Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1906-11-01

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Coming
g
By
Cecilia A.
Loizeavx
Sc

NOANS ~
that made the girl before him still
more indignant.
who are you that you should decide
whether | need to do anything at ally'
she blazed Indignantly.
II am you iance, and he was be-
ginning when she interrupted him.
IF that is your excuse for such I'M
Just interference with my wishes, |
can ut least relieve you Of your duty"
And she placed her engagement ring
on the table between them. The young
man glanced at II without seeming TO
sss it. Then he looked sharply at the
angry girl who was drawn to her full
height.
"Ahcia." he said gently, '.you are too
angry to realize what you are doing.
Put the ring on your finger again.
You don't mean this"
Pardon me. I do mean IT," said the
girl Jelly.
The young mans face whitened, and
a hurt look sprang into his steady
brown eyes. Then he Strengthened up
and squared his shoulders and set his
strong chin firmly. When he spoke
there was a note Of hardness in his
voice which the girl had heard
from him before and from which she
shrank mentally.
"Alicia. do you realize what you are
doingf We were to be married In May.
Your trousseau Is begun, l know. And
you've given me every reason to be-
lieve you cared for me as much as do
for you. And now, because / ask you
to do this one thing-for your sake as
well as mine-you are going TO give all
this up"
The girl turned suddenly and went
to the window. where she stood look
ing out into the dripping garden. She
felt her lips quivering. and she must
not let Bob see.
Bob looked at the crown of dark red
hair against the deep green Of the
window draperies, and his voice sof-
tened.
"This is all I've ever asked of you,
Alicia. I've been too confident Of your
love for me after you confessed 1t;
I've believed In you too utterly ever to
be jealous of your fiirtations, as many
another man would have been-and
rightly too. I've submitted cheerfully
to being 'trailed' in public because 1t
was you who did the trailing"
Alicia turned and faced him again,
her foot tapping the floor impatiently.
"Is the list of your virtues a long
one, sir?" she asked.
81 shall not name them ALL" he an
swered calmly. The only thing I've
ever insisted upon your doing is this
one we're talking about. Give up this
silly concert tour. I've never said a
word when you've sung for sweet char
ity's sake or for any society affair,
even when the publicity Of the events
has often made me writhe. This time
you haven't any real reason. You are
not In need of money, and you're not
doing 1t for charity. 1t isn't even the
necessary ambition Of the professional
to win a higher place for herself. You
will get fiattery from the critics who
do not think 1t worth the effort to
spend real criticism on society anna
teurs. If they should criticise you
h0nestly-the way they do profession
ais. to whom 1t means bread and but
ter-you'd see the point I'm trying to
make. l appreciate the charm Of you
and your voice as no one else who
looks and listens to you possibly can,
and, Alicia Falrall, l don't want to see
you damned with faint praise or hu-
inflated by any conscientious critic.
Can't you see that
when you are quite through" inter
rupted Alicia, you can doubtless find
your way out. / must ask you to ex-
cuse me-" And she swept from the
room, pauslng once in the curtained
doorway as II to speak.
Unconsciously she assumed a theat-
rical attitude. Her face was stunned back
over her shoulder, and her lips were
parted a little. With her glowing head
and her soft green dress between the
heavier green of the curtains she look
ed like a tall, beautiful dahlia. and o
involuntarily started forward. But she
closed her lips to a thin red line and
went on dropping the curtains behind
her. Presently he heard the tapping Of
her slippers upon the stairs and then
the bang of a door.
He did not leave the house at once,
but stood at the window where Alicia
had stood and looked out into the gray
twilight. 1t was early spring. AS he
looked YEARLY at the sparrows on the
soaked lawn Bob felt his throat tighten
and brushed his hand across his eyes.
"She couldn't mean It." he muttered
as he turned and picked up the emer-
aid ring and slipped 1t into his vest
pocket. 1T Is too close to May for her
to mean that" Then he sought for pa
per and pen and sat down at the table.
He wrote:
me. I have said too strongly, perhaps,
what l believe to be true, and all I want
u to spare both Of US the pain any failure
Of yours would be sure to Gauss. Think
It over well. dear. before you decide.
What I came 10 tell you today II that
our house n all done. The last workman
has len. ! am inclosing q key-there are
only two-and / beg you VIII go there
and think II all over at least once before
yeu decide finally.
He inclosed the key and on his way
out handed the envelope to the butler
to 'be taken up to Miss Alicia"
As for Alicia. she had gone straight