The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1907-07-26
the MISTRESS
OF the GLOVE
Py ROBERT CARLTON BROWN

did For when he picked it mp in the
crowded store he looked about fur
lively, blushed like a schoolboy,
thrust it into his pocket, and then
rushed out into the street
When he reached his Office the first
thing he did after locking the door
and drawing the blinds, was 20 take
out that little glove and smooth it
over the back of his hand.
1t was a new glove-she could not
have worn il more than once, for
there was not one wrinkle in it-yet
1T was hers-it was hers-he was
sure.
Nc doubt you are anxious TO know
who she was. Well, for that matter,
so was Hobbs, for he had not the
slightest idea.
You must know, then, that Hobbs
was a bachelor, and it has been said
that bachelors often are sentimental.
He hadn't lived 80 years without
knowing something OF love Since p
his appreciation and utter depend
ence on romance had yearly increased.
With q little computation it is quite
easy to ascertain that Hobbs was
quite romantic-yes, most romantic.
There wasn't a day in which it did
not appeal to him. His name spelled
Hobbs, but his heart spelled plainly
Romance.
Now you can understand a little
better why he cherished the lost
glove, and possibly you can account
for his having kissed it three times
tenderly, devotedly.
He did all this, in the quiet and Sc
clusion of his own office, for Hobbs
made no boast of his romantic nature,
and even tried occasionally to conceal
it from his prosaic friends.
He held the tiny glove in his right
hand and dreamed; then he trans
ferred it carefully to his left hand,
and dreamed some more.
1t was little glove, and Hobbs had
penchant for holding little hands
Big ones he abhorred. He had tried
them all, and his final verdict was
that the smaller the hand the bigger
the love tnot the glove). That was
why he had picked it up in the first
place; that was why he was dream
ing over it instead of the work piled
high on his desk.
The castle he built out of that small
glove was by far his greatest achieve
ment in that line-and that was right
in his line. He was a builder of cas-
ties, maker of mansions, and often
smaller things than even that glove
served for foundations.
That noon he carried it with him to
lunch in his breast pocket, and the
waiter wondered why he received a
half-dollar for a tip from the absent
minded man who felt continually in
his breast pocket.
BY three that afternoon he had
decided on her every feature and
talent he had created his fairy from
the glove-and, now that he had made
her to order. he determined to find
her and realize his dreams.
The case simply was this: She had
lost a glove; she would know that
somebody had found it; she would
know about where she lost it; she
would go there and inquire If that
failed, she would go to the lost and
found bureau in the store and leave
her name and address, so that if the
glove were found she could get It.
Then, too, she might advertise for it,
io1 it was new glove and the other
was useless without it. And then, if
she did not advertise-Hobbs would.
With this idea in mind he started
out and went to the department store
where he had found the glove. But
the store was closed and he took the
car for home, troubled by the loss OF
time, but certain that he would find
her in the morning
That night he went happily to bed
and dreamed of her-dreamed of her
tenderness, of her daintiness. He saw
her before him with those tiny hands,
with feet TO match; he saw her in his
night dreams as he had created her in
his day dreams.
And then the hope-no, the surety
of finding her possessed him, and
he went down to breakfast with sat-
isfed smile.
AS he scanned the headlines of the
morning paper his mind mechanically
reverted to her. and he found himself
planning what he would say at the
store where he had found the glove.
Possibly she already has adver-
tised for it" he thought, and eagerly
opened his paper TO the lost and
found column"
His eye ran down the advertise
ments in rapid haste. 1t stopped
quickly N one item and he read the
first two lines with delight in his
eyes
Suddenly his face changed, the cor
ners of his mouth dropped, his cheeks
grew white, and he bit nervously at
his mustache.
With an all gone feeling, he
crushed the paper in his hands and
threw 1T across the table. Then,
broken spirited and saddened, he
nuehed his chair hack and wont die