Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-12-15
THE CASE OF FL0RAIj
HOW FRAREY BECAME INTER
ESTED IN HER.

of as AN old DacnelOr WHen ne nrSL
went to board with Mrs. Albrecht. He
was % then, a man of somewhat par
ticular habits, none of them very So
ciable. What he wanted was a quiet,
comfortable place to board, as home
like as possible, and free from any
annoyance from other boarders. He
offered Mrs, Albrecht unimpeachaDle
references, and demanded the IKE OF
her, caution being his strong point
Even then he would only take the
room for a week, having had doubts
of Flora Albrecht, a miss or IA. ne
feared she might be noisy, and ne
wanted to try the place before he den
nitely settled down.
At the end of the week, however,
he sent for his trunks, c~ongratulat-
ing himself Upon the circumstance OF
having at last found something that
suited him. Mrs. Albrecht was a
quiet. neat, self-contained little wom-
an. who did not bother him with at
tempts at conversation, kept hi: room
in perfect order, and gave him a good
breakfast and dinner. What o
could he want? AS for Flora, the
lanky daughter with the usually
tousled name of light hair, Frarey
saw scarcely anything OF ner, n
heard less.
On his part, Frarey was a model
ooarder. quiet. regular and prompt IN
his settlements. He paid monthly
now. The experimental stage had
passed. and as far as he knew, he
was willing to spend the rest of his
laws with the Albrechts. He went
Town to the wholesale grocery house.
where he had an excellent position,
very morning at eight o'clock, and
,eturned at 6: 30-in time for dinner
Sometimes he spent the evening in his
room. reading an improving book,
sometimes he went out to hear an i'm
rowing lecture.
Frarey was totally Indifferent to
he budding charms Of Flora, who was
'eally as hearty and wholesome a girl
as need be. 1t was a year or W
before she began to bud at a.l-tWo
years at least before Frarey took any
notice of the fact. She wore her
irst p~ompadour for three evenings
Jefore he observed e that. A year
alter or Whereabouts Frarey, meeting
her in the hall, saw that she was
wearing an uncommonly attractive
white dress, and mentally remarked
hat she had beautiful white teeth that
showed to advantage When Sne
smiled.
Then Flora went away somewhere
10 take a curse of the higher educa-
ton. Perhaps Frarey missed her, but
ne hardly knew. 1t is certain that
in a general way, and without any
reference to anybody in particular, he
had occasional thoughts of settling
Town in a home of his own. 1t
would be nice to have some one to
read the improving books to and to
take to the improving lectul ss. That
was all it amounted to-just hazy
General thoughts.
But when Flora returned a year
later with charms that now began to
blossom from the bud his reflections
became more definite.
"Pd best go slow about this" he
said to himself. "a man needs soma
thing more than pearly teeth and
I rosy complexion to make him COM
Portable"
So he did not encourage her, though,
when she went away the following
June for her second year, he bough
her "The Stones of Venice" and tbs
North American Review to read on
the train, for which she was very
grateful.
Time passed, and Flora came back.
On the evening of her arrival what
he called her Improvement almost
took Frarey's breath away Her for
mer p%rettiness had become actua
beauty, and her conversation, which
Mrs. Albrecht no longer attempted to
restrain, was bright.
The next morning Frarey met Flora
ON the stairs, and as he stood aside
to let her pass she, too, stopped.
"Mr. Frarey,' she said, with a
charming air OF embarrassment.
mother tells me that some of your
things need mending. There are-er
some socks that need darning, and
other things. You know, mother never
had much time for such things, but
have, and-I wonder if you would let
me try my hand at them"
What would you have thought in
such a case?
At first the mending and darninf
were lone rather roughly and un
skillfully, but FIarey didn't are for
that-not a cent. He would have had
to throw the socks away in any event
But the improvement was rapid, and
in a short time an incredible neatness
was shown in the darning. Within
a week Frarey, commenting on the
excellence of the bread at table, wa:
informed that Flora had made it.
One evening he vas INDUCING hi
fancy in this way when he though
he heard voices below his window
J His room was on the second floor
II " - ~ ..NsAA ,rto ME- 80 -