The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-02-27

ell, not so SympaIneJlc on the z0Jn
Of January as you were on the Isl q
February when you deferred your an
/ swer still further till the Eth
why do you remind me of it?"
Because today is the 18th"
With a careful and studied precision
that corroborated the truth OF Tony IS
statement about theosophy Betty rear
ranged her attitude. and once more the
the patient golf ball. There was short
pause, and then of her own accord she
took the whole structure to pieces.
4 thought it was the 18TH" she said,
The whole fact OF the matter was
this: Betty Borraidale was by no
means sorry that Tony had asked her
to be his wife; that is to say, Mrs. Bor-
raidaIe had insisted upon her accepting
that point of view. Most mothers VIII
admit that there is small room for SEN
timent where it is necessary to marry
| a daughter. In the case of Tony the
| amount of sentiment was almost unus-
ual, but so far it was mainly on his
side.
Every time that he had applied for
his answer she had dared the direct OPP
position to her mothers wishes and de-
| layed her reply, for the simple reason
| that when a man seems colorless in
| character to a girl of q she SHES in
| definitely, sometimes effectually, before
she takes the fence of acceptance and
finds herself in the field Of matrimony.
| When she displayed before her
mother these neutral tints of Tony's
character Mrs. Borraidale weighed
| them willingly in the scale against the
advantages in his position, and.
whether she surreptitiOuSly pressed
her finger down on her side of the
balance or not. she always proved very
satisfactorily that the colorlessness of
his character was of no consequence
compared with the excellence of his
position.
In Betty's favor it should be said
that she could not bring herself to
give her hand when it held no COM
pensation for the gain that would
have been placed there in return
Such honorable scruples in a daughter
of twenty-one are, no doubt, most dis
tressing to a mother or forty-seven,
and there are probably few people
who would be found to Sympathize
with Mrs. Borraidale.
Yet so it was, and with every re-
spect for Tony. Betty possessed sufd-
cient strength of mind not to accept
his offer, and plenty of vacillatfon to
enable her to avoid the direct refusal
AS he had reminded her, this was
the 18th of February, and yet she was
no nearer to a definite determination,
for during the month that had passed
nothing had occurred to stir Tony
from the usual reticence of his manner
or add one color to his apparently I'M
attractive mental texture
He was generous good-natured,
equable in temper, and absolutely
without conceit. but these are nearly
all negative qualities. far from likely
to satiate the mind of a girl of twenty
one.
She felt now. however. as they stood
there on the course, that it had come
to that turn in the tide of affairs when
an answer was inevitable, and every
thought in her mind seemed to point
to the direct refusal.
1t was not that her decision was in
f1uenced by the prospect of another
and brighter horizon AS far as she
could see. Tommy was the only matri-
mOnial skyline to the landscape which
she had been cOntemp plating for the
last three years, ever since she left
school. Yet, nevertheless, the hope
that springs eternal in the human
breast finds admirable soil in the mind
of a girl just out of her teens, and she |
was quite young enough to think that |
the two happy marriages in the bush |
are infinitely more to be desired than |
lies in the hollow of the hand.
Accordingly when she remarked |
that she thought it was the thirteenth |
of the month it was nearly the last
struggle of her vacillaton, which she |
knew could no longer be of service.
1T was the twelfth" said Tony, |
firmly.
Betty looked down disconcertedly at
the golf ball and then an idea came |
to her assistance.
Tony she said, impulsively, eff
you go round the course in less than |
1 do I'll give you the answer this even
Tony looked his disappointment. He
was acknowledged to be the worst |
player in the club, and he fully recog- |
nized the improbability of his getting !
the answer as he had hoped. But as |
ever, he was patient, and far from as |
sorting the rights which in her heart |
Betty would really have wished him to /
have demanded
She would have preferred him to /
have told her that she was unreasOn- |
able. She knew that it would have
hen TQr1f ha0 he wi
to her. her opinion of his character |
was only strengthened.
It was a nine hole course, used by |
ladies' and gentlemen alike. and while |
game. Tony was a recognized failure. |
He had never even exhibited the |
record breaking capacity of the be- |
ginner, and there was not man in the |
club who would trouble to go round |
with him.
The chances were admittedly I'M
even, but he went hopefully into the
club house to get the rest of his sticks
and engage a caddy.
AS he came out again Betty was
just taking her long-intended drive.
He watched the ball as it scared like |
a lark into the air.
There goes my chance" he re-
marked. and Betty gave him the
sweetest smile in the world as he
started after it.
With a certain amount of despair
Tony made his heap and his stroke.
One was as Intellectual as the other,
and through a small sand storm he
watched the brief career of his ball.
In three strokes Betty had prac-
tically forgotten the contest, but at the
twentieth she remembered it.
Just before hedge her ball sought
shelter in some thick grass.
me devil is the manufacturer of all
golf balls and the father of lies
She knew it would mean the vast
ing of stroke to get that bali ont
again, and to the enthusiast the vast
ing of a strnI1a is NJ cts-.-.ll--