Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-03-30
The *
COnQuerOr
BY KEITH GORDON
Copyright, 1901, By VI. McKen

IOohcu dl HIS IL was
ten minutes past 4, and he was al
ready late for an engagement Never
theless he dashed hastily into the big
department store, Determined to pro-
cure the driving gloves that he soNely
needed
The tired clerks and shining pneu-
matte tubes seemed to be in league to
detain him, and he was strolling i'm
patiently up and down, inwardly re-
Wiling the system that made such delay
possible, when the sight OF tall, fair
girl, also waiting for change, trans
formed his feelings like the touch of
fairy wand. His impatience vanished;
his engagement was forgotten. He
had seen his ideal woman.
A weaker man might have failed to
detect his chance in the mere passing
glimpse of a face in the crowd. Not
so Manice. If fate, in effect, said to
him. Don't you wish you .n2w herr
he indomitably answered, Trust me
| shall know herr And so the game
Began.
Social customs he regarded rs 80
many fences inclosiag aud dividing the
Held of ACTION. Under ordinary circum-
stances he respected these defenses
and skirted them decorously ultil he
came to gateWays. like any other well
bred individual. But the case in hand
was comparable only to a cross coun-
try ride, when the man who would be
in at the death must go aTsl The
fences, iunn .hs bitches and stay him
pot for gateways and bridges.
All of which means that Floyd Man
Ice, usually the most dignified and con-
seryative of men, spent the rest OF the
aftsNaoan following a slim, erect young
woman at very respectful distance
and utterly without her knowledge.
At 6 p. m. he had the satisfaction
of seeing her enter 2 sInary trap az
Mcrristo9n, 4. j., Whittier she had
ahMfttingly led him, aud satisfied
from her manner that she was at home
he paced the platform waiting for the
train back to town and making plans
with an exultant confidence nSGc;ra er
long success
fGoing 10 Morristown for the sum-
mel, eh?" exclaimed his partner In
some surprise when he announced his
intention a week later. 81 thought you
loathed New Jersey?"
mistaken idea of yours" responded
Manice, with mendacious hrevity. "BE
the way. do you know any one thereF
events usually moved with business,
like precision when Maniee started to
accomplish aa end. Within two weeks
from the day on which he first saw
his star, as he called her to himself,
he was established in Morrist9Wn,
waiting in strong serena, yet humble
expectation Eor her to appear once
more upon his horizon.
The days passed like a procession
of snails, but she did not appear, and,
though through tha Hindness of city
friends la hal number of introdue.
lions. he aade no effort to discover
her identltx-~ He lad u strange sweet
eensciousness-to which he held in
spite of disappointment and the de-
plorable sentimentality into which il
was leading him-that sha vas surely
drifting toward him and that each day
brought them nearer together.
Near the end Of tho third week his
faith was rewarded. 1t was on the
golf links, and a ripple of peculiarly
clear, frank laughter somewhere peap
him caused him to turn his head. She
and companion We're sauntering to-
ward him, every line of her 1.-the,
graceful figure standing out gloriously
against the pure background Of the
sky, her brown hair framing her face
in bewitching disorder,
On this glimpse of her Manfee lived
Son another week, and then his friend,
Duncan Brown, descended upon him
for the weeks ead stay. Duncan would
have been welcome under any circum-
stances, but when he announced that
great friend of his, Betty Alston lived
in Morristown and offered 10 take
Manice to see her the latter pressed
the fresGan af his bachelor quarters
upon him with added fervency, Won
dering if by chance he was entertaining
an angel unawares.
So indeed It proved.
y snink saw You on the links the
ether day." Miss Aston remarked,
t;1rning to Manice after the greetings
were over, and that gentleman always
wondered what I'D 6ald IN reply. The
one impression that he carried away
from that meeting was confusing
| sense of having been projected unex-
| pectedly into the very midst of heaven.
That impression, however, was not
lasting. Time revealed that If Miss
Aston was a guiding star others be-
| sides himself were looking, raising their
ewes to her and following where she
| led.
Still he drew a sigh Of relief at the
| thought that he had two rivals instead
| Of one. Always in these matters there
was safety in numbers.
Keeping watchful eye upon two
rivals is wearing work even for a
| strong man. If Manice had been fas-
| cnated by Betty Alston's face, at the
| end of two months it was lovelier to
| him than ever, for the better he knew
| her the more assured he became of her
| sweetness and womanliness. Counted
! by conventional standards, 1t was
( pitifully short time that they had
known each other, but he felt as If he
! had been aware Of her through all the
; thirty-fve years of waiting.
/ Thus his love, like mighty wave,
| whose crest, poised for a moment,
| must inevitably spend itself in foam,
broke into words. Simple, manly
words they were.
"You are the only woman in the
torld for me- he concluded, the color
fhat usually glowed under his tan
| noticably absent From the first mo-
ment l knew it. l would have follow
ed you to the ends of the earth to tell
you this, even though l had known
that you would refuse met'
| Betty Aston. her face as white as
| his own, turned to him with quivering
| lips. His earnestness frightened her.
! But there was Jack Winter-dear
| Jack with the laughing eyes and the
gay smile! And yet Jack would never
have followed her out of the crowd,
J and
She covered her face with her hands,
and Manice, pitted against fate, set
his jaw grimly.
as there any one else?" he asked
at last, and at the gentleness Of his
! voice Betty took courage.
: You don't know how unworthy l