The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-03-30
OLD WEAR
LIES A-DyLNG"

[Original.l
He had declined several invitations
to join a merry party and see the old
year out. a bachelor of thirty-fve, he
had been we'll brought up by a good
mother, and his sisters were pure, we'll
behaved girls of the olden type. He
had long been u clubman and u mem
Der of the smart set. His companions
spent Il great deal Of money, living a
have any purity in them, the women
following the latter day custom Of
drinking cocktails. At the Country
club, of which he vas a member, there
was a separate cafe where the ladies'
were served with beverages without it
being Known how much they drank.
He knew that any of the parties to
which he had been invited would be
drinking bouts. The influences under
which he had been brought up had as
serted themselves, and a sudden dis
taste for the company of his set had
kept him in his rooms when others
were roistersng.
He was surrounded by luxuries, and
a cheerful wood fire blaZed on the
hearth, but there was one comfort
lacking. There was no friend to bear
him company. He thought of a chum
who was far away and wished that he
might suddenly be dropped down be-
side him. Then he fell to thinking how
nice would be a woman's companion
ship. Why not marry? He thought Of
the women who were his usual associ-
ates and repeated the words Of an old
song:
What. Marry old Marjory? Oh, no,
no.
Then he thought of a family of girls
who had been brought up under the
same influences as his sisters. They
were rich and never had been rich,
but their mother before them and their
ancestors lad had enough to enable
them to live as ladies and gentlemen.
The Brinsley girls were all very pretty
and very attractive. He liked them inn
mensely. but he neve net them in So
ciety. They We're too refined and too
poor to move in his set. They had at
times invited him to simple dinners,
duu LC ldU always GULLY away lSClluS
refreshed. In return he had taken them
out, but if he mel any of his own set
while doing so he knew he would be
twitted with, who's Your beauty, old
man? Where did you find herr spoken
in a tone he did not relish.
Then it occurred to him that he had
only returned the Brinsleys' invitations.
He had never lone them a favor. Had
he ever done amy one a favor? He
tried to think of one unselfish act and
failed. They had all been returns"
Among his regular companions it was
hardly possible to do favors. They did
not need favors. Like him. they had
a-plenty and, like him, spent it all on
themselves. 1t occurred to him that
lie would like to do one disinterested
act. What could he do? There was
the youngest Miss Brinsley, scarcely
twenty, who would be delighted to re-
ceive any tritie he would give her that
it would be proper for her to accept.
Presents We're usually given on Christ
mas, but why not on New Years? He
resolved in the morning to go and buy
some pretty thing and take it to Lucy
Brinsley just to see how it would make
him feel to give something to which no
return would be expected.
His m~editntionS were INTERRUPTED by
a shot in the stree without. In an in
slant there We're the ringing of bells
and the footing of horns. He thought
of the scenes transpiring in the houses
to which he had been invited. Men and
women witt. flushed cheeks were stand
ing around tables, drinking to the new
year. laughing and shouting boisterous-
~. The antics of the men he wouldn't
mind, but both his instincts and his
education rendered holden women dis
tasteful to hon.
The old year was dead. The new
year had entered, and one by one the
sounds without dropped away, and
soon there was quiet. lie looked about
aim. and the room seemed lonelier than
before. Again the problem of a wife
came up to interest him. If he married
1t would be expected that he would
marry in his set. If he married out of
his set his friends would gradually
drop him. Suppose they did. What
benefit would he derive from them
now that he was tired Of their WAYS?
Then Il picture that he had seen in one
of the Illustrated papers came up be-
fore him. 1t was the new year repro
sented by a little child tottering with
outstretche' arms toward him. This
tiny being represented for him Il new
life, for it ',inGled in his heart a new
desire. II that desire led to Il new de.
termination.
The next morning he wrote Il note to
Mrs. Brinsley asking if he might spend
his New Years evening With her FAINT
~, and "A response came asking him to-
come in time for dinner. Lucy came
flown to welcome hi1n, her cheeks like
roses. He took Il box from under his
nrm and gave it to her. Opening il,
she took oct Il fan of exquisite work.
manship. When she turned her eyes up
to him with surprise, delight, graft
tlllp all plpaminu i'm Them ha know