
Eleven q passed. Dick Norval
had spent Ii greater part of the pc,
riod out of my life. hen came back In,
to 1t again. He was lining with me
one evening. and / asked him why he
had not married. We were over our
coffee and cigars at the time. Dick
blew a smoke ring and looked through
1t in a melancholy way into vacancy.
Had a disappointment" L asked.
Tel me about it,
Il don't mind" he said and gave me
the story.
"A good many years ago., before !
left this region, 1 used to kno a very
young girl of the name of Grace Lin
colin"
had not thought of 1.-The kid" for
years, but I remembered her and prick
ed up my ears.
when l first knew her l was twenty
and she was scarcely fifteen and alto
gether too young for me. She went
away to school and to college and when
she came back was twenty-three. while
I was twenty-eight. There was a lot
of difference in her, though lot a great
deal in me. In one respect l remained
precisely the same. l still considered
a girl from twenty to twenty-five about
the right g for me. | was thrown a
great deal with Grace Lincoln, and we
became fast friends. Her father had
grown very rich, and she could have
shone In society, but she preferred to
devote herself to an object. She I'M
dertook the dispensation Of the amount
her father set aside each car for char
ity, and, since she Investigated every
case thoroughly, the work took all her
time. Society tried hard to get hold of
her. but she said she had no time to
give to 1t. She was a very intellectual
girl, and l was never better entertained
thai when in her company.
LAS years went on | grew more and
more DESTROYS of home life and COM
forts. and in thinking of d woman to
preside over my household, be my life
companion and all that l was not long
IL, or,in To tho onfnaIISinn that tho
only woma | wanted was Grace Lin
soln. If couldn't get her, home life
could not be for me. The more my
mind dwelt on this view Of the ques-
ton the more attractive it became to
me. l suppos l had loved the girl
for some time without knowing 1t.
Had any man stepped in between her
and me should nave known it a,
once. But something else b a man
had come to keep US apart.
After beating about for Il time with
out getting any encouragement | final
ly determined to tell her what l had
on my mind anyway. She listened to
what l had to say without appearing
to be In the least moved by it, then
old me that she had determined to
O0NOte LtE L L IL U III Which,
she was engaged. | replied that she
must haye given her heart to some
one she had lost, whereupon she ad-
mitted that she had and would tell me
about it.
when was between fourteen and
fifteen she said, L met a young man
of twenty who captivated my unso-
phisticated little heart completely. !
remember one uight at church he saw
me home. and l was the most delighted
girl In the world. / ran IN to my
mother and exclaimed hat | had had
q grownup young man to see me home.
But the grownup young man evil
IDENTIFY was obliyious to having caught
me. At any rate. he didn't want me.
l was not much of a conquest for him.
for / was but little more than a child.
He never paid me any attention. and
when ] was thrown with him. though
I exerted myself to entertain him, he
always seemed bored. | went away to
school tr~easuring his image In my
heart. but by the time l had been grad
uated from college 1t had largely pass
ed away from me. If he had recipro-
Gated doubtless / should now be a
wife and mother, taking care of my
own children Instead of those who need
me in much larger numbers. AS 1t Is,
I am in love with my work and shall
never marry
land who.' l asked. Is this stupid
ass, this natural born fool, this drib-
bling idiot. who permitted Jour heart
whe young and tender to slip through
his vnappreciative fingers
"She looked up with a smile and re-
piled:
You.
"It was some moments before I could
understand that she really referred to