The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-15
BY W. A. FRASER

M TRUE woman, strong man,
I'm and good horse; love.
III strength, and speed. Because
of these things this story.
But it did not start this way; not
by great deal. At first it was only
banter. That was the way Beth
looked at it-Beth Cavendish. If
Douglas Slade was more in earnest,
that was his fault.
He was in indigo, up in Tirhoot, and
the planters. life tends to make one
take things more seriously than they
do in the service. For Beth was of
the army. Her father was a gem
eral, and her brother, and all the rest
of the Cavendishes were of the army.
And there it's strength and speed and
truth and just little love, perhaps.
AS for the seriousness of the thing,
as I have said, it was all on his side.
That was the atmosphere when they
said these things. 1t was in Calcutta.
He had really been skirmishing for an
opening-so blunderingly that she
knew it.
Marriage and the before is not ro-.
nance" she said, looking very earnest.
ly through the window and out across
the sun n-scorched maidan that stretched
away to the stone feet Of Fort Will.
liam. It's dreadfully commonplace;
it's almost tragic in it's dull CONNER
cialness."
rs there no romance of love, then p"
he said, feeling that some strong moves
were being made on the chessboard Of
their little game.
Il suppose there is-of love; but we
don't associate love with most of the
marriages we see, you know; they are
arranged and the result is"
He waited for her to finish the sem
tence, watching the gray eyes as they
came back dropping little from the
glare of the hot sunshine. But she
seemed to be picturing the result to
herself, and to have forgotten all about
his presence, SO he added: "Disas-
trous, eh?''
Not always, of course. Now, If it
were the old days, the old times when
men rode forth to battle for the ladies
they loved, or said they loved, it might
be different. Then a man had to dare
and do much to prove his love. Now
it's simply matter of arrangement
Slade thought hopelessly of his posi-
ton. He might vow to raise more in
digo than any other man in his dis
trict, but that would hardly appeal to
this maid of a warlike race His
chances were limited. He would will
ingly undertake to thrash anybody, but
there was nobody to thrash. He felt
quite bitterly that what she said was
true-there was little of romance in
his life, little that was bright to offer
her in exchange for the pleasant ex-
istence she led. Why should she go to
live at his stupid old bungalow, up in
Tirhoot, simply because he desired 1t
loved her, if you will? She had sad
ly demolished his skirmishing line, but
he must retreat with light heart, con-
ceal the dull little gnawing with ban
ter.
Yes" he said, eff we lived in those
days, or those days were now, I might
take your glove, tie it to my helmet
really forget how they did fasten the
gloves on-and go up and down the
land knocking people about until you
were quite satisfied with the slaughter
and called me back to receive my re-
ward. By Jove! Fd do it quick enough,
though" he added, more to himself than
to his companion.
Both smiled little at this, and said: !:
You see, the fates are against you;
there's no chance for you to show your
DEVOTION
mo; no chance" he admitted trag-
ically. Are you going to win any
races in Calcutta next meeting?" she
broke in, changing the subject abrupt
ly, as though his last words had set
tied the other for all time
No, I'm afraid 1 can't even win a
race. My horses are all crocks-not
one above selling-plater FORM
A merry light danced in Beth's eyes
Had she laid a trap for him? "You
shall by my knight-errant then. I'll
give you task. Win me the Bally-
gunge Cup"
His face fell. Something easy
please" he begged. THE moon, fol
instance, or Buddhas tooth from Cey.
lon. Any little bauble you may think
Of
My knight rides not forth to battle
today, then?" said Beth.