The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-12-21

MAKING
A SHOW
> SsSsSSSSYySs
Dy D. j. FINLAY.

llioA lVL any VI uIS Ield-
i tives. The reason for this
o$O~ was, doubtless. that he was
more communicative and
companionable than any relative out
side of my immediate family. He
would sit down and spin yarns for me
by the hour whenever we were to-
gether; but there was one subject on
which, for number of years, 1 had
failed to draw him out; and that was
often a matter Of serious thought to
me, and l determined to find good
opportunity to get at the facts in the
case.
One evening. as we sat together in
my uncle's comfortable mansion. l
found him in 8 very communicative
mood, and. to my astonishment, he
broached the subject which / had
promised to bring up.
"My dear boy" said he, 81 suppose
you have often wondered why l re-
mained an old bachelor:"
Eyes, uncle" said I, in an airy, off
hand way which did not at all betray
the depth of my curiosity. 81 am sure
you must have had ample opportunity
to see the cream Of society and make a
suitable choice of a companion"
Well" said he. Il will tell you; and
the story may be a good subject for
your dreams of future speculation.
, when 1 was a young man I was
rather fond of making a good show in
society," At times this was performed
on very. limited capital. Shortly
after / settled in New York 1 made the
acquaintance of beautiful and esti-
mable young lady, Miss Clorinda Swan,
and lost no time in paving the way
for matrimonial alliance with her.
"One evening the subject of conversa-
ton between us ran upon operas, and
the upshot of it was that 1 invited
ClOrinda to go to the Academy Of
Music the next evening. AS 1 have
said, my means were then rather i'm
ited, and now l had just enough left
to pay for the tickets, but no surplus
for carriage, supper and ct ceteras
With these I determined to dispense, as
] thought my fair Clorinda was too
sensible to be affected by the loss.
Fortune favored ne at the start:
the evening was fine and the weather
dry, so at the appointed time I made
my appearance, dressed in the best
could afford, and waited patiently for
Clorinda. She soon put all my fears on
the carriage question to flight by as
suring me that she preferred walking.
"We chatted gayly on the way to the
Academy, and We're in due time for the
performance, which was the opera Of
Martha with popular prima donna
in the leading role. OF the perform
ance l need not speak. The opera
was all that we could desire, and was
rendered most admirably.
when the performance was over we
descended the stairs amid the gay
throng, and soon reached the sidewalk
But, OH. horror of horrors! 1t was
raining! What was to do? To get
"a carriage, without having a cent to
u for it, made my blood run cold
moNpy thought occurred to me in a
asSe and in a nervous whisper /
bot, 2da if she had rubbers on;
coSSmay, she answered:
and r cots are very light, too,
~ [not think of walking. We
h seset carriage
"Of course. there was nothing left
for me to do but to face the music
and / hailed one Of the many drivers
who was anxious to get passengers
I assisted my fair Clorinda to q seat
and in a few moments we were whirl
ing along through the rain. Hardly
had We gone two blocks when Clorinda
said she was hungry, and asked me
to stop AMI get supper. My feelings
can easier be imagined than described
as 1 thought of my empty pockets
and tried to reason her out of eating
so late at night. All my arguments
were fruitless, however, for my dear
Clorinda was not to be thwarted:
Thinking that fortune might be
friend ne by some means then mys
terry to ue, I ordered the driver tC
stop at the LeareSt restaurant. We en-
tered a saloon and took seats at tabl:
the centre of the room. 1 deter
Ell to eat as little as possible, bu
linda was not by any means so del
e, and quietly took the liberty Of or
ing what she wanted. In vain
ked around to see if by chance th'
- doom contained an acquaintance; but
TO my dismay, not familiar face wa:
visible.
"As you may we'll imagine. was no
in a hurry to leave the table but m.
companion began to show signs OF rest
less anxiety to get home. so though
had better start and have it over a.
soon as possible.
81 had formed many plans of how
was to pacify the cashier at the desk
. but the wretch had more human natur
in him than imagined.
While walking down the saloon
turned to Clorinda and suggested tha
she had better go out and get into tn
carriage while l was settling the bil
and buying some cigars, which want
ed TO take with me. To this, fortunate
iy. she made no objection.
II walked on till came in front o
the smiling individual who was wait
ing, for my cash, and with as bold Al
.n.o,nnoo nc oonid assume