The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-11-30

the start for the dining room WAS made
I { offered her my lett arm. though l had
carefully planned beforehand Just wha
I would do. She-without hesitation
and, as l know NOW. cut of sympathy
for me In my suffe%ng-was taking
my wrong arm. when it aashed on me
| like a binding blow In the face that
i ought TO be on the other side OF her.
I got red. tripped in the f~ar-sprawlng
train of Mrs. Langdcn. tore 1t slightly,
tried to get to the other | of Miss
Ellersly by walking in front of her. re-
covered myself somehow. stumbled
round behind her. walked on her train.
and finally arrived ut her left side. con-
scioUs in every red-hot atom of me
that L was making a spectacle OF my
self and that the whole company WAS
enjoying ii. l must rave seemed to
them an ignorant boor; in fact, 1 had
been o a great deal among people
who knew how to behave, Il had |
never given the matter of how to con-
duct myself on that particular occa-
sion an instant's thought l should have
got on without the least trouble.
1t was with a sigh of profound relief
that | sank upon the chair between
Miss Ellersly and Mrs. I.angdon, safe
from danger of making breaks" so ]
hoped. for the rest of the evening. But
within q very few minutes | realized
that my little misadventure had un-
nerved me. My hands We're trembling
so that l ould scarcely lift the soup
spoon to my lips. and my throat had
got so far beyond control that / had
difficulty in swallowing. Miss Ellersly
and Mrs. Langdon We're each busy with
the man on the other side of her: !
was left to my W reflections, and ]
was not sure whether this made me
more or less uncomfortable. To add to
torment l grew angry, f~uriously
angry. with myself. l looked up and
down and across the big table. noted all
these self-satistied people perfectly at
Whats the matter with you. Matt?
They're only men and women,
and by no means the best spec
linens of the breed. You've got
more brains than all of 'em put to-
gether. probably; is there one of the
lot that could get q job at good wages
if thrown ON the world? What do you
care what they think of you? It's a
damn sight more important What O
think of them, as it Won't be many
years before you'll hold everything
they value. everything that makes
them of consequence, in the hollow of
hand"
But it was of no use. When Miss
Ellersly finally turned her face toward
to indicate that she would be grac-
iously pleased to listen if L had any
thing to communicate. | felt as if L
We're slowly whiting, felt my throat
contracting into a dry twist. What was
the matter With me? Partly, of course,
own snobbjshness, which led me
people 5haf he shob6ishness e of the
small and silly had got them in the
of attaching to themselves. But
the CHIEF cause of my inability was
M on son . nd hi- 1accn,c hsl flnI1Crhf -
L was estimating at its proper alu
What he was teaching. But SO arnes
and serious am I by nature, and so
and serious was he about these
trivialities that he had been brought
Up to regard as whole of life, that l
tude; | was like a fellow who, after
erannminS hard for an examination,
that all the questions put to him
ire on things he hasn't looked at. I
had been making an ass of myself,
md that evening l got the first in
| who had prided myself on
being ready for anything or anybody.
who had laughed contemporary when
read how men and women, presented
E~uroaean courts, made fools of
hemselves-I was made ridiculous by
nothing to back their pretensions to
'u~2eriority but a barefaced bluff.
Perhaps, had / thought this out at the
able, I should have got back to myself
my norma ease: but didn't, and
hat long and terrible dinner was one
ong and terrible agony of stage fright.
When the ladies withdrew, the other
men drew together, talking of people
did not Know and of things I did
lot care about thought then they
we're avoiding me deliberately as a
lock Of tame ducks avoids a wild one
hat some wind has accidentally blown
lown among them. I know now that
forbidding aspect must have been
e%sponsible for my isolation. However,
ersly's constrained efforts to get me
INTO the conversation, ana angrily sus-
that Langdon was enjoying my
liscomf1ture more thar the cigaret he Il
vas apparently absorbed in.
Old Ellersly, growing more and more
before my dark and sullen look.
lnally seated himself before me. IT
.opc you'll stay after the others have
one" said he. They'll leave early,
nd we can AVE a quiet smoke and
ak"
All unstrung though I was, L vet had
desperate courage to resolve that
d not leave, defeated in the eyes Of
he m person whose opinion I really
about. Very WE'LL" said I, in
eply to him.
Continued Next Weekly
Mark Twain's New Story.
we all swear-everybody. including
ha ladies yno111dinr nv D,.1-..