The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1907-12-13
A Spurned Country Rose

By Sherman A. Paddock

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John crownhart. like many other
young men, did not like to write let
tiers. 1t was nice to receive communi-
cations from his friends, but answer
Ing them was an entirely aifferont
proposition.
But when he landed In q small Wis
consin town on a few days outing,
he made UP his mind to put his good
| Intentions into active operations. He
did, Before he had been there many
days he found both the time and the
Inspiration. Here is an extract from
enc Of the first letters, written to an
old college friend
"Jovc. but she is a pretty girl, Quite
the most stunning | ever saw. don't
know as that is exactly the word,
| either. for stunning usually IL applied
10 some society miss, and she most
decidedly isn't one OF that kind, The
| object OF my alteration ia tall and vii.
lowy, with Jet black hair, and black
eyes that seem to hold a fathomless
mystery In their shining depths, Her
perfect features beat anything Robert
W. Chambers ever even attempted to
| describe In his most fascinating love
tales, and she has a complexion such
as one reads about In the soap adyer.
tisements. but seldom sees,
1T was as neal a case OF love at
first sight as anything ! ever saw
First, there was an all-powerful mag
netic attraction. %springing, ! suppose.
from her supreme physical loneliness,
and then. when l came to know her a
little better, 1t seemed a veritablc
communion Of souls. She Is as sim
pie as a sack Of sugar, and yet you
cannot help feel In her presence that
she has more genuine intellect than 80
per cent. Of our city club women.
The funny part Of it all is. she Is
an innocent little country maid. I'm
agine me. John C%rownhart, OF Chicago,
falling "a love with one OF that style!
she has almost no knowledge of the
city and Its ways. What knowledge
she has of the world was obtained EN-
tirely from books, which Is a pretty
bum secondhand method, when !,
comes down to n cash basis.
ut all came about this way. was
feeling blue around the gills, and
hiked out into the country to fish a
little and see II the fresh air wouldn't
s~traighten me out. | forgot ! was
sick after | saw the girl. | am stop
ping at an old farmhouse, many miles
out Of the regular summer travel
There isn't another city chap In the
neighborhood, or girl either, for tina,
matter. All OF them are country rus
tics, and not a bad sort at that.
meet some souls here as straight as
ever fitted from a cold piece OF clay
in a city mansion, even II they aren'
polished until the brass shines
through.
"This divinity Is one Of them. II
any polishing should be done 1t would
bring out gold Of SO carat quality. y
gold runs that high, which, come te
think of 1t, | guess 1t don't. All the
country bumpkins are clean daffy over
her, and | don't blame them a bit
Patricia, that Is her name, Is q
hired girl In one OF the farmers
homes. She Is from a %neighboring VII
lage, and has been on the job aboul
six months. II was rumored arount
that she was engaged to a grocer II
her native village, but the fellows
don't place much stock In the story
even II the girls do boost II with al
the energy at their command,
Il met her on the road the firs'
time, al | was plodding along towart
the farmhouse with as nice a strinl
Of Ash as you ever laid eyes ".
was so surprised that stared at hel
like q country Jay viewing a city sky
scraper for the first time. II was posi-
lively rude. She blushed. dropped
her eyes. and hurried past. | fount
out who she was, and was a little dis
appointed at the intelligence. but
made UP my mind to meet her, any
way. 51s9 & 5stfD y sKte @R8
After that first accidental meeting
I made 1t a point to attend all the SO
cial dolngs In the village and tribu
tary country. ! took In three or foul
church s~ocials, without success. ant
49, - nn.o.s hAr a. CuuAo,